Mayor Pete to Attend Reverend Barber’s Social Justice Sermon in NC Sunday

GOLDSBORO – While the herd of Democratic candidates has been culled somewhat, new additions still leave 18 contending for the nomination. All of them are courting black Democratic voters as a necessary pillar of support for success. While several of of the candidates have already been campaigning here in North Carolina — Former Vice President Joe Biden, former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren — another, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, is coming specifically to seek the blessing of Reverend William Barber of Moral Mondays infamy.

Buttigieg will attend Barber’s church in Goldsboro Sunday, and stay to discuss poverty afterward. Democratic strategists have wondered aloud during Buttigieg’s unlikely rise if his sexuality, the veteran of Afghanistan is gay, would affect his appeal among black voters. So while this target voting block of black voters (which isn’t as monolithic as Democrats would like) is important to each Democrats running in 2020, it’s that much more important for Mayor Pete. Attending Barber’s church is more than securing support among black Democratic voters, it’s an appeal to black Christian voters in acknowledgement of that block’s possible tentativeness in supporting him.

From the News & Observer (emphasis added):

“[…] Barber and his church, Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, announced Buttigieg would visit on Dec. 1. The campaign has not so far announced Buttigieg’s visit. Barber wrote in a tweet that Greenleaf Christian Church, where he is senior pastor, is happy to welcome Buttigieg and “anyone else who wants to worship the God of love & justice.” He also shared a video of the announcement he made during that day’s church service. […]

Barber said that Buttigieg asked to come, but won’t speak during the service. Instead, since he missed an event Barber’s group Repairers of the Breach held about poverty that other Democratic candidates attended, they’ll discuss poverty on Dec. 1 after the service. […]”

While the angle and motivation of the Democratic candidate may be transparent, the image it presents is quite opaque. Buttigieg is ostensibly seeking to win over black voters, but to assume the Far Left twisted ruminations of this social justice activist represent the whole of black voters in North Carolina, let alone the country, is to discount the diversity of thought among individual black voters.

Therein lies the rub; the candidate is only appealing to the likes of Barber because Democrats have closed off all but the Far Left lanes. It’d make sense if Barber welcomed Buttigieg, in part, because he knows he prefers to drive Left. Despite presenting himself as moderate in comparison to an Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, Buttigieg is hardly what you would consider a moderate Democrat. Such doesn’t seem to exist anymore among candidates on the national stage.