20 December 2019 — 0810 mst
Bottle of wine, Pete’s doing fine
During last night’s Democratic debate, Pete Buttigieg caught hell from Elizabeth Warren, who accused him of sucking up to the wealthy by holding a high dollar fundraiser “…that was held in a wine cave full of crystals and served $900-a-bottle wine.”
Pete pleaded poverty.
You know, according to Forbes magazine, I am literally the only person on this stage who is not a millionaire or a billionaire. So if — this is important. This is the problem with issuing purity tests you cannot yourself pass. If I pledge — if I pledge never to be in the company of a progressive Democratic donor, I couldn’t be up here. Senator, your net worth is 100 times mine.
That provoked this Tweet from me:
Pete: poverty is purity, and since I'm the least wealthy one here, I'm the purist, most moral, candidate. And I love holding closed to the press fundraisers in wine caves and serving $900 a bottle wine. That's why I'm drunk on sanctimony.
— James Conner (@jrcflatheadmemo) December 20, 2019
I should have restrained myself. After the debate, the Washington Post’s fact checkers reported that the wine cave fundraiser was open to the press (KRSO report). And I could not confirm that $900-a-bottle was served. Therefore, my Tweet’s second sentence should have read “And I love holding high dollar fundraisers in wine caves.”
But I stand by my corrected Tweet. Mayor Pete’s piety was over the top. His holding a fundraiser in a wine cave and sucking up to big donors inspired me to write Bottle of wine, Pete’s doing fine (below). If you follow folk music, you know the tune.
Bottle of wine, Pete’s doing fine
Out makin’ rain to fund his campaign,
Tin-cupping for nickels and dimes,
Gotta raise more, small change is a bore,
He’s schmoozing big donors big time.
Bottle of wine, Pete’s doing fine,
Taking big bucks from big donors,
Fundraisers in caves, with centrists so brave,
Tapping tycoons the world over.
Opportunist so coy, a rich bundler's joy,
A moderate so young and so fine,
He won’t rock the yacht, Bernie he’s not,
He’s schmoozing big donors big time.
Bottle of wine, Pete’s doing fine,
Taking big bucks from big donors,
Fundraisers in caves, with centrists so brave,
Tapping tycoons the world over.
Young man on the make, all money he’ll take,
Greenbacks make his eyes dance and shine,
His pitch to the rich: "I’ll radicals ditch.
" He’s schmoozing big donors big time.
Bottle of wine, Pete’s doing fine,
Taking big bucks from big donors,
Fundraisers in caves, with centrists so brave,
Tapping tycoons the world over.
His pals on Wall Street think Pete is so neat,
A McKinsey grad so sublime,
A man they can trust to not tax them bust,
He’s schmoozing big donors big time.
Bottle of wine, Pete’s doing fine,
Taking big bucks from big donors,
Fundraisers in caves, with centrists so brave,
Tapping tycoons the world over.