Pete Buttegieg is the future of Democratic leadership

[Maven]

Link to tweet

Yup. Blown away.

[kentuck]

1. I would like to see this guy chosen as the Chairman of the Party.

And Ellison and Perez chosen as Co-Chairmen.

Would that not work?

[Maven]

2. Not sure if it's permitted by the rules. But I wouldn't object to that outcome one bit. nt

[kentuck]

4. I think if they rotated to Chairman evey two years...

then the ideas of the Party would stay fresher and more in tune with the needs of the people.

The Democratic Party needs to be the Party of the People once again. There was a time when workers and union members were the backbone of our Party. That is no longer the case.

We have to adapt. We have to listen. We have to unite.

[Vinnie From Indy]

3. I know him and he is a great choice!

Cheers!

[Lucinda]

5. Great job in this interview!

[fun n serious]

6. I am very impressed

I hope he wins.

[RowdieTurtle]

7. Really?

Im not so sure a mayor from South Bend Indiana with minimum government experience who cut his teeth work for a Republican Sec. of Defense and then worked for Mckinsey and Company is the future. Inexperience and spending your formative years working for the opposition isnt exactly the resume we need for advancing a progressive platform. Could be wrong but he sounds like hes a hawk too. Like the military industrial complex needs more help and we need more wars.

Could be wrong but im not feeling it. Its about more than just looking good and talking a good game.

[msongs]

10. since obama's 1st election dems have lost thousands of elected seats. so much for the pros. nt

[RowdieTurtle]

13. Thats a very facile post

True, but while the recent distaste for "pros" has alot to do with it, your missing the forest for your tree.

Why have we lost those seats? Why are people sick to death of professional politicians atm? Your looking at the symptom, not the disease itself. Id get deeper but i gotta go cook dinner.

[Maven]

15. Bernie is a professional politician.

That doesn't mean his ideas are all bad, as I'm sure you would agree based on your avatar. People are right now getting a taste of what happens when someone with no government experience takes the helm, and it isn't pretty. So I don't have a lot of regard for the use of "professional politician" as a pejorative. It's a big part of how we ended up here. I sure do wish we had the professional politician who ran against Trump as our president right now.

[JudyM]

17. That's been my thinking about him, too.

Welcome to DU, RowdieTurtle!

[True Dough]

8. Helluva great speaker!

So composed and on message.

I was curious about his accomplishments as mayor of South Bend, where he was re-elected with a larger percentage of the vote than in his first term. Here's what I found in a Huff-Po article:

Peter has an impressive record in South Bend. His “1,000 Houses in 1,000 Days” initiative demolished or refurbished 1,000 properties across South Bend. The once famous Studebaker assembly plant, which has been closed for over fifty years, is being repurposed into a mixed use facility. Under Buttigieg’s leadership the city of South Bend also partnered with the University of Notre Dame as part of the White House’s MetroLab Network. The city and school will work together to come up with “smart solutions” to city problems. New construction in the city’s center including the South Bend River Lights public art installation have transformed the downtown area of South Bend. And, the 311 line ― a customer service line for the city, seeking to solve the day to day problems of residents ― that debuted in 2013 has fielded over 100,000 calls, providing important data to the city.

South Bend had been in decline prior to Peter’s terms as mayor. In 2010 South Bend was named one of “America’s Dying Cities” by Newsweek. The unemployment rate was over 12.4 percent in 2010. It is 5.8 percent as of April. Anecdotal evidence of more graduate students living downtown show a reverse in the migration out of South Bend that had dominated the years previous to Buttigieg assuming office. Peter has a record as a turnaround specialist and that is exactly what the Democratic Party needs right now- a fresh face, competitive ideas and a new direction.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/on-the-future-of-the-democratic-party-let-peter-buttigieg_us_58680b95e4b068764965c26b

[Docreed2003]

16. Excellent piece that really captures his accomplishments! Thank you for sharing!

[OnDoutside]

9. Shitty last question, very smoothly handled.

[SaschaHM]

11. Perez and Buttegieg are neck and neck imo. I think Pete would be a breathe of fresh air.

[joshcryer]

12. "we must come together"

That is exactly it. Yet there are elements "within" the party who are trying to keep us at one another's throats. It's a non-starter. We must reject those people and sentiments, because they don't want to help, they want to hinder.

This is the #1 most important thing we need to focus on.

[RowdieTurtle]

14. But does the DNC really want to?

Theres an old guard in the DNC who hold the power and have a vested interest in keeping the party running along the same lines that brought us here. They have lobbyists and campaign contributors to answer to. They continue to resist the realization that we cant continue with the same weak incrementalism and faux liberal mainstream appease the rich and powerful. Even in the face of this Trumpaclism we are experiencing, they are trying to stack the deck behind the scenes and hold on to their positions and power.

Theres a sea change going on here and we wont stand for more of the same. The capitulation and half measures. The buddy buddy wink and nod. The lip service. Politics is a contact sport and these people refuse to change and refuse to go all in. We wont stand for it. We cant afford to.