The Indy Star has a short piece on Pete Buttigieg who is running to be the Democratic nominee for state Treasurer to take on the quixotic Richard Mourdock.
Buttigieg has a politically unwieldy last name and he’s young, 28, but he’s probably smarter than you (and me):
Buttigieg is a graduate of Harvard University and studied economics at Oxford University in England as a Rhodes Scholar. Until recently, he was employed at the Chicago office of the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm, specializing in economic development, energy and logistics. He resigned to launch his campaign.
Sure, we have an anti-intellectual streak a mile wide in this country where we want politicians to go with their gut and not any silly book-learnin’. (See, e.g. Mourdock’s position with Chrysler – to him it just *felt* wrong, never mind that there was no scenario in which his legal wrangling would yield more money to Indiana on its questionable investment.) But, between you and me, I want a guy who’s handy with the spreadsheets when it comes to watching over the state’s money.
Pete is a brilliant guy with a very keen understanding of the importance of the office of Treasurer. His name, (boot-uh-jig) should be on everyone’s bumper.
boota-judge or boota-jig.
Now, I am confused. Some other (supposedly reputable Democratic blog) said it was pronounced boota-judge, IIRC.
Saw him speak a couple of weeks ago in Bloomington. In addition to being smart, he’s very sharp and polished. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him run for Gov. in a few years.
He is really impressive – not just that he is really smart but that his intelligence is informed by (and informs) a sincere concern about how real people are affected by economic forces. To hear him talk about Studebaker in South Bend is pretty powerful, expecially coming from someone who was born 2 decades after the plant closed. And I like his problem solving approach, rather than blind ideology and political games, which seems to be the alternative path right now.
Pete took the trouble to visit us and speak at our JJ dinner in little Starke Co. I was impressed by his qualifications and his brief statement.
What were his grades? Are they a state secret? Maybe he isn’t really all that smart. Does he have any common sense? Maybe he’s not a citizen. Does he use a teleprompter? (Kidding, kidding.)