This week’s highlights from East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell’s campaign for president were oddly fixated on the obvious as he struggles to gain a footing in the race.

>A face in the crowd

A creative social media user produced an amalgam this week of all the white presidential candidates polling at around one percent. Good news for Swalwell, he’s head and shoulders above the rest. The Twitter user used Swalwell’s head and ever-changing coif as the base for the photo compilation.

https://twitter.com/AndrewPaulJoyce/status/1120383159890325511

>Swalwell: ‘I’m a white man’

Swalwell’s campaign isn’t hiding from the fact that voters have eyeballs. “SPOILER ALERT: I’m a white man,” he tweeted Tuesday. He added a pledge to select a woman as his vice-presidential running mate and create a diverse cabinet. A day earlier, while appearing on MSNBC, host Joy Reid asked Swalwell, “Why does the field need yet another–to be blunt–another white guy?”

>Hometown support

The Tri-Valley Democratic Club voted last weekend to issue a presidential endorsement to Swalwell, its former club secretary. The group says it’s the first Democratic club to endorse Swalwell’s bid for presiden. Swalwell served as club secretary while still a student at Dublin High School, the Tri-Valley Dems said in a press release. The endorsement though contains some odd talking points for a Democratic club. For example, the club touts Swalwell’s ability to reach out to Republicans. “He knows how to converse with his family and many Republicans, which prepared him to go toe to toe with interviewers on Fox [News],” the release states. The club also said Swalwell “put away bad people” as an Alameda County prosecutor.

>Trails endorsement race

FiveThirtyEight.com is tracking the presidential endorsement race with a weighted system. Swalwell is ranked low on the long list, but not the bottom. With three points allotted to congressional endorsements, Swalwell has that same number by way of Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallegos’ endorsement earlier this month. Gallegos was named as chair of Swalwell’s presidential campaign. By contrast, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Kamala Harris top the list with 57 and 55 points, respectively.

>Butti-check

As a young, Democratic millennial running for president, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg continues to gain the ground that Swalwell appeared likely to inhabit if his campaign received even a modicum of positive support. Unless Buttigieg falls flat very soon, the typical ebb and flow of his campaign could linger for some time, further edging out white, centrist candidates like Swalwell. For example, within a week’s span, Swalwell and Buttigieg received front-page features in the New York Times. The subject matter is disconcerting for Swalwell, which suggested he was running for president with an eye at some type of personal enrichment. Buttigieg’s article showed his campaign has arrived. Why else would the Times begin an analysis of his mayoral record and the firing of an African American police chief? For that matter, Buttigieg also appears to be cutting into Beto O’Rourke’s space.

 

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