When I commented on the news about Pete Buttigieg’s then-upcoming campaign rally in Portland, I predicted that my local paper’s fannish enthusiasm for Buttigieg would probably only last until another Democratic candidate deigned to visit Maine.

I was half right.

Here’s how they characterized Pete Buttigieg’s Portland rally afterward:

• “sold his presidential candidacy”
• “capped the first real flurry of presidential campaign activity in Maine” (emphasis on “first”)
• “national ‘grassroots’ tour” (with “grassroots” in scare quotes)
• “launched into a stump speech”
• “polling fifth in the field overall”
• “Buttigieg’s older, mostly white crowd”

And here’s how they characterized Bernie Sanders’ Portland rally the day before yesterday:

• “rallied in Maine”
• “near-capacity State Theatre crowd”
• “went from fringe to a standard-bearer”
• “a large following in Maine”
• “progressive champion”
• “[his primary opponents] have moved closer to his ideology”
• “pitched those plans and others” (not a mere “stump speech,” because stump speeches are for mere politicians)
• “fighting for prominence in a field that has been stuck for months well behind former Vice President Joe Biden” (cushioning the blow of how far behind Biden he is)

I don’t normally speak in memes, but this one just begs for it:

…or it would if they’d waited for Sanders to strut by. As you can see, though, they started cooling on Buttigieg as soon as his rally was over, characterizing him, as subtly as they could, as a professional politician and doomed also-ran. (The “mostly white crowd” line is one that lefty identitarians have been using against him for a while now.)