Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is set to headline a Democratic conference in South Carolina as he weighs a potential 2028 presidential bid, putting him in the early spotlight in the state that national Democrats recently selected to kick off the party’s presidential primary calendar.
Buttigieg is scheduled to appear at the event just three days before an expected runoff in the Republican Senate primary, giving him an early opportunity to engage with South Carolina Democrats.
The event comes as Buttigieg, 44, is increasingly being discussed as a potential 2028 contender. Last week, he said he was considering a presidential run, telling Steven Bartlett on an episode of The Diary of a CEO, “I think I’m more inclined than not, but there’s so much we don’t know.”
Like, I get his appeal — kind of. But, the last thing we need right now is a neoliberalist centrist. Also, if the US has a would rather elect a fascist con-artist than a woman for president, I somehow doubt the US is ready for a homosexual for president.
I don’t trust him and probably never will, but I do admit he’s at least charismatic. He’ll be able to navigate not being a straight white man. Anyone he can’t charm to see past that wasn’t going to vote for a Democrat in the first place. It’s the same reason AOC being a woman isn’t a problem.
Buttigieg also had the veneer of forward thinking progressivism before he turned moderate because Bernie and Warren had filled that lane (why I’m never going to trust him). So he can also give lip service to big change like Obama did too. He just doesn’t believe any of it.
Like Obama he’s nicely packaged but too enraptured with the idea of power to actually meaningfully pursue change. And we can’t keep turning to painkillers when we’ve got these increasingly infected wounds. When you leave things like Guantanamo to fester because it’s just too hard and you want good vibes, they open the way for lawless concentration camps at home.