Mayor Pete has some tricks up his sleeve.
As Pete Buttigieg‘s profile as a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate continues to rise, you can see the PR gears churning in real-time.
It’s not enough these days to simply be “qualified” to occupy the Oval Office, what voters really need is pizazz!
So what if you think you can talk down foreign leaders from the brink of war in the most complicated geopolitical chess game of human existence. Everyone can do that.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Can you tap into the electric current of harmonic ecstasy? Can you be a Rock God and shred your melodic truth down from Mount Olympus?
Mayor Pete can… sort of.
While there are certainly lots of folks looking to restore some intellectual integrity to the executive branch — and by all accounts, openly gay Mayor Pete has that to offer — the cult of personality is a powerful beast.
And Buttigieg’s musical skills are already being presented as a showing of broad relatability.
Reminiscent of Bill Clinton’s 1992 saxophone solo on the Arsenio Hall show, Buttigieg’s guitar and piano playing is beginning to infiltrate the pop culture bubble.
We first saw the band Spoon fawn on Facebook that “this guy can just do everyone’s job, huh”:
So this guy can just do everyone's job, huhPiano: Pete ButtigiegVideo: Lis Smith
Posted by Spoon on Friday, April 12, 2019
“Are you kidding me? This guy! He may have just won me over,” wrote one commenter, and the sentiment was echoed hundreds of times.
“OK, now I like this guy!” declared another.
And here he is playing some Jimi Hendrix on TMZ this week:
We love a talent show, truly, but we also love serious debates on the harrowing issues facing humanity.
Here’s hoping there’s room for the latter as the 2020 election machine becomes sentient and takes on a life of its own. We’ll just go ahead and buckle our seatbelts now.
Dan Tracer is a queer writer, noisemaker, and amateur astral projector. Find him on Instagram.
ingyaom
Plug it in, Pete!
eidolonnyc
He’s like the Bill Murray character in Groundhog Day!
yaletownman
I’ve resisted being too vocal about my support of him. I wanted to make sure I liked what he presents and stands for and not be accused of being in his corner as just being a gay person who supports him because he is gay.
Recent interviews I’ve watched have confirmed for me that I can now support him and defend my choice on all levels. I really think he’s a great choice and I hope others can too,
Doug
Me too. I think he could even win over a lot of the conservative voters.
Gary Q VV
Excellent reasoning, yaletownman. But, I’m too focused on LGBTQ Rights and Freedoms that I’d support most any qualified Queer contender. Call me a dreamer or unrealistic, but l’ve been fighting for Gay Rights since the early 70’s, and I’m not about to give up now. How could we not support a fellow qualified Queer candidate for the President of the United States? Mayor Pete wants to be elected not because he’s Gay, but because he has sound policies, creative ideas, ethics and a caregiving heart.
Karlis
I agree, yaletownman. To me, the tipping point was his presidential campaign announcement, which I happened to catch live on CNN even though I live in Europe (good timing). I really did think that in cadence, he sounded like President Obama, and his message was most uplifting. But I will also confess that I decided that if he is still in the primaries by the time they get to Illinois (home town Chicago for me), I will vote for him no matter what and simply because he is of my tribe, so to speak. That he is intelligent, well-spoken, multi-lingual, sincere to beat the band, and also talented musically? That’s just icing on the cake.
Beachman
Mayor Pete is the most genuine candidate the Democrats have running, and is also the most strategic. People like this don’t come along very often and his stratospheric rise over the past few weeks is a testament to that. Watch this guy…he’ll surprise you and has what it takes to win it all.
Bryguyf69
yes, influential black radio host, Charlemagne Tha God, agrees with you. Of all the Democratic hopefuls he’s interviewed — including fellow African- Americans, Kamala Harris and Corey Booker — he found Buttigieg to be the “most authentic.” To see the entire CNN interview, google “Radio host Charlamagne Tha God assesses 2020 Democrats.” Other major black publications have also given Buttigieg high praise. The audio recording controversy doesn’t seem to have affected his standing much in the black community.
Gary Q VV
Come on, Mayor Pete! …you can make it to the Oval Office. And, the funny thing about it, is your trump card is already in the Oval Office!
mz.sam
Pete’s my man! I would be proud to have my kids aspire to him as America’s role model…(if I had kids). But, I think he’d best leave the jammin’ to the pros and stick to his day job…running the White House in 2020. ‘FEEL THE BUTT in 2020’…Vote, Pete!
RevJames
I love him but that was just awful.
Brian
Uhhh, these videos show he is definitely competent on two instruments, but that’s not “tearing up” either one. This coverage of him is so awkward. Another year and a half of this will get exhausting.
Hdtex
But….but….BUT! HE’S GAAAAAY!
Hdtex
Pity he seems to have no policy positions, but YEAAAAA!!! HE’S GAY!!!!
DCguy
Sweetie, if you’re going to pretend not to be a troll, you probably shouldn’t mock the idea of a publicly out candidate so gleefully. Now go back to the troll farm and tell your manager to put a smarter person on this account.
Bryguyf69
Hdtex – that says more about your lazy ignorance than Buttigieg. His policies are well-known. Try reading his New York Times bestseller, Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future, which has 4.8/5 stars on Amazon. Or watch his much-touted CNN Town Hall. Or read Pete Buttigieg: An Unofficial Concise Guide to the 2020 Presidential Candidate. Or just stop being lazy and do a websearch. Duh!
white-queer-african
Folks, ignore @Hdtex, A troll of note. Mayor Pete gets our vote too. That’s me and my husband.
designdude
This man is for real.
DCguy
Nice! I’ll vote for whomever wins the primaries and faces Trump but this guy is seeming really good so far.
Felecia
Hello from Indiana; where we LGBT folk finally got rid of that Nazi-sympathizer Mike Pence as he left town to go lick the boots of his master in DC…in return, we now have Mayor Pete to be thankful for, lol….as the ‘churchies’ scream Pete is the anti-Christ, we scream back “nope, just the anti-Pence, lol”…I wouldn’t vote for anyone simply because they are gay and/or from my state; yet South Bend’s Mayor Pete is the best candidate so far. He has brought a breath of fresh air to a process corrupted beyond belief these days with the pursuit of money and power. So what if he has no experience in Big, Big Government…Ronald Reagan was a washed-up lousy actor, until the day he died always still waiting for his cheesy close-up, lol…and Trump has proven that the only thing in government he truly understands is how to dismiss someone from their job. I think he believes he’s filming another season of ‘The Apprentice’, the old fart…just shooting on a different set, lol….okay, so Mayor Pete is a small fish in a large pond; but I’m not finding that the pond-scum which will surround him in DC has any chance of sticking to his skin and corrupting HIM. That alone makes him worth voting for, and nevermind the gay thing….go Pete !!!
GayEGO
Love your comments!
GayEGO
Hey hey hey! Love musicians, nice job Pete! P.S. I was a Navy musician who played the flute, piccolo, and alto saxaphone!
Billysees
Love and prayers for Pete and the big job he has ahead of him.
MatthewHall
This is what Alan Downs calls the ‘best little boy in the world’ syndrome of gay men overcompensating for their feelings of inadequacy by devoting themselves to skills that are publicly admired.