Live from New Hampshire: Buttigieg seeks to build on Iowa victory By Luke Perry
The line wound out the building and down the block hours before the doors opened. Pete Buttigieg’s narrow Iowa victory has galvanized this once improbable campaign.
In introducing him, Rep. Annie Custer (NH-2) tells audiences that 10 percent of New Hampshire voters are still undecided, just days before the primary.
According to St. Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics, five candidates are polling between 10 and 20 percent: Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg.
The most recent CNN/University of New Hampshire poll, released moments ago, has Buttigieg surging into second place behind Sanders.
Custer contends that Buttigieg has the “right temperament to restore integrity and decency” to the White House.
Photo by Luke Perry
Buttigieg aspires to mobilize an inclusive national majority. The mayor of South Bend speaks of a purposeful presidency dedicated to the “unification and empowerment of the American people to do great things.”
“The right way to govern,” Buttigieg said before a recent town hall in Salem, “is also the best way to win.” He called for “challenging Trump on his own terms” in order to secure victory.
God and patriotism are two examples. “God does not belong to one political party,” Buttigieg said. Patriotism is not “chest thumping” and organizing military parades.
Buttigieg believes the president “needs to be challenged to his face that traumatic brain injuries are a hell of a lot more important than bone spurs.” Donald Trump received a deferment from the Vietnam draft due to bone spurs and has described head injuries sustained by U.S. military service people as “head aches,” which are not very serious.
Buttigieg spoke of his military service in Afghanistan. He encountered people from different backgrounds, who learned to trust each other with their lives.
Photo by Luke Perry
Buttigieg said this campaign was framed as a choice between revolution and the status quo. “Most people are somewhere in the middle.” This is precisely where Buttigieg seeks to position himself.
Buttigieg highlights his Midwestern background as reflective of the country as a whole. He spoke of his in-laws, who are small business owners, and rely on insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act to pay for cancer treatments.
Buttigieg supports Medicare for all who want it, rather than Medicare for all, so that millions of people are not kicked off their private insurance coverage.
Buttigieg spoke of South Bend suing opioid manufactures, “and it looks like we’re going to win.” He called for a monthly cap, based on income, on how much people have to pay for prescription drugs.
Photo by Luke Perry
Buttigieg’s optimistic message, and his persona as a potentially barrier-breaking, young Midwestern candidate, invoked Barack Obama’s tone in the 2008 campaign. The themes of hope and change were woven throughout Buttigieg’s articulate delivery.
Buttigieg asked people to think about how it would feel on the day when the sun comes up and Donald Trump is no longer president. “Are you ready for that? Is that a good day for America?”
“I don’t even that’s a partisan statement anymore,” Buttigieg quipped with a smile.
Photo by Luke Perry
The primary campaign as a whole has been relatively mild in terms of clashes among candidates, but this has changed in recent days, particularly for Buttigieg, who has drawn more attention, and more political fire, following Iowa.
Buttigieg looks to replicate his early success here in New Hampshire, which also fits well with his favorable demographics of whiter, more rural people.
Bernie Sanders will be a formidable challenge; however, given his landslide victory here in 2016. He does not appear to be missing a step, after overcoming a heart attack earlier in the campaign.
A top three finish is certainly possible for Buttigieg, and would further bolster his rising standing in the race.
Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Government at Utica College reporting from Manchester, New Hampshire
