Fresh off a big surge in New Hampshire polling, Pete Buttigieg shows up on Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov and gives sage advice for his party.
Namely, avoiding falling into a trap Democrats have made throughout the Trump years — from Hillary Clinton’s campaign through now — by urging the party to look beyond Trump and focus on what it’s for and not what it’s against.
Trump’s weaknesses are low hanging fruit. Americans don’t like his style and a lot of how he does things. Why focus on what they already see?
But if persuadable Americans don’t like what Trump is offering, it’s not enough to just be the anti-Trump. You have to be the pro-something.
And that’s what Pete articulates here, and I think it’s a message Democrats are going to have to remember going forward.
“I think our party is still struggling to have this idea of what happens when Trump leaves the scene as a beginning point instead of the be-all-end-all goal of what we’re doing….. We are understandably so horrified by all the abuses that are going on right now. It’s just not enough. Maybe it’s enough for 2026, but it’s not actually enough to be a governing vision. Especially because so much has changed.”
So what does that look like?
“We’re going to need, probably, a completely new social contract in our economy because of what artificial intelligence is likely to do to jobs communities in just the next few years….. we have to have answers to end not just the horrible things we’re seeing right now; but what to do about it.
…. And the really amazing thing is — on so many of the answers — including things we’ve been saying all along, including that the wealthiest pay their fair share of taxes or making sure that there’s a better solution for people to get health care…. like 2/3’s of Americans agree with us.
…. If there’s issue after issue where 2/3’s of Americans agree with us and we’re not always getting 50% in the elections, how are we talking about these things and where are we talking about these things. Whether that’s people like me going on Fox…. or whether it’s going to these spaces where more people get their information that aren’t on TV at all…. sports, and culture, and comedy venues that are actually how a lot of younger people form their impression about what’s happening in the world.
If we’re not contesting that territory…..we’re going to be left behind because I now for a fact that the other side is doing it the other day.”
Tarlov then mentions his appearance on Flagrant, where Peteimpressed the Republican-leaning hosts.
Again, that’s where I think Pete is at his best — engaging with the other side in a way that’s not combative but constructive.
Whether you agree with him or not, he’s very good at it, and it’s something Dems are going to need.
So the reason I flag this interview is that he points out two very important things for Dems going forward.
a) To win in 2028, they have to be pro-Something; not just anti-MAGA.
b) And to deliver that message, they have to loosen up, lighten up, joke around, and talk about solutions in a way that’s positive.
Right now, there’s a prevailing theme that Democrats need a fighter to take back the White House, but the pendulum of history suggests that each new president is a corrective in vision from the previous.
If that holds, the winning Democratic candidate will offer something hopeful with a smile, rather than dystopian with a frown.
Btw, here’s his turn on Flagrant. Note how well he takes the gay jokes. I can tell you – young straight guys disillusioned by Trump are gonna love that and reconsider the party if the nominee adopts that kind of chill attitude. Not because these young guys are homophobic. But because of fatigue with what they feel were the excesses of the woke era of the Left.
