I talk to a friend who supports Pete Buttigieg
I have been trying to engage as many people as I can as we reach the final days before the Iowa Caucus.
I spoke with a friend who is working on the Buttigieg campaign and had some conversation with her and another Buttigeig organizer around Mayor Pete and why he supports him.
I will share some of those thoughts here and try my best to not misrepresent in any way.
Pete's charisma and youth come up repeatedly, and in comparison to progressive Democrats in the past- Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama. It's a talking point, I had heard before. From there, in case you forgot, Buttigieg is a Rhodes Scholar, served on active duty in the Middle East, and spent eight years as an executive, transforming South Bend.
The terms that come up to describe Pete are similar to the things I heard when I saw Pete speak and also when I saw him in the debates: calm, thoughtful, intelligent, humble, sincere. In hope to defeat Trump, the words I again here are a campaign of respect, unity, and belonging. By all means, it seems logical to contrast him to the Twitterer in Chief.
For anyone who has been following the polls, there is a pragmatism that Pete conveys. The Des Moines Register poll focused on Pete and Biden being people who could pass legislation and appeal to a majority, while Sanders and Warren had the most progressive ideas. No surprise that this came up. Many of the same things came up in conversation that had in previous conversations I had with others. The need to appeal to some Republicans and to appeal to Independents. The need to appeal to rural voters and Conservative spots in the state. I mentioned that Pete had run radio ads on the local conservative AM station. While it certainly had a large crowd to hear the morning farm report, traffic and weather (and it was of course, a common place to hear Republican ads), it was a less likely place for a Democrat to buy ads
As when I saw Pete speak last April, I felt the same ideas touched upon about bringing respect back and not stooping to Donald's level. Can it be done after so many years of partisan bickering? I don't know but clearly it's admirable to try.
Further, the fact that Pete has made it this far without notes or a teleprompter, has not made any gaffes, and "isn't bland" was some of the reason for the support. These are some of the things I had observed, and I made mention of, as well. That if it comes to a debate with Trump (if Trump indeed would debate) then Pete would be the perfect Democrat to be on stage. It is also part of the candidate's rhetoric, so no surprise, a strength is that Pete is not looking for 'extreme' change.
Less front of my mind is that as Mayor, Pete is more tuned into audiences and one-on-one interaction. Strengths in awareness and compassion were what I heard here, and the strength of individual interaction. It was also interesting to note that Pete's campaign staff is 50% women, 40% people of color and 20% LGBTQ.
It was interesting to me as a longtime politco to find myself having this conversation with two political newbies. She was relatively a political novice who had only made a commitment in the final months up to the caucus. He had longstanding political thoughts, but never acted up until after the results of the 2016 election.
While events in Twitterworld and social media get exaggerated, here were two people in real life who were showing what was going on in actual Iowan homes.
I spoke with a friend who is working on the Buttigieg campaign and had some conversation with her and another Buttigeig organizer around Mayor Pete and why he supports him.
I will share some of those thoughts here and try my best to not misrepresent in any way.
Pete's charisma and youth come up repeatedly, and in comparison to progressive Democrats in the past- Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama. It's a talking point, I had heard before. From there, in case you forgot, Buttigieg is a Rhodes Scholar, served on active duty in the Middle East, and spent eight years as an executive, transforming South Bend.
The terms that come up to describe Pete are similar to the things I heard when I saw Pete speak and also when I saw him in the debates: calm, thoughtful, intelligent, humble, sincere. In hope to defeat Trump, the words I again here are a campaign of respect, unity, and belonging. By all means, it seems logical to contrast him to the Twitterer in Chief.
For anyone who has been following the polls, there is a pragmatism that Pete conveys. The Des Moines Register poll focused on Pete and Biden being people who could pass legislation and appeal to a majority, while Sanders and Warren had the most progressive ideas. No surprise that this came up. Many of the same things came up in conversation that had in previous conversations I had with others. The need to appeal to some Republicans and to appeal to Independents. The need to appeal to rural voters and Conservative spots in the state. I mentioned that Pete had run radio ads on the local conservative AM station. While it certainly had a large crowd to hear the morning farm report, traffic and weather (and it was of course, a common place to hear Republican ads), it was a less likely place for a Democrat to buy ads
As when I saw Pete speak last April, I felt the same ideas touched upon about bringing respect back and not stooping to Donald's level. Can it be done after so many years of partisan bickering? I don't know but clearly it's admirable to try.
Further, the fact that Pete has made it this far without notes or a teleprompter, has not made any gaffes, and "isn't bland" was some of the reason for the support. These are some of the things I had observed, and I made mention of, as well. That if it comes to a debate with Trump (if Trump indeed would debate) then Pete would be the perfect Democrat to be on stage. It is also part of the candidate's rhetoric, so no surprise, a strength is that Pete is not looking for 'extreme' change.
Less front of my mind is that as Mayor, Pete is more tuned into audiences and one-on-one interaction. Strengths in awareness and compassion were what I heard here, and the strength of individual interaction. It was also interesting to note that Pete's campaign staff is 50% women, 40% people of color and 20% LGBTQ.
It was interesting to me as a longtime politco to find myself having this conversation with two political newbies. She was relatively a political novice who had only made a commitment in the final months up to the caucus. He had longstanding political thoughts, but never acted up until after the results of the 2016 election.
While events in Twitterworld and social media get exaggerated, here were two people in real life who were showing what was going on in actual Iowan homes.
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