Ok, a few (
) thoughts on Buttigieg in general, and yesterday in particular
I first started paying attention to Buttigieg around the same time as everyone else - about a month ago after the CNN Town Hall. I had known
of him before that - but never really paid attention
to him until Mid-March. I have tried to learn as much as I can, watching interview after interview. The three words that come to mind first are: Intelligent, Thoughtful and Uniter.
As I have watched - there just seems to be something special about this guy - and when I knew he was going to have his launch rally, I thought this could be one of those moments when you look back, and say: "Remember when...?" So, a week ago I made up my mind to make the trip to South Bend, and fortunately, my daughter was also up for the adventure.
Over the last month, even as I have really come to appreciate Buttigieg, and his message - I had a nagging feeling about whether he could take a small-town mayoral campaign, and turn it into a national campaign. I had my doubts - but, ironically it was a lesson from Trump that should have opened my eyes.
When Trump was running for President, and particularly after he won, I thought that the gravity of the position would weigh on him, and would impact how he governed. But, when someone tells you, and shows you, who they are over the course of months (years) - believe them. Trump is exactly what he advertised himself to be - there should have been no surprises.
So - as I wondered whether Buttigieg could build a credible national campaign - I ignored what Pete was saying and doing. Again - the impression he leaves after every conversation: Intelligent, Thoughtful, Uniter. That is who he is. And, if you listened to any interview where the question came up about when Pete was going to announce - the answer was always the same: "You only get one chance to launch a campaign, and I want to make sure we get it right."
When Pete announced the launch rally - it was originally set to take place in a park in South Bend (I think everyone else with a launch rally has done it outside). Outside is the best venue for something like this - because it allows for both a big crowd, but also avoids looking like a disappointing crowd if it only half-fills a venue. I RSVP'd but was also keeping my eye on the weather - and all week the forecast never changed - cold and 100% rain. Sure enough, by Thursday, the campaign moved the rally indoor - into an old Studebaker factory, that is being transformed into warehouse style offices for tech companies. Email from the campaign confirmed the move, that they had my RSVP, and gates open at 12.
I did a quick google of the building, and it is quite large, so I assumed it had capacity for everyone....
We got up early on Sunday, and left by 7, and we were in South Bend by 12. We decided to get a quick bite to eat, and then parked, and walked about 15 minutes to the site - got there a little after 12:30. Along the way, we passed people who said the building was full, and they were turning people away - but we just drove 5 hours, and i had RSVP's damnit!! Sure enough when we got to the building police outside are not letting anyone in the building unless they had Press credentials. Apparently RSVP did not count as credentials.
But, we soon discover they have set up a big screen behind the building, and they have a viewing area set up - so we head in, even had to go through airport-style security just to get to that area.
At this point, a few things have already dawned on me - first, we should have come up on Saturday, second, this was a pretty popular event, and third - the campaign knew exactly what it was doing. The campaign knew, by the RSVPs, it would have an overflow crowd for the venue, and that meant a packed house inside, which is good for visuals, but they also were prepared for the overflow crowd - in more ways than one. Obviously they had the big screen set-up, but they also had a dozen or so porta-potties set up, and significantly, they had a merchandise tent set up selling t-shirts, and giving away buttons. They did not run out of shirts in any design, or any size - and every purchase meant collecting an email address. In other words - they were prepared, and expected the turnout they got. That is a sign of good organization.
The crowd outside looked a lot like the crowd inside - except we were all wearing jackets and hats. But, it was predominately white. It reminded me of a Bernie rally - with one subtle distinction. The crowd had a pretty normal distribution age-wise - saw a lot of college age on up to "older" voters. I would guess most would be considered "educated" - obviously a number of ND gear, and also saw a few Harvard sweatshirts out to support one of their own. But, the mix of men and women was pretty equal - whereas when I saw Bernie, there were some, but fewer, women in the crowd.
Outside there was a real buzz about the crowd - it could have been just trying to stay warm, but you could feel the energy. We got a chance to talk to a number of people, we had driven the furthest - but we met several who drove up from Indy and Chicago, and a few from Ohio.
A funny moment from when the rally started - the preacher was on, and the speakers outside were not working - I wasted my youth on rock concerts and loud music, and thus now have the hearing of an 80-yo man - so my daughter turned to me and said: "Don't worry, the speakers are not on - its not just you dad!"
They got the speakers fixed - and even I could hear at that point.
Seeing the stage inside - my impression is that it was well designed in appearance, I thought the campaign logo was fantastic as a backdrop, I thought the large flag hanging on a sidewall of the building was very well placed - visually, everything looked professional. These are all small, yet important details - and is a sign that the campaign was aiming for a national launch, not a small local campaign.
The choice of introductory speakers was very well planned:
Minister - to connect Pete to faith
Mayor of Dayton - female, connected Pete to importance of mayors in the rust belt, as they rebuild towns/cities for the future
Mayor of West Sacramento - another mayor, gay, descendent of immigrants - very energetic speaker
(I missed who the 4th speaker was - other than a NBC news alum, and I think a well-known news figure from Chicago - who happened to be a 2nd mother to Pete - so she knew him personally, but I did not think she was the best in terms of rallying the crowd).
My only quibbles with the pre-rally line-up - the National Volunteer coordinators - they both seemed a little out of their depth.
Then the campaign had prepared for Pete to speak to the outside crowd - had the mike and sound system in place - and he came out and spoke to the crowd for a few minutes - Seemingly spontaneous, but quite clearly planned and well executed.
So, my take-aways - Pete has been telling us who he is: he does not do anything in a knee-jerk reaction. He is smart and thoughtful. If he says he is ready to lead - believe him.