Given that he was entirely unknown on the national stage before he formally announced his candidacy last April, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s ascension to the top tier of Democratic candidates is perhaps the most unforeseen development of the primary season thus far; yet, it is also perfectly fitting and in many ways even predictable. Though any prospect of the former South Bend, IN mayor’s electoral victory seems to dim by the day, he appeals to a coalition that appears to be multiplying. His carefully crafted, silky manner of speaking is alluring, no doubt, but his rhetorical acumen and feel-good pomposity make up the totality of his intrigue. “He gets the juices […] of idealism flowing through liberal veins,” writes Kyle Smith of National Review. “He speaks the language that they don’t merely respect, they revere—the language that hushes them up and makes them knit their eyebrows in sympathy.” Savvy in his speech and unyielding in his sanctimony, Mayor Pete is emblematic of the style-heavy, substance-free progressivism that reigns supreme on much of the left — particularly among the young, upper-middle-class, ‘spiritual-but-not-religious’ types. Buttigieg’s millennial snootiness and New Agey bombast are indicative of the rise of a shallow intellectual brand that disseminates hot air under the guise of sophistication, wokeness under the guise of moderation, and conceit under the guise of candor.
Buttigieg’s well-established ‘smart guy’ aura is the crux of his popularity. Look at all the things he’s done!, his supporters say. He went to Harvard! He’s a Rhodes Scholar! He can speak seven languages! He served in the Navy! He worked at a consulting firm! Not unlike President Obama, Mayor Pete depends almost solely on empathy-signaling platitudes that might tug at the heartstrings, but in reality fail to offer or communicate anything other than nice-sounding words and the ever so important impression that he cares. When asked how he plans to garner support from African American voters during a November 2019 campaign event, for instance, Buttigieg replied: “So, what’s working for us best right now in engaging the black community is two things: first, substance. And secondly, engagement.” In other words, the key to “engaging the black community” is, in fact, “engagement.” Genius! When asked about specific policy plans, he mostly resorts to restating the question and merely acknowledging the existence of the problem in long-winded, often sermon-like responses that might be soothing and sober in tone, but are banal and bland in essence.
Buttigieg often boasts of his interpersonal “experience on the ground” in South Bend, referring to the Indiana college town as one of the “best-run communities in the heartland.” What remains strangely unacknowledged by the media, however, is that USA Today ranks South Bend among the worst cities in the United States, and since Buttigieg began his tenure as mayor in 2012, the city has seen its highest rate of violent crime in two decades. The city’s murder rate is exorbitantly high given its small size. In his eight-year term as mayor, Buttigieg has gone through three separate police commissioners, two of which have been accused of racism and misconduct. His attempt to create modular homes for South Bend’s drug addicts and mentally ill – one his most notable acts as mayor – flopped, as the homes lapsed into crime hubs that ultimately forced him to spend over $40,000 to remove six of the seven housing units as a safety precaution. It’s no wonder the Buttigieg campaign deflects when asked about the mayor’s record of public service, instead turning to his seemingly enchanted ability to instigate change, hope, and unity through the “boldness” of his “ideas.” But his “boldness” is really his only “idea,” and is apparently all it takes for anyone to be considered a frontrunner for the presidential nomination in today’s Democratic Party.
Mayor Pete’s supposed moderation and capacity to reach across party lines is similarly farcical: the few policies for which he offers anything more than his ‘Let’s rally together behind bold ideas!’ shtick are just as radical as those of his left-most Democratic opponents. Though Buttigieg rightly recognizes that ‘Medicare for All’ (as proposed by the likes of Senators Sanders and Warren) would remove nearly 200 million Americans from their private health insurance plans, his allegedly more moderate ‘Medicare for all who want it’ proposal would accomplish precisely the same, albeit in a nicer and calmer way, over a span of several years. Even Buttigieg admits his own plan would provide a “glide path” to what Sanders and Warren seek to implement on a more immediate basis. Buttigieg’s language on abortion is likewise anything but moderate. In a January Fox News town hall, he shrugged off a pro-life Democrat who asked him if there was any room for “more moderate language” about abortion in the Party’s official platform — suggesting that his campaign’s “effort to include everyone” really only applies those who are predisposed to radicalism or otherwise susceptible to his superficial charm.
Perhaps most irritating about Buttigieg is his insufferable smugness and condescension. Following the humiliating result-delaying technical failures of the Iowa caucuses, for instance, he hastily presumed and declared victory when only one percent of voting results had been reported. Even more telling is his frequent insistence that Republicans use religion as a political “cudgel,” which is ironically representative of the way he has approached matters of faith on the campaign trail. Despite there being no evidence of any bad blood or hostility between himself and Vice President Mike Pence, with whom he regularly interacted when Pence served as Indiana’s governor, Buttigieg routinely hurls personal attacks at the Vice President for his traditional views on marriage and “fanatical” social beliefs. By all indications, the Vice President has treated Buttigieg with nothing but courtesy and respect: when Buttigieg came out as gay in 2015, Pence — who is falsely characterized by much of the left as a homophobic extremist — responded, “I hold Mayor Buttigieg in the highest personal regard. I see him as a dedicated public servant and a patriot.” When Buttigieg was deployed to Afghanistan, the Indianapolis Star reported “a noticeably moved Pence called Buttigieg the day he was driving to the base.” But since announcing his candidacy, instead of reciprocating Pence’s graciousness in spite of their policy differences, Mayor Pete has derided the Vice President as bigoted and intolerant because, well, it fits his party’s narrative.
He similarly disparages Christian supporters of President Trump as purveyors of “unbelievable” “hypocrisy.” During a July 2019 Democratic debate, he invoked Scripture to condemn “so-called conservative Christian senators” for blocking a bill to raise the federal minimum wage. Meanwhile, no prominent Republican has ever questioned Buttigieg’s faith (despite his proud advocacy of abortion on-demand) or launched baseless attacks against his personal motives. Whether he knows it or not, Buttigieg has come to embody the very vindictiveness and holier-than-thou contempt of which he is so eager to accuse, without evidence, his political adversaries.
At this point, of course, Buttigieg’s chances of victory are slim, but his popularity and broad base of support ought not be overlooked. In reference to his failed plan to build modular homes for the drug addicts and mentally ill of South Bend, a local college student commended Buttigieg, stating he “went into this with the best intentions.” To his supporters, admirable intentions are all that matter. The Buttigieg Brand, in short, is a brand of “best intentions.” It’s a brand of vague promises that elevate soul over substance. It’s a brand of empty eloquence, of unabashed duplicity, of patronizing self-righteousness. The Buttigieg Brand, in all its contradictions and deficiencies, has a small but all-too reasonable shot of making it to the White House in a few short months. National Review’s Kyle Smith aptly observes that “The Woke Left draws much media attention these days, but don’t underestimate how much the Best-Intentions Left matters to today’s Democratic party.” We should all be careful to heed his advice.