Look out, Beto O’Rourke. An underrated underdog of a Democratic candidate for president is nipping at your heels — and his name is Pete Buttigieg.
Politics
If you haven’t already heard about Pete Buttigieg (pronounced BOOT-EDGE-EDGE) by now, then you should before it’s too late. He’s the 37-year-old, Harvard educated, Rhodes Scholar, Afghanistan war veteran, gay, charismatic, and handsome Mayor of South Bend, Indiana who’s very happily married to another man.
Buttigieg is not yet considered an “A-list” Democratic contender, but after a series of high-profile and highly received television appearances (including a star-turning debut during a Town Hall hosted by CNN), his status as a reserve player in the presidential game is rapidly changing.
When asked about how his name recognition went from 0 to 100 in a relatively short period of time, Buttigieg was incredibly humble.
“The good news is it means the more people that see our message, the more it resonates,” he said. “Because what I said in the town hall is no different than what I’ve been saying all along, it’s just that more people saw it.”
Since his recent television stints on ABC’s “The View” and more, Buttigieg confided that although he knows he is being noticed by more people in restaurants and other places, he has fought hard not to let it go to his head.
“That’s good news but I’m trying not to let it go to my head because for every one person that stops me at the airport or on the street there’s still probably 99 who still haven’t heard our message yet,” he said.
David Axelrod, the former senior adviser to President Barack Obama and a friend of Mayor Buttigieg, has been paying close attention to the swift rise of the young candidate, saying “the challenge for any startup campaign that gets some tailwind is how to catch up to their own momentum.”
“How do you capture the data and build relationships with all the people suddenly eager to help?” Axelrod said. “How do you quickly build an organization equipped to utilize that data and those relationships and develop a strategy, particularly in the must-win early states. And how do you prepare for the sterner tests that come for a ‘hot’ candidate, as media and opponents begin to poke and prod with greater intensity to see if you are up to the job.”
Although Axelrod added, “It’s challenging,” he believes Buttigieg is uniquely qualified and a (soon-to-be) force to be reckoned with.
“I get that my presence here is a little bit unlikely,” Mayor Buttigieg said. “(I get) that it is not customary for a millennial, Midwestern mayor to be in the conversation about the future of the free world.”
Perhaps his candidacy is a bit unlikely and perhaps it is not very customary — but it also wasn’t for another young, charismatic, Harvard educated candidate who also surprised everyone and went on to win 2 terms as the first African-American President of the United States.
Look out, Beto O’Rourke. Look out, America. Pete Buttigieg is fast becoming a legit contender.
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Buttigieg has been getting his share of positive buzz. Some people are supportive of his candidacy.
But he’s got Zero chance of getting enough votes to actually win the presidency even if by some chance he was to win the Dem nomination (which I also believe is impossible).
No matter how, smart, thoughtful, articulate, competent he may be, the majority of Americans are NOT ready for a gay man as President, To say nothing of a gay man who is married to a man!
Nope. Not.Gonna.Happen.
His candidacy is interesting though.