Buttigieg rallies Democrats in Washington
Brad Hundt/Observer-Reporter
With Election Day a little more than a week away and with “fundamental issues of decency” at stake, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg stopped at Washington County’s Democratic Party headquarters Friday afternoon to urge supporters of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign to do the volunteer work that he believes will deliver a victory on Nov. 5.
“I think we’ll do it, but it’s really going to be a game of inches,” Buttigieg explained at the event in downtown Washington. “Every vote is going to matter. It will likely come down to just two or three votes per precinct, so that’s why it’s so important to have people knocking on doors, talking to their friends, making those phone calls, sending those texts and urging them to keep doing that.”
Buttigieg, who arrived on the national spotlight during the 2020 election cycle when he made a longshot presidential bid at age 38 and after serving as mayor of South Bend, Ind., is one of many high-profile political figures from both parties who have been criss-crossing Pennsylvania as Election Day draws closer. Washington was Buttigieg’s third and final stop in the Pittsburgh region on Friday. Earlier in the day, Buttigieg visited the Clemente Museum in Pittsburgh, and then made a stop in Cheswick.
“You are the center of the political universe right now,” Buttigieg told supporters, noting that Pennsylvania is one of seven battleground states where the razor-thin contest between Harris and Donald Trump would be decided. “You are definitely right in the absolute epicenter.”
He joked, “You could well decide the course of this election, and therefore the trajectory of Western civilization, so no pressure.”
Buttigieg also believes that, with a Harris victory, “We could have a better politics. We could have politics a little bit less front and center. We could also have a quieter Thanksgiving table, and we could have what I think is very important to the country, which is a normal Republican Party.”
In recent days, the Harris campaign has been suggesting that Trump is a fascist. This follows an interview that Trump’s former chief of staff, John Kelly, gave to The Atlantic magazine, where he characterized Trump that way. Buttigieg said he believed Kelly is “not wrong.”
“It’s not something he said lightly, I’m sure,” Buttigieg said. “I think it’s really important to be honest about that.”
He also declined to say if he would remain as transportation secretary should Harris win, or if he would return to Michigan, where he has settled with his husband, Chasten Buttigieg, and run for governor or for a Senate seat there.
“I’m just trying to get through the next 11 days,” Buttigieg said. “We’ll see what the future holds.”