Why ‘chaos and audacity’ make Pete Buttigieg think he can be the first sitting mayor to become president

Pete Buttigieg is the young mayor of a midsized city in America’s industrial midwest, a distinction that even he himself recognises is something of an unusual launching ground for the kind of moonshot candidacy he hopes will land him in the White House.

“I get the audacity of somebody like me proposing to run for president,” Buttigieg, who has served nearly eight years as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, told a crowd in Manhattan’s Upper East Side this past week. “I would also argue that there is something audacious to the point of obscenity about any mortal thinking they belong in that office.”

It is a touch of humility that allowed the Rhodes scholar and Harvard graduate to set the scene that has made his unlikely bid for the presidency resonate: he has “lived and breathed” in a midwest city left behind by outsourcing and technological revolution. He has served the same kinds of communities that shocked America three years ago by snubbing Hillary Clinton’s coronation to help send Donald Trump to the White House.

“When you are a mayor you find yourself confronted with issues: from economic development puzzles ... to sometimes something right out of Parks and Recreation,” he continued, describing a job that allows him to boast that he has more governing experience than Trump had in 2016. “We’ve got a duck-pond issue right now that is a really hot topic if you’re in South Bend. There’s a golf course that’s basically my Vietnam.”

The crowd cracked up at the thought.

But his life isn’t a sitcom, he reminded them: “When you’re having a good laugh ... that’s when you find out that there’s been a racially explosive officer-involved shooting, and you’ve got to, in a matter of minutes, figure out in your head what you’re going to say on TV that’s going to knit people together when they’re being pulled apart. When you don’t have the facts.”

“You learn to manage things you don’t control, how to control things you don’t own, and that experience may not be the same as being president,” he said, describing the chaos of an executive office at any level. “But, I gotta believe it’s as good of an experience as you can get to understand what it means to be leading in government.”

If the White House is the moon, then Buttigieg’s candidacy is still trying to make its way out of Earth’s atmosphere, but making much better time and ground than most probably expected.

Since a viral moment during a CNN town hall in mid-March, things have been on warp speed for a candidate who is seeking to stand out in a crowded Democratic field of more than 20 candidates. He’s dominated social-media mentions during large portions of that time. And, his campaign announced a surprisingly high $6m in fundraising at the end of the first quarter.

As America has grown more accustomed to the young mayor’s odd name – it’s pronounced BOOT-EDGE-EDGE, according to a giant wall in his campaign headquarters – he has been rewarded in some early polling.

He comes in fifth in the field among national Democrats, according to aggregates of polls conducted by Real Clear Politics. But, he comes in third place in those same aggregates of polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, which will be the first two states to cast votes in the nomination season next year.

Even with that strong showing, Buttigieg would be making history if he manages to jump straight from City Hall to the White House – he would be the first openly gay president, and the first millennial in the office.

To put things in perspective, while there are several senators running alongside Buttigieg who have been eyed with scepticism because very few sitting senators in history have managed to win the presidency, there is just one sitting mayor who has even won his party’s nomination. That was back in 1812, when New York City mayor DeWitt Clinton became the first and last politician to attempt the feat.

Speaking of New York City, Buttigieg isn’t the only mayor running for the 2020 Democratic nomination, either. He’s joined by the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, who recently joined the race, but his name received some jeers and laughs when mentioned to Buttigieg onstage in Manhattan.

At the Upper East Side event at the 92Y community centre, a line stretched around the corner from the venue and down at least an entire city block.

For $85 a ticket and up, spectators packed into the venue wearing their Sunday best. Beers were available for $12 a bottle, served by a bartender with the words “Pillars of Society” etched into the wall behind her.

When Buttigieg walked out to greet the crowd, one audience member yelled “46” – a reference not to what would itself be a young age for a president, but rather the number of the next president who would follow after Trump.

After taking a seat onstage, The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart said of Buttigieg that “people are getting to know you, they’re getting a feel for you”.

It was quite the compliment for the mayor of a city of 100,000 in Indiana who is running against a former vice president and, in Bernie Sanders, a leader of a progressive movement that nearly beat last cycle’s democratic nominee.

Even so, Capehart had to get one quick question out of the way, as he described Buttigieg’s apparent work ethic and attention to detail.

“How old are you?” Capehart asked.

“37,” the mayor replied. It was the first thing he had said all night.