 “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg for President in 2020 |
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| Say it with me: “Boot Edge Edge“ | |
| About a month ago I saw this young guy get interviewed. The interviewer said the guy was the Mayor of some place in Indiana (okay, it was South Bend, but all I heard was blah, blah hicks-ville, Indiana). He is in his second term and got re-elected with over 80% of the vote! He is a graduate of Harvard and an Oxford Rhodes Scholar. He speaks seven languages and learned one of them just so he could read a book in the author’s native tongue. He is a former Naval intelligence officer and served in Afghanistan (for seven months) while on leave without pay from his mayoral duties. | |
| So, I listened to him speak… And, I decided. | |
| Prior to this, my three favorites for the Democratic nomination were (in order): Warren, Harris and Saunders. (Yes, I am a Progressive / Liberal Democrat!) To be honest, I think all have their weaknesses, but I believe any of them could defeat Trump. The rest of the field, I’m not so sure of (including Biden), I don’t know anything about or I don’t really care for. Anyway, I went online and bought a t-shirt – not realizing Mayor Pete hadn’t declared yet and was still in “just” the exploratory phase. | |
| My daughter came over that evening and we were discussing who we each were favoring. I said: “Mayor Pete, but I can’t pronounce his last name.” She said: “Do you really think he can get elected?” I replied: “Sure. Why not?” Her reply: “He’s opening gay…” WHAT??? | |
| She asked how I could support him knowing this and pointedly adding that putting up a candidate who could defeat Trump was the most important thing the Democrats could do and she didn’t think the country was ready to elect an openly gay man. I said I agreed, but I didn’t think the country was ready to elect an African-American in 2008 or re-elect him in 2012 and look how those elections turned out. | |
| Does being straight or gay matter when you are running for ANY political office? From an electability standpoint, of course it does. But should it? If I don’t believe faith (Kennedy), infidelity (Bill Clinton and probably a host of others), race (Obama) or gender (Hilary Clinton) matter, why should sexual orientation? Is being “straight” critical to Presidential job performance? | |
| When asked about whether gays should serve in the military, Republican Senator Barry Goldwater replied (I’m paraphrasing): “I don’t care if someone is straight. I just want to know if they can shoot straight.” We KNOW President Trump is not very bright (he doesn’t read and has no curiosity), is a liar, is a cowardly draft dodger, is a tax cheat, is a terrible businessman, he appears to be a Russian puppet and he seems to only be interested in making money off of his term in office. On balance, Mayor Pete is intelligent, well spoken, well read, a patriot and more than competent in his current office over the last two terms, so no, being openly gay does NOT matter to me. | |
| I hope American will listen to what “Mayor Pete” has to say… Then you can make up your mind and vote you heart. | |
| Is America ready for an openly gay President? To be honest, I don’t know… But, I AM! | |
| . | |
| On This Day In: | |
| 2018 | Disruptive Definition |
| 2017 | A History Of Small Insights |
| 2016 | Be Uncommon |
| 2015 | Ooops! |
| 2014 | What Price Freedom? |
| 2013 | Remembering Val |
| 2012 | Good-bye, Val |
| Survival Value | |
| 2011 | Traitors In Our Midst |
| Life Ain’t Easy | |
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