The Adult in the Room, Exits

Where in the hell is South Bend, Indiana? Boota-what? Gay?

Yes, we’ve elected Obama, but Gay.?

On April 14, 2019, 37 year old Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg announced he was running for the President of the United States of America. Becoming the first openly homosexual , to run for the office.

Buttigieg’s resume is very impressive. He was the valedictorian at St Josephs High, a Harvard Grad, and Oxford University. He was a lieutenant in the Army. He took a seven month leave of office from his mayoral duties to deploy to Afghanistan,where he was part of unit assigned to identify and disrupt terrorist finance networks. He has received numerous awards and had been apart of Indiana Politics for more than half of his life. Mayor Pete officially came out as a gay man 2015 and was re-elected Mayor later that year with 80% of the vote.

Mayor Pete

With everyone struggling with his last name, someone kept it simple “Mayor Pete.

Night 2 of Democratic Debate Miami, Florida, June 27,2019

CNN: If you knew nothing about Buttigieg going into Thursday night, you would have assumed from his performance that a) he was a senator or a governor who had been at this for a long time and b) a co-front runner with Harris in the race. That person would be stunned to learn that Buttigieg is currently the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and running at the back of the lead pack. He was serious, smart, thoughtful and probing. His outspokenness on why Democrats need not cede religion to Republicans was powerful. His answer on the officer-involved shooting in his hometown was clearly well rehearsed, yes, but it was about as a good an answer as he could give on such a difficult issue. Buttigieg has lots and lots of natural political ability — and it shone through on Thursday night.

Bu-tig-geig

In a room full of seasoned candidates, some double his age. Buttigeig often came off as the adult in the room. He wasn’t a one issue candidate. When it came matters of national security he was as knowledgeable as the seasoned senators. Butttigeig was one of the few candidates that reminded them the goal was to replace Donald Trump. Candidate Buttigeg was available to the press and media outlets. He didn’t avoid questions about his sexuality.

Last weekend, I called Butiggeig the white boy. He struggles with blacks and people of color. South Bend is 63% white. The High Schools and the the majority of the students and make up of the Universities he attended was white.

There isn’t a fold out pamphlet that can instruct a candidate how to interact with people of color. He could have taken an short cut. Using the time tested and insulting route of having black and Latino surrogates speak for him. But he chose to meet with blacks in South Carolina. He didn’t black away from the issues he has with the Black community in South Bend.

The Bar is high in South Carolina. Over 60% of Democrats in the state is black. Hillary Clinton destroyed Bernie Sanders in South Carolina. Last Saturday, his numbers were higher than 2015.  Buttigieg’s honestly, humility converted some voters in South Carolina but not enough to make the hurdle. As a result, Buttigieg, joined Tom Steyer and Any Klobuchar, suspending their campaigns.

Pete Butiggieg returns to South Bend bruised but not broken. The Gay man from a small city in Indiana outperformed many seasoned politicians and shocked many professionals.

I suspect he will reevaluate his relationships with people of color in his city.

I don’t think he’s done. Senator Buttigeg? Governor Buttigeg? Or President Buttigeg. In five years he will be 43.

CityFella