Seattle lines up to see Mayor Pete
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg brought his Democratic presidential campaign to Seattle on Tuesday to a packed house at The Showbox.
Such a high-profile visit from a contender is rare for Washington state this early in the campaign cycle, and indeed, seemed to be a curiosity for many of the passers-by around the Pike Place Market area.
As the line continued to grow longer outside the venue and snake around the block, some stopped to see what the fuss was about.
“What is this line for?” one woman asked an attendee.
“It’s for Mayor Pete .... Booda-gig?” the attendee said tentatively, still struggling to pronounce the mayor’s last name. “He’s running for president!” he added.
He was quickly corrected with a chorus of “BUDDHA-JUDGE” from others in line.
By the time the next person stopped to ask, he had it down.
When Buttigieg took the stage after 5 p.m., he was greeted by an enthusiastic cheering crowd of a reported 1,100.
“I should come here more often!” he responded.
The crowd was equally thrilled to see his husband, Chasten, who stayed behind the scenes backstage until the end and later tweeted his view of the audience from just offstage.
Buttigieg ticked off elements of his broad policy proposals addressing issues such as climate change, saying the nation needed something as ambitious as a moonshot to address it, as well as a need for an equality act.
And, he offered his own thoughts on patriotism as a veteran, giving him some of the loudest cheers from the crowd that evening.
“That flag that was attached to my shoulder,” on his military uniform, he recalled, “I’m pretty sure it stood for the idea that you can criticize your leaders without anybody telling you to go back to where you came from.”
The final question of the evening seemed to give him the most pause: What would he be doing if he weren’t a politician running for office?
He thought for a moment. A novelist, maybe,“if I were more creative,” he said. He added that at some point, he wouldn’t mind being a stay-at-home dad.
“But first I’ve got to be president with your help,” he said in closing to more cheers.
The Showbox appearance was bookended by an earlier private fundraising stop in Portland, Oregon, and later on Tuesday another private fundraiser in Seattle.
His private fundraisers typically come with heftier prices to attend than The Showbox event, where tickets started at $25. Buttigieg topped the other Democratic candidates with his fundraising amount in second quarter, raising close to $25 million.
Polling, though still has him running behind other, more familiar contenders such as former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders.
Indeed, organizing events among the top contenders’ supporters have already launched in the state. The level of organizing and outreach is a reflection of Washington’s earlier presidential primary, now in March instead of May, which has raised the state’s profile in the race for electoral votes.
The state’s primary is one week after Super Tuesday.
Buttigieg also is an example of candidates’ race against time. After leaving Seattle Tuesday evening, he was scheduled for more California fundraising events this week, in addition to an appearance at the NAACP convention in Detroit.
This story was originally published July 24, 2019 at 7:34 AM.
