Pete Buttigieg is the Most Requested Surrogate for Democratic Candidates, More Popular Than Kamala Harris: Report
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is the most requested surrogate for Democratic candidates running in the midterms, according to a report by CNN.
The article on CNN.com by senior reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere identifies Buttigieg as so popular he’s getting more requests to stump for Democrats than even Vice President Kamala Harris.
“There’s no precedent” for a “relatively low-ranking Cabinet secretary” to be in such high demand, wrote Dovere, but Buttigieg has forged a unique path with a surprisingly strong venture into the 2020 Democratic presidential primary after his only previous political experience being mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
Multiple sources told Dovere that Buttigieg had the benefit of being a “fresh face” and an eloquent speaker plus two key advantages over Harris: he doesn’t attract the same Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is the most requested surrogate for Democratic candidates running in the midterms, according to a report by CNN. of intense scrutiny from GOP operatives who monitor every Harris appearance and he doesn’t have to travel with the massive entourage and security apparatus that accompanies the person next in the line of presidential succession.
Bringing in the veep for “[e]ven just a few hours on the ground can run tens of thousands of dollars and create traffic and other hold ups,” wrote Dovere, a logistical and budgetary headache for campaigns in the final stretch before Nov. 8.
The spike in demand for Buttigieg to come join other Democrats on the campaign trail “may be an early indicator” of the party’s preference for their next presidential nominee, whether that occurs in 2024 or 2028, depending on President Joe Biden’s decision about running for re-election.
Dovere joined CNN Newsroom anchor Jim Acosta on Sunday to discuss his reporting, noting that Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were getting a lot of requests from campaigns, but Buttigieg was getting more than Harris.
“It seems like part of what going on is that people want to have the association of a Democrat, of a national political celebrity but there is a little bit of a hesitation” over bringing in the president or vice president, said Dovere.
The Biden Administration was also frequently sending Buttigieg to appear on the Sunday shows, Dovere continued, because “there is a feeling like he’s more agile in front of the cameras.”
Husband and wife political commentator team Margaret Hoover and John Avlon then joined Acosta to discuss Buttigieg’s emergence as a key surrogate for the Democrats.
The 2024 chatter around Buttigieg was a result of him being “the best communicator right now in the Democratic bench” and someone who “represents generational change,” said Avlon. He’s “gotten a reputation as being someone who can come in and crisply make the Democrats’ best argument.”
Hoover mentioned how former President Bill Clinton had campaigned for Barack Obama at the DNC and “everybody joked he was the secretary of explaining things.”
Clinton is “just a talented communicator and so is Pete Buttigieg,” she continued, noting that there is currently “nobody else in the Democratic Party who can encapsulate an issue, speak to an average voter, put it in simple plain talk, and distill complex issues into an argument that is palatable and relatable, and that is a really difficult thing to do.”
“Ultimately, it all comes down to communicating,” Hoover concluded. “You gotta be able to communicate with voters if you’re going to be an effective representative, and that’s what Buttigieg can do better than anyone else in the party –”
“Including Biden,” Avlon interjected.
“– including the president, right now,” Hoover agreed.
Watch the video above, via CNN.
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