Mayor Pete: Bernie’s “Bold Novelty” May Have Worn Off

The New York Times reports:

Mr. Buttigieg is more willing to confront other candidates, and his party more broadly, in ways that could resonate with moderate Democrats and perhaps some of the independents who can vote in either primary here.

Voters wanted to “blow up the system” in 2016, Mr. Buttigieg said. “Which could lead you to somebody like Bernie and it could lead you to somebody like Trump. That’s how we got where we are.”

In an interview, Mr. Buttigieg said Mr. Sanders’s left-wing proposals were no longer as provocative as in 2016 — “people were refreshed by the novelty of that boldness” — and expressed skepticism that a self-described democratic socialist in his late 70s could win a general election.