Mayor Pete Buttigieg's announcement of his presidential candidacy yesterday at an abandoned Studebaker plant in South Bend Indiana was nothing short of amazing.
No other candidate articulates Trump's "make America great again" myth as understandably; no other candidate puts the lie to Trump himself quite as well.
And he does it by telling the truth about each in a manner that, rather than directly attack, makes accepting the truth about both a logical progression and eminently palatable.
We are not going to make America great again by going backwards. We can't return to 1957, and America was never really as great as people nostalgically remember it being. That is an unrealistic belief. It was tough and there were many challenges.
Likewise, the concentration of wealth among a relative few isn't healthy even for capitalism, and the GDP isn't the only measure of an economy's health. Trump's policies aren't sustainable long term, from his overhaul of the tax system to his trade wars. The deficit is exploding and the economy is slowing down as a result. Trump is lashing out at anyone he can to lay the blame for it as part of his 2020 campaign 'strategy'.
Being a man of genuine faith himself, Pete Buttigieg also speaks to evangelicals and family values in a way that Trump can't. Trump doesn't give them a reason to be proud of supporting him, despite the apparent celebratory nature of his rallies - which are tightly controlled and entirely predetermined before hand, even to the hiring of actors. It's a cold, hard Faustian bargain with the devil at it's root and that's all - give me your vote and I'll blow up the system (destroying the country that I promised to make great again in the process).
Trump's flagrant disregard for the law and death by 1000 cuts tearing down of our institutions to protect himself from the consequences of his lawlessness will destroy us if we let him. Exposing his scam and lies while stopping short of directly attacking Trump himself is something Mayor Pete Buttigieg does masterfully. If you saw his speech yesterday, you know what I mean. If you didn't, or want to watch it again, I'm posting it below to provide the opportunity to get to know the man. You'll be glad you did.
Notably, Pete Buttigieg doesn't use speech writers. What you hear is truly him, speaking about his policies, views, values, and convictions from the place where he lives - daring to bare his mind, heart, and soul in a political forum like no other. That's what makes him so special.
I don't know if Pete Buttigieg can win the 2020 nomination for president.
Regardless, HIS IS THE MESSAGE AND APPROACH WE NEED TO WIN THE PRESIDENCY.
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From the New York Times:
At a rally inside a partly rebuilt factory, once owned by the automaker Studebaker and now being turned into glass-sheathed offices for tech and other businesses, Mr. Buttigieg said, “I ran for mayor in 2011 knowing nothing like Studebaker would ever come back, but that we would, our city would, if we had the courage to reimagine our future.”
He said he was motivated to run despite his youth because of an urgency to correct the course of the Trump administration on climate change, health care and immigration. “This is one of those rare moments between whole eras in the life of our nation,” Mr. Buttigieg said, adding, “The moment we live in compels us to act.’’
www.nytimes.com/…
Full transcript of Pete Buttigieg's speech yesterday:
blog.4president.org/…
Courtesy of site member Mark Lippman
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NOTE:
"He will be on Rachel Maddow tonight. Interesting to see two really smart people, both Rhodes Scholars."
Courtesy of site member jazzed