Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg Inspires Iowa City

An openly gay Midwestern millennial mayor who is also a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, an author of a memoir, and a newly declared US presidential candidate? Yes, please!

Last night, I heard Mayor Pete Buttigieg (BOOT-edge-edge) inspire Iowa City. I went enticed by his identity, but I left impressed by his ideas.

“Mayor Pete,” the Democratic mayor of South Bend, Indiana, spoke to a packed room in the Iowa City Public Library. The event was a LIT Talk, co-sponsored by the library and the Iowa City Book Festival. John Kenyon, City of Literature director, served as moderator.

Buttigieg opened by reading three very short excerpts from his memoir, Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future. The first humorously depicted his identity as a millennial. Born in 1982, Buttigieg is on the cusp of the millenial generation and Gen X. I was already feeling an affinity with him because he is Midwestern and LGBTQ, but this was another nice connection: I’m on the cusp of Gen X and the baby boom.

Buttigieg’s next excerpt was a funny bit about seeking a partner as a gay mayor in Indiana. This story, he wryly noted, had a happy ending. He pointed out his husband, Chasten, who received a round of applause.

The last excerpt was about how he turned his city around, and it provided a great segue to the highlight of the evening, a 45-minute Q&A.

I did not take thorough notes because I wanted to take in the evening. Most of what follows is thus paraphrased from memory.

Kenyon opened by jokingly noting that Buttigieg will often get asked why he believes serving as mayor qualifies him to run for president. Mayor Pete’s answer was the first of many impressive responses. In a nutshell, he noted that both are executive positions; the mayor of any medium-sized city is more likely than any senior senator to have experience managing and leading hundreds of people.

The audience asked questions about immigration, the Middle East, economic inequality, climate change, racism and police brutality, Venezuela, and the politicization of the courts.

Buttigieg answered every single question directly and with substance.

As he explained his progressive plans, he also put forth his larger vision. The higher level thinking that guides his policies. It is this thinking and vision—and his take on our political moment—that was most thought-provoking.

He stressed the importance of rebuilding America’s moral authority. He emphasized that American interests must always be allied with American values.

Someone asked how he would plan to appeal to conservative Midwestern voters. He took the opportunity to discuss Trump supporters and our country’s political divide. In his opinion, most Trump supporters know that he is a terrible person. Many who voted for him are not hateful racists, but people “who wanted to burn down the house.” Democrats, Buttigieg believes, made a mistake by casting themselves as defenders of “the system.” Clearly, that system wasn’t working if Trump “came within cheating distance” of winning the presidency.

Trump, Buttigieg believes, attracted followers by offering the false promise that loss can be reversed.

Buttigieg says he succeeded in South Bend because he helped his city come to terms with the fact that lost manufacturing jobs with Studebaker were not coming back. They grieved the loss, developed new jobs in the data sector, and helped people transition to those jobs.

He says Democrats need to quit waxing nostalgic about the Clinton and Obama years.

He believes that Midwestern voters deserve a different narrative than nostalgia and turning back the clock.

He believes that many white supporters of Trump are experiencing an identity crisis. Most people’s place of employment no longer provides them with a lifelong identity. If that void isn’t filled with positives (like activism, community service, family, or faith), it will be filled with negatives like racism and other forms of hate.

According to Buttigieg, what Democrats—and America—needs is a vision of the future in which everyone can see where they belong. Everyone from the factory worker who’s just lost his job to the trans kid who just wants to use the bathroom.

Although it is early days—and although I need to read Buttigieg’s book and study other candidates, I must say that I would joyfully vote for him as president.

Buttigieg is an excellent “midway” choice. He stands firmly opposed to bigotry, yet he successfully unites people with divergent political philosophies.

I also believe that Buttigieg’s ideas about loss may also apply to other arenas experiencing great change. Say publishing or higher education. There is a lot of loss in higher education right now: loss of funding, loss of tenure-track positions, loss of majors in the humanities. I hope those losses can be reversed, but if they can’t, we need to come to grips with their loss and develop new strategies for educating students and generating knowledge.

So far, this election season, Buttigieg is the only candidate I’ve seen live. I loved that his event was a Q&A rather than a rally. It felt like a conversation in which I got to know him and his thinking. And I savored the audience’s response. It’s no exaggeration to say that most were awestruck. We looked at each other wide-eyed, nodded our heads in amazement, and said wow.

I’d love to read about the moments this election cycle that have made you say wow.