Pete goes primetime
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Pete goes primetime
What's happening—and what's next?—at the intersection of Indiana politics and business?
By Adam Wren and design by Kris Davidson
Days until Indiana General Assembly Sine Die: 49
Days until the 2019 election: 241
Days until the 2020 election: 605
PRIMETIME PETE: In his first primetime appearance Sunday, sitting in a Jake Tapper-hosted CNN town hall, Pete Buttigieg hit a home run—as well as all of his favorite talking points—making little news for those who have followed his exploratory committee in recent weeks, but garnering a national buzz for the first time in his nascent campaign.
Buttigieg continued his broadside of Vice President Mike Pence, calling him the “cheerleader for the porn star presidency.” It’s an escalation in what started as only tepid ideological criticism of Pence only weeks ago—perhaps a signal to other campaigns that Buttigieg could be a prime veepstakes pick to take on Pence in the vice presidential debate.
To a national audience, he proved a revelation.
To the GOP, he seemed to register as a threat: On Twitter, the GOP attacked him for his low name I.D. and South Bend’s pothole problem. Notably, Indiana’s GOP did not go after Buttigieg with any kind of rapid response operation.
Nationwide, Buttigieg had 120 watch parties in 37 states, according to Lis Smith, his comms adviser.
Closer to home, Buttigieg drew 80 people at a watch party in Indianapolis.
Meanwhile, Buttigieg registered at 1 percent in the Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Saturday.
IMPORTANTVILLE TAKE: Buttigieg carved out a lane of his own Sunday, proving himself as much of an optimist as Beto O’Rourke and as much of a policy wonk as Elizabeth Warren—and with none of the generational baggage of Joe Biden. In many ways, he used the event to launch himself into a new echelon in the race for president.
Good Sunday evening, and welcome to Importantville. The Indiana House and Senate are in session Monday at 1:30 p.m.
WHERE’S VEEP? He has lunch Monday with the president at 12:15 p.m.
HAPPENING MONDAY: The Indiana Republican Party's 2019 Spring Dinner happens at the JW Marriott at 6 p.m. with Trump insiders Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.
BUTTIGIEG RETURNS TO NEW HAMPSHIRE
PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—As many as 300 people filed into a third-floor bar here Friday evening for a meet and greet with South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg during his second trip to the Granite State since forming an exploratory committee for a presidential bid.
The crowd cheered with rally-like enthusiasm as Buttigieg reprised his key talking points and policy priorities for about 15 minutes. The energy receded into calmer territory as he spent the next 90 minutes signing books, snapping photos, and speaking face-to-face with potential voters in a state that could make or break his potential candidacy.
Some attendees said they have already decided to vote for Buttigieg in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary next February despite the crowded field of candidates. One such voter, 49-year-old Jim McLeod of Manchester, said he didn't know who Buttigieg was until his interview with Stephen Colbert last month. McLeod, who voted reluctantly for Hillary Clinton in 2016 as "the lesser of two evils," said he's all-in for Buttigieg. He brought a copy of Shortest Way Home and wore a "Buttigieg 2020" baseball cap for Friday's event.
"As I've been getting older, I've been leaning more conservative, but the Republican party has just imploded as far as I'm concerned. I was apathetic about politics, and the 2016 election changed that for me," McLeod said. "This is actually the first political event that I've ever attended."
Even among his supporters, however, there's concern that picking Buttigieg as the Democratic nominee may not the best tactical decision headed into the general election. "I'd pick him in an instant," said Peggy Mikkonen, of Greenland, New Hampshire, who attended Friday's event with her 15-year-old daughter Molly. But if enough "small-minded people" voting in key states oppose him because he's gay, then Donald Trump could secure a second term, she said.
"Unfortunately, it's not a popularity contest, right? It's the Electoral College, so you have to be able to flip a couple of states," Mikkonen said. "And are those states willing?"
Perceptions that he is “too nice” to go toe-to-toe with Trump could be another potential liability for Buttigieg's primary prospects, Mikkonen added, noting that she disagrees with that view and instead sees the potential candidate as calm and competent.
Buttigieg responded to these electability concerns during a brief one-on-one interview. Americans are looking for an alternative to the current nastiness they see, so Democrats should select a candidate who will deliver decency rather than trying to emulate Trump's brashness, Buttigieg said.
"Often Democrats, when we try to be too strategic and try to go for electability, we wind up ironically producing somebody less electable," he said. "Call it quaint, but my take is we should just put up the person we think is the best for the job and trust that others will see those same qualities."
—Importantville Contributing Editor Steven Porter
MAJOR MOVES
Pete for America hired Andrew Galo, a former spokesman for Mel Hall’s 2nd District congressional campaign, as a press aide.
IMPORTANTVILLE READS
Niki Kelly, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, “Hate Crimes push hits snag”
Republicans looking for an easy out on hate crimes got some bad news last week.
Passing a bias crime law without an explicit list of designated characteristics is not going to get Indiana off the so-called naughty list.
Travis R. Morin, New Hampshire Union Leader: Buttigieg calls for larger Supreme Court, scrapping Electoral College
While he lacks the name recognition or fundraising skills of many of his Democratic presidential rivals, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., spent his Friday visit to the Granite State using a bold set of reforms to set himself apart from the growing pack of 2020 contenders.
Buttigieg announced his exploratory committee on Jan. 23, and while he’s yet to formally declare his bid for the presidency the 37-year-old mayor would be both the youngest and the first openly gay Commander in Chief in the nation’s history.
Mike Braun, Washington Times: Restoring sanity to drug pricing
Before being elected to the U.S. Senate last year, I spent 37 years building a business in my hometown, hiring hundreds of Americans and taking on the insurance industry to give my employees quality affordable health care while covering pre-existing conditions.
Today, I’m offering solutions to address the rising cost of prescription drugs by adding transparency to our pricing negotiations, clearing the way for more prescription drug approvals by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and providing oversight and accountability for the pharmaceutical industry.
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