Pete Buttigieg, a one-time frontrunner to represent the Democratic Party in the next US election and the first openly gay candidate to successfully launch a major presidential campaign, today dropped out of the race.
It’s big news, and his campaign was notable for a slew of reasons, but this particular article is going to focus on one particular aspect: his embrace of that one Panic! At The Disco song, and they way it’s been repurposed after his decision to step down.
Thank you for inviting me into your homes, sharing your stories, and putting your trust in me. We launched our campaign because Americans are hungry for a new kind of politics that brings us together.
And together we’ll beat this president and build the era that must come next. pic.twitter.com/QDajvx1lpL
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) March 2, 2020
We’ll get to High Hopes in a moment, but first, you should know what powered those hopes. Compared to the campaigns of former Vice President Joe Biden or billionaire Michael Bloomberg, Buttigieg appealed to voters as a fresh face in a crowded field. At just 38 years old, Buttigieg was the first millennial to ever lead a major challenge for the top gig.
His youth came with relative inexperience, too. While former competitors Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders have been significant figures in US politics for decades, Buttigieg counts a stint as mayor of the small Indiana city of South Bend as the pinnacle of his life in public office.
Buttigieg not only proved that a gay candidate could stage a campaign, but could make a serious run to be picked by one of the major parties. In a potential ‘Mayor Pete’ presidency, supporters saw the opportunity for major cultural change.
The tense and hotly-contested Iowa caucus, the first real test of any major campaign’s staying power, ultimately went to Buttigieg – but only just. For a while, it looked like Buttigieg would become the de facto candidate for moderate liberals to support, as opposed to the left-leaning Sanders, who went on to claim New Hampshire and Nevada.
But Sanders’ continual momentum, and Biden’s recent resurgence in South Carolina, pushed Buttigieg to call time on his campaign.
Oh, his campaign also introduced a choreographed dance to Panic! At The Disco’s 2018 hit for supporters to bust out at rallies. It was mocked. Heavily. Now, in the fading light of the Buttigieg campaign, that song has been co-opted by voters who never had high hopes for him in the first place.
im honor of pete dropping out we should all do the high hopes dance one more time
— Delaney Tarr (@delaneytarr) March 1, 2020
https://twitter.com/stygoxene/status/1234267657240633344
https://twitter.com/jab50yen/status/1234269367661187077
Everyone in the audience at Buttigieg’s drop out speech: pic.twitter.com/K2HjZZ5mZQ
— Carlo (@yesthatCarlo) March 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/Funk_Barn/status/1234288209292644356
quick someone make a melancholy minor key cover of “high hopes”
— woke stifler (@Yelix) March 1, 2020
RIP to the Buttigieg campaign pic.twitter.com/DSmLkXok7Z
— Dylan Roth has a Patreon now (@DylanRoth) March 2, 2020
If you’re thinking that’s a lot of negativity to hurl at a young candidate whose lived experience is conspicuously absent from US electoral politics, well, you’re not wrong.
While Sanders has gained support with calls to crack down on the excesses of the wealthiest 1% of society, Buttigieg was notable for soliciting donations from billionaires and holding a pricey fundraiser in a so-called “wine cave”. He also drew ire for his past work for consulting firm McKinsey, an organisation known for cost-cutting at large companies. “Cost-cutting” is, of course, a very generous euphemism for lay-offs.
Plus, there was this exchange with the editorial board of the New York Times, where he was directly accused of being involved in the fixing of bread prices across Canada. A niche accusation? For sure, but it was one which stuck.
“You worked for a company that was fixing bread prices” is cracking me up so much right now. Lmao. Just Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey: “What are you doing, Pete?”
— Patrick Fenelon 🌹 (@Patrick_Fenelon) January 17, 2020
Some critics believe that kind of sanitised, corporate ethos osmosed into other elements of his campaign, turning off voters looking for a candidate with more progressive credentials.
Going to assume Buttigieg dropped out of the race with a statement that reads in part “while I’m leaving this race, the race is not leaving me. Each day, every day, America shows us the truth of its dreams. We must show America’s dreams that we will be true to them.”
— David Roth (@david_j_roth) March 1, 2020
That tight Iowa caucus we mentioned earlier? Well, he also called that contest for himself, well before it was clear who actually won (and there’s still debate over how that count was handled). There’s more to it than we can fit here, but Buttigieg’s campaign and professional persona was not immediately reconcilable with that bloody dance.
After his decision to drop out of the race, punters have criticised the way he hedged his folksy, mayoral image against his extremely sharp corporate history, and have highlighted his on-stage debates with fellow contender Senator Amy Klobuchar – who, it just so happens, appeared to dislike Buttigieg with more intensity than anyone else on the roster.
thank you mayor pete 😭 pic.twitter.com/pgFp6ZO77h
— thomas violence (@thomas_violence) March 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/mekosoff/status/1234277159948161025
A Pete Buttigieg canvasser knocks on the door at 3:12PM on March 1. A woman answers the door. ‘Hi, my name is Dan and I—‘ Dan’s phone vibrates, somehow with more urgency than usual. He glances down, and his blood runs cold. ‘Never mind,’ he says to the woman hastily, fleeing the
— jamie loftus 🌭 (@jamieloftusHELP) March 2, 2020
Right now Amy Klobuchar is sadly deleting the “More like Stupid Tuesday, you big idiot!” text she composed to send to Pete Buttigieg in two days.
— Josh Gondelman (@joshgondelman) March 2, 2020
If Klobuchar posted herself doing the High Hopes dance right now I would honestly consider her.
— Mike Scollins (@mikescollins) March 1, 2020
https://twitter.com/ndilettante/status/1234291532150255616
So, that’s that. Unless it isn’t, and Buttigieg manages to broker some kind of vice presidential deal with one of the remaining candidates. Someone, somewhere, is high hoping for that.
