Mayor Pete

A longtime reader emailed recently to ask what I thought about Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend mayor and now one of many Democrats running for President. Buttigieg, who also happens to be gay, is receiving an outsize amount of attention right now.

I like him a lot but worry he doesn't have enough of a high profile to challenge Donald Trump. Even though Trump had no political experience the first time he ran, he will run as an experienced President when up for re-election while Buttigieg has only been the mayor of a smallish city. In terms of image versus image, that's not a strong matchup.

With that said, Buttigieg is impressive both as a candidate and a public speaker. He's been described as the gay Obama -- smart, transformational, and the face of America's future. New York magazine is running a great piece about how he's the opposite of Trump in just about every possible way (link here).

I will vote for whoever ends up opposing Trump, but I suspect that candidate will not be Buttigieg. I would not be the least bit surprised if that candidate's Vice President pick turns out to be Buttigieg.

And then four or eight years down the road, America could end up with its first gay President. That would be pretty awesome.