Real Clear Politics had a fascinating interview with Mayor Pete on Sunday that touched on the topic of how best to campaign against Trump. Buttigieg made some great points that all of our candidates should take to heart.
First, Mayor Pete stated “I'm not interested in expressing my anger about him, as much as I am in defeating and ending his presidency.” And that’s the point all of our candidates need to internalise. Mayor Pete explained:
But at the end of the day, it's not about him, it's not about me, it's about you. Not you, our host this evening, but the voter. … [H]ere's the thing about this president, because he has the ability to take any attention that comes his way, including attacks and criticism, and just kind of devour it. And so we [the candidates] could [un]intentionally be feeding the beast by competing to see who's the one going to be landing the biggest punch, the best zinger. And the reality is if you step back and think about [that] mentality, that's an environment where it's almost like he's the one we [the candidates] are trying to impress.
Now Mayor Pete is not saying that he’ll back down from Trump in debates. Quite the opposite:
If we want to have a debate with him, or a fight over any number of things from the difference between how I approach service and the way he did, the fact that I was packing my bags for Afghanistan when he was filming season seven of "Celebrity Apprentice," we could have that fight. And if somebody … wants to raise the question of which one of us has a more traditional attitude on marriage, we can have that fight.
But, Mayor Pete is saying that what the American public is looking for is someone who will pay more attention to them than Trump does. Someonenot paying as much attention to Trump as he does to himself. If all our candidates do is talk about Trump, they not only are playing into Trump’s hands by making him the focus of the conversation, they are failing the American people by failing to engage in a discussion of the public’s needs.
Whether you like Mayor Pete or now, I think those are words of wisdom that deserve real consideration.