Monday 29 July 2024

Pete Buttigieg

Kamala Harris still hasn’t announced who her running mate will be. It seems to be coming down to either Mark Kelly, a senator from Arizona, or Pete Buttigieg, transport secretary in the Biden administration. Kelly is a former astronaut, who flew combat missions in the Gulf War. His wife is Gabby Gifford, a congresswoman who was shot in 2011 and now campaigns for gun control from a wheelchair. Kelly would be an excellent choice and probably a safe one, but personally, I would prefer to see Pete Buttigieg.

He is an exceptional person who could help to break down the divisions between left and right in American politics.

Buttigieg is a Harvard graduate and a Rhodes scholar. He speaks eight languages and, like William Hague, worked for the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. From 2009 to 2017, he was an intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserve and was mobilised to Afghanistan for seven months in 2014. 

At the time he was mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a city of 100,000, having been elected in 2011,

His debating and communication skills are on par with Bill Clinton and Obama at their peak. His only drawback as far as the Democrats are concerned is that he's gay and in a same-sex marriage, with two adopted children.

I want to share a few Twitter posts about Buttigieg, who isn't well-known at all here in Britain. First, this one about translating for an Arabic speaker at a hospital in South Bend:

I think this shows what kind of a person he is. Compassionate without wanting to take political credit for everything. I can't imagine Trump ever doing anything similar. Trump can't even translate from English and certainly wouldn't do it without making money or taking credit at every rally.

And what about this concerning one of his first acts as mayor:

In a radio interview, while Trump was POTUS, Buttigieg showed how he doesn't always immediately adopt a partisan position, seeking to see another point of view and concede that there are decent people with sincerely held views on both sides of the aisle:

Finally, watch him here on Fox News, a right-wing, Murdoch owned channel that was once a cheerleader for Trump:

Buttigieg (a Maltese name by the way) is an exceptional candidate and if the Democrats are to prevail in November, they're going to need one. Republicans will not give up easily. In Georgia the state Elections Board now has a majority of MAGA supporters who are still convinced the 2020 election was stolen:

I wouldn't put anything past them. And The Heritage Foundation, the people behind the hard right agenda of Project 2025, are apparently planning some jiggery-pokery in the swing states of Maine and Nebraska:

I think it's vital that the Dems select a VP who can communicate well, calm things down, and isn't too combative while arguing a case that will appeal to moderate Republicans. Someone who can douse the fires that will inevitably be lit in November. I heard Trump tell a crowd of MAGA supporters recently that the only way he could lose is if the other side cheated. He's already started to set the scene for more violence.

No doubt Mark Kelly can also be effective, but I believe Buttigieg is the right man for this job, this time.


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