Pete Buttigieg, the young and openly gay Midwest mayor, finds a voice in crowded Democratic presidential field

[Bradley K. Shurman]

Pete Buttigieg - the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who is likely
to become a presidential candidate - won't wear his dress
jacket, not when he appears on national television for a town
hall meeting, not for photo shoots, not even at a fundraiser
here in a Russian-themed bar where he's mingling with such
celebrities as comedian Billy Eichner and Olympic diver Greg
Louganis.

"There's a side controversy over that question," Buttigieg said
in an interview. No less a figure than David Axelrod, the top
strategist for the past two winning Democratic presidential
campaigns, has been privately urging the 37-year-old to look
more grown-up by wearing a jacket on the campaign trail.

"I don't know," Buttigieg said, hesitating as if embarrassed by
how contrived his next thought might sound. "I just feel more
comfortable with my sleeves rolled up."

The Navy veteran with a hard-to-pronounce name, from a city
small enough to fit every resident in a college football
stadium, seems to be winning the argument at the moment. Weeks
after declaring his interest in challenging President Donald
Trump, he has become, if not exactly well-known, a subject of
interest for many Democratic voters, buoyed by a breakout
performance at a CNN town hall on March 10.

His moment came just days before another youthful candidate,
former congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas, grabbed the spotlight
by announcing his entrance into the race.

Buttigieg downplayed the impact of a rival fresh face joining
the fray, joking that he has the "white Episcopalian gay
veteran" lane to himself.

"It's not worth the energy and effort to try to game out what
the others are doing," Buttigieg said. "Maybe if there were like
three people running. But when there's like 20, you're not
running against any one of them. You're running against the
house. Especially me."

Buttigieg has trouble even breaking into many polls, so his rise
should not be overstated. But the buzz that's surrounding him,
at least for now, reflects how fluid, unpredictable and
fractured the Democratic race has become, without a clear leader
and with various candidates attracting attention at different
times and for different reasons.

Even in a Democratic field full of nontraditional candidates,
Buttigieg stands out in many ways. A military veteran who
deployed to Afghanistan, he is openly gay, and his husband,
Chasten, maintains a lively Twitter presence. He would be the
youngest president in history. No mayor has ever ascended
directly to the presidency, let alone from a city of about
102,000.

Buttigieg is also one of the few Democratic hopefuls from a
state carried by Trump. Central to his message is the case that
he knows how to appeal to Republican voters who, he says,
Democrats have too often ignored in the past.

The CNN town hall attracted 22,000 donors to his undeclared
campaign in 24 hours, his staff said. On Saturday, his campaign
announced it had cleared the 65,000-donor threshold necessary to
earn a spot in the Democratic debates scheduled to start in
June. Two prominent Democratic donors, whom his campaign
declines to name, reached out as well, advisers said.

He plans to double his campaign staff from 20 to 40 "in a matter
of days," and his team is narrowing down options for a bigger
South Bend headquarters - perhaps an entire floor of a downtown
high rise.

"In some ways it seems fantastical that a 37-year-old, openly
gay mayor from South Bend can even be in this conversation,"
said Axelrod, who is a neutral adviser in the Democratic primary
race. "These donor types are pretty flinty eyed, but they want
to be passionate about their choices."

Many Democrats praised the way Buttigieg went after Vice
President Mike Pence, a vocal religious conservative, describing
him on CNN as "the cheerleader of the porn star presidency."

"Is it that he stopped believing in scripture when he started
believing in Donald Trump?" Buttigieg asked.

The mayor says he claims no artifice. "I am not skilled enough
or energetic enough to craft a persona. I just have to be who I
am and hope people like it," Buttigieg said. "I think people in
our party tie themselves up in pretzels trying to be more
electable."

He fields questions differently from most other candidates,
leaning on numbers and context and maintaining a noteworthy
willingness to answer "yes" or "no."

Buttigieg also shows a facility with Twitter. When Howard
Schultz, the former Starbucks chief executive who's considering
an independent run for president, said he'd spent more time with
the military than anyone running, Buttigieg was quick with a
facetious response highlighting his time in the Afghanistan war
zone.

"I remember a Green Beans Coffee at the exchange at Bagram, and
a decent espresso machine run by the Italian NATO element at
ISAF HQ," he tweeted, referring to the Afghanistan mission. "But
I don't recall seeing any Starbucks over there." Schultz
apologized.

In his recent memoir, Buttigieg credits his rhetorical approach
partly to his education, including four years at Harvard
University and two at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes
Scholar.

"In the community of people running around Harvard in suits with
handkerchief scarves, he was definitely not in that category,"
said Massachusetts Democratic state Sen. Eric Lesser, a Harvard
classmate and longtime friend. "He always had a fairly
understated style. He wasn't a table banger."

Some of Buttigieg's ideas are unorthodox, though he's not alone
in the Democratic field in that regard. He is outspoken about
his desire to abolish the electoral college, for example, and
has suggested a Supreme Court composed of 15 justices, including
five who would be appointed by the other 10. Both ideas would
likely require a constitutional amendment.

Buttigieg often argues Democrats should not cede the word
"freedom" to Republicans, citing his marriage as a way the
government gave him freedom to pursue his rights.

"He says things that I'm thinking, that no one else is doing,"
said Carrie Clifford, a 47-year-old actor and writer who lives
in Los Angeles. "I'm like, 'Oh, that makes a lot of sense. Why
aren't we doing that?' I haven't felt that way in a while."

Some of Buttigieg's positions are more in line with other
Democrats. He supports the Green New Deal promoted by liberals
in Congress, saying it's a good start in tackling the climate
crisis. He backs a single-payer health-care system, though he
says private insurance companies should play a role. He opposes
the Trump administration's tough approach to immigration.

Some Democratic say privately Buttigieg may not be prepared to
be president, given his youth and that he's never served in
national or even statewide office. (Buttigieg is a decade
younger than O'Rourke, and was not born when former Vice
President Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate.) Trump's
tenure, they say, has soured Democrats on the notion of
inexperienced candidates jumping into the presidency.

Buttigieg responds that, having been South Bend mayor since
2012, he has longer government experience than Trump and more
executive credentials than Pence, who was Indiana's governor for
four years.

As mayor, Buttigieg said, he's had to solve everyday problems
and cannot get away with spinning them. "You can't walk down a
street and have someone point out a pothole and say, 'There's no
pothole there,' " said Buttigieg's senior adviser Mike Schmul, a
high school friend who also ran his mayoral campaigns. Buttigieg
claims his administration has filled 365,000 potholes during his
eight-year tenure.

Still, a strong record on potholes is not a traditional
steppingstone to the presidency. Some wonder if his long-shot
bid is an attempt to boost his profile and perhaps win a Cabinet
post, rather than a genuine effort to reach the White House.

"I've never believed in running for office so you can eventually
run for some other office," Buttigieg said. "Especially not this
office."

As he navigated the fundraiser at Bar Lubitsch in West Hollywood
on Thursday, his informal style was on display. He took pictures
with Louganis, told Eichner he'd talk to him later and joked
about how more people are recognizing him.

"I saw the town hall meeting he conducted. I loved what he had
to say about very important issues that are important to me -
not just LGBT issues but so much more," Louganis said.
"Education, health care, the environment. He checks off so many
boxes for me that are near and dear to my heart."

As he worked the rooms filled with potential donors, Buttigieg
didn't even have a staffer carrying a jacket just in case.

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buttigieg-democratic-candidate-20190317-story.html