Pete Buttigieg once had a ready answer about the U.S.-Israel relationship, likening it to a “friendship” in which you “try to guide them to a better place.” It’s a line that used to go over well with the “Pod Save America” guys, who once clapped for and nodded along with it on stage back in 2019.
But this week they no longer did.
The politics of the Israel-Hamas conflict — and its center of gravity — have changed. And Democrats are searching for solid ground. Across the party’s still-inchoate 2028 presidential field, ambitious Democrats like Buttigieg are reevaluating their positions and staking out their territory.
“When your friend kills 60,000 people and starves an entire population for months at a time, shouldn’t the question be: Why the fuck am I friends with this guy?” said a Democratic strategist who was in the room with Buttigieg back in 2019 and whose positions have changed since then. The strategist is unaligned among the current crop of potential candidates.
Israel emerges as an early litmus test for 2028. It’s already shaping how future presidential candidates are thinking about running. “One of the lessons from 2024 was — steadfastly standing by Israel, no qualifications, was not an acceptable position, so Democrats are reading the room correctly,” said one adviser to a potential 2028 candidate.
dem “leaders” are several years late learning this. Idiots. Anyone who has taken AIPAC bribes needs to be removed from their position and from the party, no exceptions. And no more zionist candidates, for any dem position. zionism is genocide and ethnic cleansing support. That should be a hard red line.
Special exception for Jamaal Bowman for speaking out against Israel when he realized that it was bad (and losing his seat for it)
Lmfao. Dems are living in a fantasy world.