I'm not sure whether what he said qualifies as an announcement.

If Pete’s our nominee, he’s got my wholehearted support.

But he'll never get the nomination
This country is still too ignorant

This isn't quite a formal declaration, but sounds promising!

I don't know how he'll do, or if he could win, but he explains politics better than just about anyone.

He's so smart, and knows how to talk to real people.

someone to vote against, at least.

But he's 100% got my vote.

The reason so many straight men don't like gay men is because so many gay men have feminine traits, and that, to them, is a type of perversion. After all, why would a man want to be a lowly woman?

The straight men who hate gay men hate trans women even more. Thsy spend their days getting worked up about trans women in sports and who should be allowed to use which restroom while completely ignoring the fact that trans men even exist, much less what a can of worms is opened when trans people of either gender are forced to use restrooms that correspond to their sex assigned at birth.

I wish I understood why so many conservative, straight, cis gender men are such fragile snowflakes.

government and institutions, and restore them back to what they should be, instead of serving at the behalf of billionaires ...

I'd rather have Pete as a shoe-in US senator or rep rather than waste time and money on a longshot presidential run.

Mind you, I'd send money and vote for him for POTUS. I just think the time isn't right for him now, not the least because of what the right would do and the fact that his children will see.

I wish he would focus on a run for senator or governor instead.

He would be a truly great president, but there's no chance he'd win that election or even the nomination. I hate the fact that it's so, but it is so.

Sadly the country is not ready.

That only wealthy white Christian heterosexual men need apply to be in government?

Because all I ever hear now is stuff like this. I guess our "big tent" has been reduced to only accepting rich white heterosexual men for public offices.
Except our best and brightest rich white Christian heterosexual men are out here sexually assaulting women.

and needing new energy.

Identity politics in general are not the way to go.

Best candidate is the way to go.

Kamala running drags us into identity politics and old energy.

Remember her attack on Biden during debates?

Dems have got to laser focus on the economy, imo.

You said "the country isn't ready".

If my assumption you meant that the country isn't ready for a gay man to be president then what did you mean?

Pete is a great person, obviously loves America, but America is not that open-minded to elect a gay man.

president. There will be questions concerning Biden's mental acuity and whether he was involved in covering it up. I don't think he did anything wrong, but that doesn't change public opinion. That isn't the reason I would want to lose in 28,

but I fear that our country is not ready for a married gay man with kids. They wouldn't vote for a white woman (Hillary) or a black woman (Kamla) which saddens me more than you know. We have to out number the homophobes.

Ooooh, I'm torn.
The greedy part of me would love to see him as our governor. Big Gretch and her AG and SoS have been so competent and I just don't want to return to anything less than what we've had going on. I would be so relieved with Pete as governor.

But Pete can absolutely restore our standing with allies if he were president, he would excel at all things foreign policy, and holy Pete(!) we could start to get back to normal.

The man is just a good human and brings me hope in the way Obama and Kamala did, and he has my vote whatever he decides. Happy to put his sign in my yard for sure.

I wish he was running for governor or senator here in the great state of Michigan. We'd be so lucky to have him.

but the homophobes and turds in this country will never elect a gay person as POTUS which melts my MIND to contemplate. It's sad, it sucks, it's obviously unfair and maddening really. Just too much Uber religious, bigoted, homophobes in this nation. Period...full stop. He'd be best utilized in a high level cabinet position in Kelly's administration. Similar to Harris.

Pete has my vote x 1000

He has the courage and the vision and the smarts to be an amazing president! Let's do this!!

And former secretary of transportation?

We’re not talking defense, state or attorney general…

I like Pete, but that’s a thin resume. Sorry.

I'd like to see him spend at least another 4-8 years as a senator before I would consider him seasoned enough to be a presidential nominee.

I understand statewide ambitions were limited, if non existent in Indiana, but Michigan is definitely more blue at the state level. For example, the state attorney general Dana Nessel is a married woman.

Damn them all. All though I would vote for him FOR EVERYTHING HE’D RUN FOR. HE’ll NEVER be elected POTUS. Now wait a minute……did I EVER THINK A BLACK MAN COULD BECOME POTUS TWICE???? Yeeeehaaaaa, you betcha baby.

Buttigieg ☮️💟🌈🌊🇺🇸

I would really like to see him debate the Publican that runs against him.
I’m supporting whoever we pick.

lives so much better. But they can’t see past their hate, so they will continue to vote against their own best interests.

Last edited Sat Apr 11, 2026, 01:45 AM - Edit history (1)

He is a good communicator, good debater, and has a following. He won Iowa in 2020, which is notable, but he finished with 2.5% of the national vote.

He will be tough and would be one of the best debaters to put up against Vance.

and I don't see what he will have done in that 8 years to make himself a better candidate this time around.

Mayor is still his highest elected office and he hasn't won an election in a decade. I just don't see Transportation Sec as being something that's going to take him very far.

He needs a bigger role to raise his national profile. Senator, Governor, Secretary of State....something more to be taken seriously. This is a Democratic Primary, and so far Democrats have still demanded exerience in their candidates.

And the cabinet position is significant. His experience isn’t typical of a primary winner but I have no problem with him trying.

but I just don't see him winning the nomination.

And what is happening in the Republican ticket. I also wonder how electable voters will consider him. If they don’t consider him electable in the GE, it will be even tougher. I don’t think there is a clear front runner from the big name candidates.

