| Jan. 24, 2019 - Yesterday South
Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced formation of a presidential
exploratory committee and discussed
his
decision
in
a
media
availability. Buttigieg, 37, has served
as mayor of South Bend, a city of about 102,000 people in northern
Indiana, since 2011, with a break of seven months in 2013-14 to serve
in Afganistan. Today, addressing a plenary session at the U.S.
Conference of Mayors, Buttigieg acknowledged that he understands "the
audacity of running for president at my age,
especially because sometimes downstairs I'll still get carded when I
order a beer." However, he stated, "[R]ight now I believe the
time has come for a new generation of leadership to come forward at the
highest levels." Buttigieg also made the case that his service as
mayor has been good preparation to serve as president. "A mayor,
like a president, has to do three things," Buttigieg said. "To
capably run an
administration, to pass and implement good policies, and most
importantly, and most missing right now at the national level, to call
people to their highest values in times of stress and division."
Bringing his speech to a close, Buttigieg outlined the three pillars of
his (exploratory) campaign: freedom, democracy and security. transcript |
