Most of the Democratic candidate buzz this week has surrounded former Vice President Joe Biden’s rise following the official announcement of his candidacy. Some has fallen on Senator Bernie Sanders as the supposed biggest contender to keep Biden and the Democratic Establishment from controlling the nomination again. Meanwhile, the steady hum of “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg keeps getting louder and louder.
The young white guy might just retire the two old white guys.
He’s had a couple of recent controversies. First, he was falsely accused of sexual assault in a stunt allegedly orchestrated by morons. Then, he had the gall to invoke federalism on the vaccination debate. But that hasn’t stopped him from rising to tie Sanders in New Hampshire, a state far from Buttigieg’s Indiana but right next door to Sanders’s Vermont. Awkward.
Now, he’s getting some more national attention, but this time he isn’t alone. His husband, Chasten Glezman, joined him for the cover shoot for the upcoming Time Magazine. The headline and subheading are:
“First Family — The unlikely, untested and unprecedented campaign of Mayor Pete Buttigieg.”
It’s catchy enough to draw the attention of those on the left who haven’t heard of him and those on the right who do not fear him. Republicans and Independents who support President Trump should not dismiss the mayor of a mid-sized mid-western city. It’s a long time until the first votes are cast, but that doesn’t mean the right shouldn’t be paying attention right now.
Of all the candidates with the possible exception of Andrew Yang, Buttigieg seems to be the hardest for Trump to attack. Whoever the nominee is, Trump will need to be able to attack them. His campaign style isn’t conducive to playing nice.
But that’s not the biggest reason Republicans should be concerned. On paper, Buttigieg has some very strong credentials that match well against Trump. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard before going off as a Rhodes Scholar. He speaks several languages. He’s a former intelligence officer and Afghanistan War veteran. He speaks well and is generally likable. None of these traits lend themselves to the type of campaign President Trump wants to run.
While many are saying the Time Magazine cover will help give Buttigieg a boost, it may actually be the other way around. They like picking winners as early as possible and have built an impressive resume of knowing who has a chance of being President well before others.
Time Magazine has been wrong about candidates they put on their covers in the past. Then again, they put Barack Obama on the cover saying he could be the next President… over two years before the 2008 election.
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