I'm thinking that Mayor Pete may be the Jimmy Carter for our times. President Carter’s
presidency has received a lot of criticism-- and indeed his reach often exceeded his grasp-- but
later historians are tending to see his term in office in a kinder light. But that's not exactly what
I'm talking about here.
What Jimmy Carter did for us at the time was to give us a moral cleansing. I think Mayor
Pete may do the same.
There are similarities. Jimmy Carter was an obscure one-term governor from a southern state.
He was an Annapolis graduate, a 10-year Navy veteran and a peanut farmer. That he thought
he could be elected president seemed, to say the least, far-fetched.
Pete Buttigieg is a Harvard graduate, a Rhodes Scholar, a recent Afghanistan war vet and
currently the mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He announced his run for president in January.
That he thought he could be elected president seemed, to say the least, far-fetched
Jimmy Carter said that he would never lie to us and as far as I know he never has. Pete
Buttigieg comes across as totally honest, thoughtful and unafraid of the tough questions.
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| Pete Buttigieg |
Maybe he has a crazy brother Billy. I'm sure sight unseen that he has a good mother.
If my Carter/ Buttigieg conjecture should prove true there are at least two ironies. First, Carter
was seen as somewhat different, a departure from business as usual when business as usual
had put a criminal in the White House. Mayor Pete would be a replacement for a president
whom a significant minority had chosen as something different. a departure from business as
usual, and put a criminal in the White House. A president Buttigieg would be a return to
normalcy.
President Carter was and is a born again Christian, a devoted husband and father. Pete
Buttigieg is openly homosexual (but he knows his scripture better than Mike Pence.) Perhaps the republic will see this man who speaks so sensibly as an opportunity to redress past wrongs, as many
white voters saw the election of President Obama.
I hear Democrats saying” Da, why are you supporting this fringe candidate? We need someone
who can beat Donald Trump.” To that I say I will wholeheartedly support whomever we
nominate, but Donald Trump has already beaten the only Democrat he could ever beat. Most
voters now clearly see him as so vile he couldn't beat Lester Maddox.
There are now only two major parties :Trump and Not Trump. As for the Not Trumps I keep
envisioning him on TV at one of his rallies with a handful of white people behind him wearing
MAGA hats and “I'm With Stupid” t-shirts.
I encourage Not Trump Republicans to vote in the Democratic primaries. This is your party for
now ( and you can cry if you want to). Your input will help choose the consensus candidate we sorely need at this dark hour.
- Ellis Millsaps
