Pete Buttigieg is my Second-Favorite Candidate for POTUS

If Bernie Sanders (to whom I owe my allegiance for the decades he has spent doing the right thing for the American people, and for pushing the progressive agenda to the forefront of American justice) weren’t running for the Presidency, I would be on board with Mayor Pete Buttigieg (pronounced boot-eh-jej) 100%. Everything I’ve seen about him, I like.

He’s gay. He’s Christian (which is not an oxymoron–I’m trans and Christian), he’s smart, kind, a polyglot (speaks several languages) and he’s positive and inspiring. His policies appear equally progressive. He’s young, with it, and very personable. Other countries would admire and respect him. He would appoint judges to the Supreme and other courts who are fair-minded and not bound by religious and political ideologies that are antithetical to what’s best for citizens. I think he’s a peacemaker, a bridge builder, not a war monger.

Best of all, just like Bernie, he’s everything Donald Trump and Mike Pence aren’t. He’s a true Christian (who believes in the separation of church and state) in that his heart beats in the social justice realm. “The least of these” are frequently on his mind. He cares about everybody and appears beholden to no one (as far as political cronyism is concerned).

And how cool would it be to have a President and a First Gentleman living in the White House for the first time in American history?

I’d love to see him choose a female running mate, another progressive voice who will take her place in the Senate to break ties and influence a more gracious assembly of representatives.

It’s great to see so many good candidates stepping up to the plate. I hope the cornucopia of good people doesn’t split the vote and cause animosity among people whose progressive policies are nearly identical. The thing to keep uppermost in mind, I think, is that Trump and his administration must be soundly defeated and its policies overturned as quickly as possible.

The USA should not be in the business of encouraging division and wars, separating families (perhaps forever) at our southern border, encouraging mob violence against other groups of citizens, limiting women’s reproductive rights and their ability to earn the same amount of money in the same jobs as men, putting into place far right judges who are bent on turning us into a theocracy (the American Taliban), and so much more.

The current trajectory has to change. People like Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg are the kind of people who get it. I can’t see Elizabeth Warren–as much as I like her–as President. The way she presents herself isn’t Presidential. I don’t know how else to characterize it, and I can’t exactly put my finger on it. I love her policies for the most part. I simply don’t see her as Presidential. Certainly I’ll vote for her if she gets the nomination–I’ll vote for whoever gets the DEM nomination because no one in the current line-up is worse than our current commander in chief–but I don’t think she’ll get enough votes to beat Trump. I could be wrong, and I hope I am.

Besides, Bernie is the front runner right now. He’s the one most Americans of all political affiliations want to see as our next Commander in Chief. I hope he gets it. He has earned it.

I hope he appoints most of his runners up to positions in his administration so we can take pride in our Executive Branch once again.

I hope Pete Buttigieg is someone we’ll be hearing more from for the rest of my life.