L-R James Corden, Pete Buttigieg (image via The Late Late Show)One of the things to come out of this election cycle that I’ll long appreciate is the emergence of former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg onto the national stage.
Over the past year and a half, Buttigieg demonstrated how a mayor of a mid-sized city can show up and go toe-to-toe with not only experienced political candidates but also the press (Fox News, I’m looking at you).
Last night, Mayor Pete made an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden where he addressed the state of the election cycle (“It’s all going to come down to getting out the vote”) but also offered a positive view on the resiliency of the American people.
“We have to find a way to get through this,” said Buttigieg. “This is a country that has been through pandemics, it has been through wars; at one point, half the country broke off and declared war against the other half. And this country still stands. We have got to find a way through this and I believe that starts with electing new leadership.”
“Now, we’re also the generation that could blow it,” he added. “That’s part of the reason this election is so high stakes. But if we get it right in the next few years, the 2020s could go down in history as the time America stood up and turned in a better direction. And by the middle of this century could be delivering to humanity something as important as the founding of America itself. I really believe that – if we do the work, and that’s why we’re doing the work.”
And in another segment called “Late Late Show And Tell,” Corden asked Mayor Pete to share something from his home that the general public wouldn’t generally get to see.
Buttigieg revealed a red baseball he received on the night of his first date with now-husband Chasten. The couple had attended a baseball game, and the souvenirs were a give-away at the game that night. Later in the date, the couple held hands for the first time.
“That moment we held hands was one of the best moments of my life,” shared Buttigieg. “I keep this baseball around because they were giving them out that night. It’s just a reminder of how any given night can change the rest of your life.”
At a time when so many politicians and elected officials give us much to be cynical about, I find Buttigieg continually serves up reasons to look for the good in those in public service.