South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg was perceived as having done well in the first Democratic debate, but yet did not gain in public opinion polls, and a lot of it, beyond his being gay, is his inability, so far, to gain African American support, a key voting bloc for Democrats in any national election.
The racial situation in South Bend, where recently a black man was killed by a police officer, has made any attempt to improve Buttigieg’s standing among African Americans ever the harder.
But also, many African Americans are extremely devout Christians, and they have an issue with the idea of a gay President, who also has a husband.
So the question is whether Mayor Pete has any real chance of being the Democratic Presidential nominee if he cannot win over substantial African American support.
That will be a key factor in the turmoil surrounding the Democratic Presidential sweepstakes.