Pete Buttigieg Remains Popular Among Democrats – Democrats continue to hold Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in high esteem despite questions about handling his current job.
Why Democrats Love Pete Buttigieg
‘Mayor Pete’ places third after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the Real Clear Politics Average with 9.3% support.
A CNN poll from last month found that 5% of Democrats saw Buttigieg as a worthy replacement for Biden, noting that most Democratic voters preferred someone other than Biden as their party’s standard-bearer.
He could be a strong candidate for 2024 should Biden opt not to run. This seems unlikely, considering that Biden hinted to NBC’s Al Roker on Monday that he plans to run next year but has not decided when he plans to make it official.
‘Mayor Pete’ as he was known in the media during the 2020 election beat his boss in a Granite State Poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, in January among Democrats. Twenty-three percent of likely Democratic voters chose him as their man compared with 18% for Biden.
He had a 69% approval rating among Democrats in January.
Run, Pete, Run?
Pete Buttigieg has been dismissive about whether he would run.
“And that’s how I think about running for office. I’ve used that process to run for office before. And I’ve used that process that decision process to decide not to run for office before. And I know it sounds like the right thing to say politically, it is the right thing to say politically is also true, that I don’t know what the future looks like, or whether those stars will ever align in the future,” Buttigieg said in an interview with CNN. “What I do know is I already have a job, and it’s a great job.”
A Tough Job
Pete Buttigieg has been the administration’s point man when it comes to pushing transportation issues through Congress.
Republicans have panned Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s handling of his job, suggesting he only has the position because of his sexuality.
“I think Buttigieg is a perfect example of the danger of setting up some kind of program that says we don’t care how competent you are. We care whether or not you fit some box we’ve created. He happened to be, I think, perfect for the Biden administration because he was the kind of person who represented, for the gay community, a unique appointment,” Gingrich told Fox News last month. “The problem was he’s incompetent. It’s not a question about his sexual orientation. It’s a question about competence.”
Gingrich continued:
“He didn’t know how to respond when the entire air traffic control system was closed down for the first time since 9/11 … I mean, how many times, you know, in baseball, that’s three strikes. How many times do you have to watch him to realize that Buttigieg is a PR agent?”
Critics have taken aim at his handling of transportation meltdowns that have happened on his watch. They have included matters such as his handling of the East Palestine, Ohio derailment; the nationwide shut down of the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) systems that guide air traffic and provides crucial information to pilots in January; and the Southwest meltdown in December.
Buttigieg’s lingering popularity among Democratic voters could make him a strong candidate should Biden change his mind. It certainly will ensure a strong chance in 2028.
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John Rossomando’s work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award in 2008 for his reporting.
