Pete Buttigieg visited Clinton College for his campaign trail on Saturday March 23. The 37-year-old is running for the Democratic ballot for the upcoming 2020 election. People from around the York county area and around the country came to see a glimpse of the young, energetic candidate. The Clinton auditorium was filled with reporters and community members anticipating the message and political standing Buttigieg is fighting for.
Malik Frazier, sophomore social studies education major, helped with crowd control and organizing the event for the Democratic party organization based in York County.
“I think Pete Buttigieg is an amazing guy. He is very young, very energetic. He’s not your typical presidential candidate being that he’s openly gay,” Frazier said.
Due to the Buttigieg background Frazier reflects on this.
“I think that brings a new wave of energy in the crowd and that’s why you see a lot of people from different backgrounds in audience,” Frazier said.
Buttigieg’s speech was focused on gun reform, affordable health care, and immigration.
Buttigieg’s father moved in the 1970s from Malta so he could give his family better job and education opportunities. Due to this he is a huge advocate on reforming the immigration system in the U.S.
“We need to recognize that immigration is our strength. We need to fix our broken immigration system,” Buttigieg said.
He further reflects on being a war veteran and his months of gun training before serving in the Afghan war. Buttigieg talks about his ideals on gun reform and background checks.
“I believe we can show respect for the Second Amendment and also keep our communities safer, with common sense gun reform.When we draw that line, let’s do it in a way that recognizes that some of these weapons of war have no place in peacetime, in American neighborhoods and cities,” Buttigieg said.
Furthermore, Buttigieg talked of his mother’s double bypass surgery which was financially supported by Medicare and helped him in his most vulnerable moments as a child.
“I think about the difference [Medicare] made in my most vulnerable moments, shouldn’t every other American have that freedom?” Buttigieg said.
As the presidential election is nearing, Frazier is excited for the upcoming presidential election due to the diversity which Buttigieg is apart of.
“[We do have a diverse presidential ballot] I think we have a mixture of candidates. We have a really diverse field of candidates that are ready to become president on day one,” Frazier said.
Buttigieg is the first openly gay presidential candidate. Buttigieg served in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a lieutenant and is an Afghanistan war veteran. Buttigieg is a Harvard graduate and is currently the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
Under Buttigieg’s leadership, there has been economic reform in South Bend. His leadership has impacted the global economy through a rise in employment and creating investments in industries that focus on data and technology.
