No, not this Pete:
He wouldn’t be a good vice president since he growls at people, refuses to share toys, tries to monopolize everyone’s attention and steals unattended food. If our Pete were any more incorrigible, I’d suspect him of being a Republican!
I’m talking about Pete Buttigieg, who I hope is getting serious consideration as a potential VP pick for the Harris ticket. Here are five reasons I think Sec Pete would make a great VP candidate.
- Buttigieg could step up as POTUS if need be. That’s the most important qualification for the job, and Buttigieg has it, IMO. Skeptics will note he doesn’t have a ton of political experience at the state or federal level, but he does have an impressive executive track record as mayor and as the head of a huge and important agency in the Biden admin. Moreover, he has the right temperament. He knows how to handle a community crisis with grace and empathy.
- He speaks Midwestern. There was a (pointless and dumb, IIRC) controversy during the 2020 primary over how many languages Buttigieg speaks. But the man grew up in South Bend, got standout results in the Iowa caucuses during his presidential run and is already legendary for his ability to convey complex ideas even to Fox News goobers. (Note: I’m NOT saying Midwesterners are goobers — lord knows as a Southern woman, I hardly have standing to cast stones on that score.) Also, Buttigieg is currently a resident of Michigan.
- Buttigieg is unapologetically smart. A young Sec Pete hoovered up just about every academic accolade available during his education: high school class valedictorian, standout student at Harvard, Rhodes scholar, first-class honors at Oxford (the England one!), etc. He can speak extemporaneously and in detail and at length on complicated policy matters. I think he does it without coming off as a smarty pants but also without hiding behind a fake folksy mask like so many highly educated pols do. We’re the party that believes in science and expertise. Let’s lean into that!
- He’s gay. Representation matters, and a Buttigieg candidacy would likely be inspiring for many in the LGBTQ community, a constituency that reactionary Republican troglogdytes have bullied and persecuted nonstop. As a husband and father, Sec Pete is redefining family values for a new era, and while it might be a risk to field a ticket that generates a list of historic “firsts,” would any gettable voters recoil from that and choose the degenerate Trump instead? I don’t think so. Also, Buttigieg would cheerfully defenestrate reactionary shillbilly J.D. Vance in a VP debate, perhaps asking him to explain why the thrice-married Trump models traditional values better than Pete’s family does.
- Buttigieg is young. She doesn’t look it, but VP Harris is pushing 60. That’s positively youthful compared to Old Man Trump, and Democrats can look forward to the striking contrast in visuals between the ticket-toppers, thanks especially to Repubs and the media harping on Biden’s age for years. At 42, Sec Pete would deepen that contrast. Let Republicans carry the banner of gerontocracy forward — we’ve got a new generation of leaders stepping up on our side.
So that’s my pitch for Pete. Of course, it’s entirely VP Harris’s decision, and there are plenty of other great candidates who have attributes that Buttigieg perhaps lacks. Ultimately, I don’t think the VP pick will make much of a difference in the vote count, except for its value as a media spectacle. But I like Pete.
Open thread!
