Whew, Chris Landry, it looks as if you got it all out. Well done and full marks for passion and doggedness.
The heads turned to Pete Buttigieg because he fits the makings of a pretty decent President — of course he has to muster the votes, and there is a long way to go. He presents a vision for the country and its place in the world. Pete has a wealth of intelligence together with pragmatism to make it happen. He is good at talking to people and an even better listener — he craves learning. This is an enormous plus.
We are electing a President and not a God. Their decisions will be fashioned, refined and compromised by others — not altogether a bad thing. Ideologues are known for inflexibility and makers of general unhappiness (Jimmy Carter was perhaps an example of this). We live in a democracy after all (although under fire lately). Pete has an appealing broad interpretation of democracy. This includes freedom for us to buy from a world market at their prices — whether it be our smart phone, fast car or cheese. Pete’s democracy also means that the protection of markets is strictly limited — no moats around companies and industries. The glaring examples of market protection in cable and drug companies are rightly pointed out by candidates Sanders and Warren but their solutions are wanting and often fail to address the underlying issues.
Just how we relate to the rest of the world is arguably the primary job of the President. Our security and trade agreements are vital to our well being (they have been responsible for our safety and prosperity for the lifetime of this country). Buttigieg, has demonstrated himself as the most interested, knowledgable and in command of world affairs of all the candidates. Few others have approached the subject — certainly not on their own (although Klobuchar delivered an excellent rebuttal to President Trump’s foreign policy December 12).
Past Presidents who arrived with little interest and understanding of world affairs have delivered American tragedies (Lyndon Johnson with Vietnam, Jimmy Carter with Iran, George W Bush with Afghanistan and Iraq, and Donald Trump with an unfinished list).
Your Pete Buttigieg debit sheet should certainly be taken into account and viewed along side his credit sheet — just as you would view the sum of any candidate.
