South Bend mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is perhaps not the flashiest of candidates. He's certainly not getting the same kind of breathless white male Democratic savior coverage that we're seeing for Beto O'Rourke or Joe Biden (and that's not a critique of either man, but of media coverage). But his resume does seem much more indicative of the times than many: millennial, openly gay, married with a child, Iraq War veteran, who speaks multiple languages.
But "Mayor Pete," as he is known, has quietly and steadily built a campaign that is based on decency and ... wait for it substance, that is impressing many. He announced this weekend that he had cleared the bar to be included in the first Democratic primary debate.
He proved that decency this weekend with a letter of support to the Muslim community and for the victims of the Christchurch shootings that was so heartfelt and good that it only heightened the contrast between him and the lukewarm response by the current administration.
And he continues to impress in other ways as well, including learning a foreign language to read a book (can you imagine Donald Trump ever being so eager to read something?)
This is winning over many in the Beltway
His husband (who just recently adopted Buttigieg as his surname) also showed some savvy on how to engage those millennial voters by encouraging them to place Mayor Pete in a Hogswart house.
(By the way, Mayor Pete is a Hufflepuff)
Buttigieg (officially, the pronunciation is BOOT-edge-edge) appeared on Fox News Sunday yesterday to discuss his candidacy and how he distinguishes himself among an ever-growing field of Democratic candidates.
"Now, it's about America. It's about what America needs. All the decisions I've made to run for office in my career, and all the decisions I've made to not run for office, are about the moment, what is called for, and then what I bring to the table. I see this very unusual moment.
Look, it's unusual for it to even be possible that a 37-year-old Midwestern mayor is giving national interviews about a possible candidacy for president. But there's something happening right now that calls for something completely different than what we've been seeing. Generationally different, regionally different, somebody with a different life story and a different background.
And to the surprise of many, including myself, this moment could be the only moment, over the last hundred years or the next hundred years, when it's appropriate for somebody like me to be in this conversation. But I'll tell you, with that moment shaping up, I'm not going to miss that moment."
