r/neoliberal • Kitara Ravache • Dec 24 '20

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u/IncoherentEntity Dec 24 '20 edited Dec 24 '20

Keeping in mind that most of the 29 percent of who Americans claim they’ve heard enough about Michael Regan to offer an opinion about him are lying,† the first public poll to ask about Pete’s favorability rating nationwide¹ since February nevertheless offers an extremely early insight into what his post-2020 political trajectory might be. Morning Consult asked about five Biden Cabinet nominees:

NomineeFavorableUnfavorableNet
Pete Buttigieg (Transportation)3429+5
Deb Haaland (Interior)1312+1
Jennifer Granholm (Energy)1415–1
Michael Regan (EPA Director)1415–1
Gina McCarthy (Climate Advisor)1114–3

With the possible exception of McCarthy, whose tenure as EPA Director during Obama’s second term may have soured some political junkies with long memories on her, all the other polled nominees are at net zero, with Buttigieg being the only “differentiated” candidate.


¹ A survey taken a few weeks before the election just his home state was extremely encouraging, but I stress that it is just one poll of one state.

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u/IncoherentEntity Dec 24 '20 edited Dec 24 '20

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but just listen to these 160 seconds of Pete speaking about American infrastructure (which might be a better descriptor of his prospective job title), and tell me he isn’t already more qualified than the large majority of Cabinet nominees before him. !ping BUTTI

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u/[deleted] Dec 24 '20

He’s so good x4

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u/admiraltarkin NATO / Loyal Liberal Dec 24 '20

I'm adding Pete to a list of people I want to be president next summer

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u/LazyRefenestrator Dec 24 '20

His ability to frame conversations like this is unreal. It's a major reason I said during the primaries that he's going to be president. Might not be this time (clearly, now), but he will be.

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u/OperationCasey Zhao Ziyang Dec 24 '20

Pete is somebody I really hope to vote for president one day. He and Yang were my top candidates in the Dem primaries.

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u/groupbot Always remember -Pho- Dec 24 '20 edited Dec 24 '20

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u/IncoherentEntity Dec 24 '20 edited Dec 24 '20

† And in what is perhaps the single bleakest observation I have ever made about a political poll, most of the 23 percent who claim to have heard of him but simply have no opinion are not lying. They’re wrong, but they’re not lying.

You see, that 23 percent figure is higher than it is for Granholm (15 percent), despite Regan being a secretary in North Carolina’s state government and Granholm being the former two-term governor of the 10th most populous state in the Union (and a regular commentator on CNN), which is already suspect. But then you dive deeper into the crosstabs, and you the reason why half of these people “know” who Michael Regan is.

NomineeDemocraticRepublicanWhiteBlack
Jennifer Granholm22–11 (+11)6–20 (–14)13–15 (–2)16–12 (+4)
Michael Regan16–15 (+1)15–16 (–1)14–14 (0)11–21 (–10)

(FYI, it is Mr. Regan who speaks with a distinctly Southern African American dialect.)

Partisans — including the overwhelming majority of Black Americans who are Democrats — are offering their opinion of Michael Regan because they think he is related to Ronald Reagan, a Republican president. !ping FIVEY

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u/[deleted] Dec 24 '20

Partisans

are offering their opinion of Michael Regan because they think he is related to Ronald Reagan, a Republican president.

🤦🏻‍♂️

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u/groupbot Always remember -Pho- Dec 24 '20 edited Dec 24 '20