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A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, a practicing and openly homosexual Catholic, Pete Buttigieg is considered the rising star of the Democratic Party for primaries. He has just been officially nominated for nomination on Sunday, April 14th.
" People have a hard time pronouncing my name, but at least they know who I am, " said the one who was still a famous unknown to the general public a few weeks ago. Pete Buttigieg - pronounced "Boute-Edj-Edj", if we believe the bio of his Twitter account - officially launched his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for 2020, this Sunday, April 14, since South Bend, in the Indiana.
Speaking at a former automobile factory turned into a start-up incubator, he said, " My name is Pete Buttigieg. They call me "Mayor Pete" (Pete the Mayor, Ed.) I am a child of South Bend, Indiana, and I run for the American presidential election . "
A meteoric rise
With an exemplary academic career, marked by passages by Harvard and Oxford, the polyglot democrat (he has learned seven languages, including French) is an outstanding speaker. His soothing voice, his self-confidence and his baby face appealed to the media (see his appearance on NBC's flagship program, Meet the Press) ... and viewers. So much so that this descendant of a Maltese immigrant got 11% of voting intentions in Iowa, according to a recent poll, behind the mastodons Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. This score is more than respectable, in this state is often indicative of voter trends.
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Another indicator of his current success, the one who ran for the presidency of the National Democratic Committee in 2017 managed to raise not less than $ 7 million in one quarter to finance his campaign. A total well below the 18 million Bernie Sanders or the 12 million Kamala Harris, but which underlines the hope that it arouses. " With his 37 years, he embodies the youth in a party in search of renewal, whose headliners are over 70 years, " notes Corentin Sellin, professor of history, specialist United States, joined by RFI. " It also exceeds the minimum age to present, which is 35 years. It is quite exceptional in the history of the United States. "
A " progressive capitalist "
Despite his young age, Buttigieg is entering his seventh year as Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, a city of more than 100,000 people in the Midwest, with a first mandate interspersed with a 7-month deployment in Afghanistan as counter-espionage officer. A feat for this practicing Christian, openly homosexual, credited with 80% of the votes during his reelection, all in a rather conservative state.
" He has the sense of contact, he shakes hands but has no rockstar side ," continues Corentin Sellin. " In the United States, we talk about" retail politics ": it embodies this door-to-door policy. "Mayor Pete", as he is nicknamed by his constituents, has managed to put back on the rails a city whose economy has collapsed following the closing of automobile factories while playing the card of the modernization. His biggest feat: to have dropped unemployment from 10.2% to 4.3%. Significant progress although " efforts remain to be made, " concedes the person concerned: the poverty rate is now 25%. To those who point out his lack of experience, he insists he has reaped more than Donald Trump before his election.
Financial support from the LGBT community has helped Pete Buttigieg 's 2020 presidential campaign defy expectations. https://t.co/HZxjlTsVI8 pic.twitter.com/czzfZqIOEC
ABC News (@ABC) April 9, 2019" The excitement he arouses is more related to his character than his program, still relatively vague, " tempers the historian. For the moment, only a few main lines have leaked through his interviews. Whoever describes himself as " capitalist " but " progressive " leans for a constitutional reform to revise the appointment and the number of judges of the Supreme Court, as well as for a suppression of the electoral college. Pro-unions, he embraces the battles of his party: a tighter gun control and the fight against climate change. Buttigieg is against the death penalty and finally advocates the establishment of universal health coverage. For Corentin Sellin, it constitutes " a synthesis of the democratic electorate ".
A playing card for 2020
Like Barack Obama and unlike the most influential Beto O'Rourke, the young veteran tries to gather the Democratic electorate around him without targeting a particular community. Nevertheless, the robot portrait of his typical voter seems already drawn: the millennial . In other words, those 18-35 year olds who shunned Hilary Clinton in 2016, especially in states like Michigan or Wisconsin.
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It remains for Pete Buttigieg to ride this wave of notoriety until the primaries, whose kickoff is set for February 2020, without exploding in flight. " You have to be wary of runaway. Among Democrats, there are several occurrences of candidates who have collapsed after starting well. Especially since so far, the victories in the primaries concerned only senators, governors, etc. Pete Buttigieg is only mayor, "recalls Corentin Sellin. But the historian assures him: " He will have a card to play. "