And be heavy favorites in 28. There will be no shortage of candidates in the primary.

from here on out, which means we're pretty much limited to Newsom, Walz, Kelly, or a few other choices that have even less of a national profile, or we decide we're willing to not be limited by that. I personally don't think Walz and Kelly do well enough in front of the camera in interviews to play well before the media, though I think they are decent people and they remind me a lot of Joe Biden in that regard. Terrible in speeches but good, decent people. We could do much worse. But I think in this day and age, media savvy plays a big role and if we go that route, I think it will be Newsom unless something comes out about him a la Swalwell.

But I find it wild that some on DU are suggesting the country is too bigoted for gay men, but they'll elect a Black woman. That would be an incredibly foolish risk where we wouldn't figure out we had gotten ourselves in trouble until it was too late and general election voters weren't going for it. It would be foolish to discount a candidate because we think the country is too bigoted for a gay man and then think it's not going to cost us a lot of votes from young people and Muslim voters to put a Jewish guy on the ticket, especially with what's currently going on in Israel.

I’m not getting into homophobia nationally. It’s harder to predict in terms of swing states. It also appears that being a lesbian is less problematic electorally than being a gay married man. I can think of several lesbians elected statewide in elected offices in swing states; not men.

You also have to factor in that Kamala Harris did so poorly in the same primary (placing far below Buttigieg) that she dropped out before voting even started. Her popularity ratings did not improve during her time as vice president and that "experience" did not translate to voters wanting to vote for her.

At this rate, I suspect it will be Newsom as he ticks all the boxes and has a national profile while no one else does at the moment, and if we're discounting someone like Pete for being gay, that means Harris is out of the running too (newsflash: if the country is too bigoted to elect a gay man, we're too bigoted to elect a Black woman too--you can't have it both ways), but we'll have to see.

His candidacy is a good thing. From all outward appearances, Pete looks like a very principled man with unimpeachable integrity. I’ll be disappointed to learn otherwise.

And it is a pleasure, indeed!

I believe Pete Buttigieg is the future of our Party ... but he's still young. He can afford to wait a few years and get a little more experience. He did a great job in Biden's cabinet as Transportation Secretary.

Hillary in NY, for but one example). I so wish he had run for the US Senate in MI this year, as all 3 of the top Dems running in 2026 are young (as is, to a lesser degree, the other MI Dem US Senator, Slotkin, who turns 50yo in July) so unless (nightmare) the older MAGAt Mike Rogers (who will be almost 70 years old at the end of a first term) wins, there may no be an opening for a MI US Senator for 25, 30 (or even more) years (again, barring some Rethug slipping in down the road).

For that matter, I also wish Harris had run for CA governor.

I think his “diversity” (for a lack of a better term) could be turned into an asset like Obama did in 2008, simply because—and I have to be very careful how I say this—I think his gravitas persona is palatable enough to Middle Americans who might otherwise be hesitant to elect a gay man as President.

Of course 2028 is much different than 2008. Assuming Trump doesn’t kick it but also doesn’t attempt some extra-Constitutional craziness like try to force a third term on us, say Pete wins over JD Vance or whatever patsy the Republicans put forth. Then Trump decides he just doesn’t want to leave. After January 6th, it’s not that unimaginable.

I know I'll catch hell but people need to understand the importance of WINNING '28 (AND '26)
And I dont care who or what group or whatever needs to step aside to make that happen
The WORLD is at stake

I think he would be able to do a good job BUT...

the party of child molester Trump would hammer him for the gay factor.

Why are right wingers and the religious right so dead set against gays, trans, and others? --- Misdirection.

Republican Sexual Predators, Abusers, and Enablers Pt. 61

https://www.dailykos.com/blogs/CajsaLilliehook

And I think there's a LOT of decisions made (reexamined and then remade) in the next two years.
(and not only by Pete)

Who can't jump the hurdle of bias: HRC and Harris. Obama was male and straight and marginally Christian. I really believe we need another Obama.

America is used to First Ladies, not First Gentleman's. I love Pete as a person, but I don't know why people on here think this country is ready for this. We are all open-minded, but most Americans are not. Pete might win 5 states. Latinos are very homophobic and we'd get clobbered with Latino voters. Also southern, church going, African-Americans,are not voting for him. So you can forget winning GA or NC. That's a goner. Pete's campaign is just a fantasy with most coastal, white liberals. That's not a winning coalition. But he has every right to run for President. God Bless him.

Still is.

In our politics, if you're anything but a white straight Christian male (if you're a woman, gay, black, muslim), you must have the "it" factor that allows you to ascend the attempts to place you in that "other" box. Pete has that "it" factor, Obama had the "it" factor, and Mamdami had that "it" factor.

Look at Pete's popularity with the Fox crowd when he did the Fox Town Hall with Chris Wallace in the run-up to the 2016 election. He got a standing ovation after his reply about abortion for heaven's sake (why he is pro-choice), then he'd go to a Democratic rally and get standing ovations there as well.

I honestly believe that Pete's being gay is only going to be an issue for the hard-line right wing that wouldn't vote for a Democrat regardless. I think he will have a huge appeal to Independents (crucial), young people--a very important voting block who may be more motivated to get out and vote for someone different than the usual old, white, straight male--and dip into the non-MAGA GOP base.

Good luck Pete.

May INTELLIGENCE reign over SOCIAL BIGOTRY.

The rust belt and south will never accept a gay man as President. I hope they prove me wrong

This country is too bigoted to elect a gay man. They will not even accept a woman!

Pete is brilliant.
Wish our homophobic country didn’t care that he’s gay.

Correct – and bigoted and hateful.