The transportation secretary, one of several ambitious Democrats jockeying for prominence, gave advice in a speech but was coy about his own plans: “I know that I will make myself useful again later.”

Summary

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urged Democrats to stay focused and avoid being consumed by outrage over Donald Trump’s return to prominence.

Speaking to young Democratic officials, he emphasized re-engaging with voters through personal connections rather than relying solely on social media, calling for a return to pre-digital campaign strategies.

Buttigieg also pledged to defend President Biden’s achievements, warning that Republicans, including Trump, might attempt to take credit for them.

He cautioned Democrats against being paralyzed by shock tactics and hinted at remaining active in politics, though he withheld specifics about his future.

    • @lennybirdEnglish
      27•1 month ago

      Not them. For me, Buttigieg was my 3rd preference in the 2020 primaries. I like him. I think he has a grasp of what must be done. Fun fact, he wrote an essay that won a contest with the JFK library back in 2000, essentially praising Bernie Sanders. I think he has his own method by which he achieves a similar outcome, possibly.

      That said he isn’t who comes to mind to win in 2028 because while I think he’s one of the best debaters, I’m not sure if he’s the most charismatic. In this popularity contest, charisma matters. He kind of suffers from Al Gore syndrome in that way.

      I won’t be one of those gatekeepers claiming a gay guy can’t win, though. That just amplifies the bigotry more, and we shouldn’t get in our own way.

    • @BMTea
      20•1 month ago

      He is a conformist and a party creature through-and-through. He’s fine if you had no real objecgion to the way Biden governed except for his age. If you found Biden to be disastrous on a moral and political level, and you view the current Democratic Party as unfit or unwilling to chart a better course, then Buttigieg is liostick on a pig.

    • @[email protected]
      7•1 month ago

      McKinsey stooge that got caught fixing bread prices. He’s an unlikable charlatan neoliberal through and through.

    • @SGGeorwell
      1•1 month ago

      I don’t trust anybody who gets elected mayor of a small to medium-sized city in Indiana and immediately says, “well I’m ready to be President of the United States now”. It’s abnormally grandiose.

      • @MrMcGasion
        2•1 month ago

        Quite a few of the other Primary candidates were/are even more unqualified. It’s a valid point that a presidential candidate should be someone with experience (and the humility to accept that they don’t have the experience). But if otherwise good people never put themselves out there as candidates because they don’t feel like they have enough experience, we’ll be stuck with more geriatric old men like Biden and Trump running things forever. At some point a little audacity to think “I work well under pressure, and I’m more qualified than half the other candidates, why not give it a shot” can be a good trait, at least it’s getting out there and getting busy trying to make the world better rather than what most of us do in assuming someone more qualified will run and then being disappointed by our available choices.

      • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
        1•1 month ago

        Yeah, and he immediately has a bunch of billionaires tripping over themselves to jam him through the primaries. Then all of a sudden he’s a cabinet secretary?