Los Angeles Times

Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the hottest thing in politics. Can it last?

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Pete Buttigieg was home recently, back in the Indiana city where he was born and serves as mayor. He was at the library on Main Street, at a book signing for his autobiography, and everything seemed familiar, the way it's always been.

Only not.

"People looked at me like I was some kind of celebrity," he said, "and it was in South Bend, and I was thinking, 'You guys know me. We've been in this very same room and you've been yelling at me about neighborhood stuff.' It was like I was a different person."

That's what it is like to be the breakout star of the 2020 presidential campaign and, for the moment, the hottest thing in American politics.

The Democratic upstart with the inscrutable surname (pronounced BUDDHA-judge) and platinum resume - Rhodes scholar, business consulting background, Afghanistan War vet - has raised an impressive $7 million, begun climbing in

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times5 min read
Fireworks, Drones, Travis Scott Hats: USC Hosts Alternative Graduation Event. Feelings Are Mixed
No valedictorian speech. No celebrity speakers. No main-stage ceremony, and no massive graduate walk to “Pomp and Circumstance” before tens of thousands of guests. Instead, the University of Southern California’s graduating seniors — whose traditiona
Los Angeles Times2 min read
Woman Claiming To Be Real Martha Tells Piers Morgan 'Baby Reindeer' Is 'Hyperbole'
Will the real Martha Scott please stand up? At least one woman has now done so: In an interview with British television presenter Piers Morgan that was posted to his YouTube channel on Thursday, 58-year-old Scotswoman Fiona Harvey claims to be the ba
Los Angeles Times5 min readWorld
Commentary: Since The Hamas Attack, Israelis Have Begun Arming Themselves The American Way
Among the core Israeli national narratives that have been fractured by the Hamas terror attacks and months of war and violence is the notion that Israel’s ethos on firearms differs from that of the United States. Both countries can be characterized a

Related Books & Audiobooks