Easy Sunday: An event with Pete Buttigieg

Presidential candidates are making their moves. 

Future presidential candidates are finding excuses to get around the country to meet influential people, to field-test policies and political messages, and to raise money. They are looking to see if they catch on. If they do, they will start building a national team, with field operations in early-primary states. A presidential candidate talks about the big picture, offering a moral and political narrative about the state of the country. They are creating their brand.

Pete Buttigieg is making his move. He was in Marion, Massachusetts this week.

Chip O'Hare, Pete Buttigieg, Bobbie O'Hare

Chip O’Hare's guest post is a field report on a fundraising event for Pete Buttigieg. Chip is a college classmate. Following college, he entered the U.S. Navy, then Harvard Business School, and then his family food brokerage business, now called JOH, a private company in its eighth decade and third generation.

Guest Post by Chip O'Hare

Peter Sage's post on the Jon Ossoff event prompted me to send him a note about a similar fundraiser for Pete Buttigieg held in Marion, Massachusetts on August 4.  Pete was in our area for three fundraisers in seaside locations that also included Providence RI and Provincetown MA.  He has been crisscrossing the country speaking and raising money for his PAC (Win the Era) and has been in 31 states in the past six months, appearing with local politicians and raising money.

Marion is a sailing and golf Mecca on the south coast of Massachusetts near New Bedford, a major fishing port and former whaling capital of the US where Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick. It is a typical summer colony with large waterfront homes.  It is not a political hotbed, with little political discourse as folks set aside their red and blue labels, for the most part, in the interest of keeping things cordial in the community. Those in attendance reflected that gentility, and I'd describe the crowd as older and polite.

My wife and I found out about the event by word of mouth and signed up two weeks prior as co-hosts, allowing us to attend a post-reception dinner with a small group of donors. We like Pete Buttigieg a lot and wanted to see him in person. He didn’t disappoint.  

Pete arrived on time with a small retinue and stayed at the reception for 90 minutes. I was struck by the lack of security, other than one local cop who directed traffic and a burly driver who I’d guess was a bodyguard of sorts, though he was not actually in the event space. As a result, the event had an air of informality, in which Pete fit well. He came across as personable, with an intense look when speaking to you. He focused on each person with whom he spoke, and I never saw him look over a shoulder to spot who was next. He was well advanced and very comfortable in the crowd. His clothing was on-brand, as he wore his usual navy/royal suit, open collar white shirt and brown Oxford shoes. (I must admit that as a 76-year-old, I’ll never understand wearing brown shoes with a blue suit!)  Anyway, Pete looked and sounded sharp. His ego was not on display, as he comes across as a quiet leader, knowledgeable of the details of government and very comfortable speaking on policy issues. 

Pete spoke about the seriousness of our times and the effort it would take to reverse the Trump agenda and Project 2025. He spoke of affordability, grocery and gas prices and the lack of housing. He expressed concern about the election and the attempt to lock in red districts through gerrymandering, which he would like to see ended with a constitutional amendment. He described the political environment as a war where the MAGA element is dismantling the old paradigm which calls for a much stronger response from the Democrats. He didn’t mention the DNC or its issues but stressed the fundraising strength of individual candidates and PACs. When asked about the democratic socialist movement, he expressed hope that the party could operate as a big tent where everyone focuses on the task of replacing the MAGA agenda with one of honesty, transparency and accountability, with no room for corruption. He didn't mention Israel or Gaza, the issue where the big tent is straining now and will likely strain even more in '28.

After the reception, about 20 of us walked next door to a private dinner where Pete took turns joining the three tables of sponsors. Being in the produce business, I brought up the cyclospora issue during our salad course (Yikes!), and Pete emphasized the importance of the FDA and other government agencies under fire from the Trump administration. We all ate the salad anyway, as it was made up of CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture, i.e. greenhouse/safe) lettuce grown nearby by Little Leaf Farms, a company I represent in my food brokerage business. 

Whether Pete Buttigieg is electable in '28 is the question as we head into the midterms and on to the '28 presidential contest. My feeling is that this cycle will not favor a gay candidate, as the trans issue will remain a negative for Democrats, especially with the '28 Olympics being held in LA, where the trans/sports issue will be in the spotlight, barring a solution agreed upon by the IOC. The issue is a millstone for Democrats.  

Pete Buttigieg is the type of politician who is thoughtful and competent, and his time may come to lead the country, but I see someone rising from relative obscurity to lead the party in '28, as Carter, Clinton and Obama did in their times. If that person is a democratic socialist, however, independents like me and my wife will have a decision to make. Right now we see Jon Ossoff, Mark Kelly and maybe Andy Beshear as candidates who could bring us together and lead us out of the mess we are in. There may be others, but they better get started, as things are going to move fast after the mid-terms.

The event was quite successful and raised over $200,000 for Win the Era, and Pete Buttigieg showed the contrast between thoughtful politicians and those now running our country.

 

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