The potential partnership between generations to revitalize hollowed-out towns and cities is critical to national recovery, Buttigieg said—particularly as issues like gun control and climate change increase resentment from millennial and Gen Z voters towards their elders.
“Good leadership is negotiating among all kinds of cohorts that have justifiable frustration toward each other,” Buttigieg said, after The Daily Beast explained the “ok boomer” meme as an indicator of rising generational tensions. “Of course, there are going to be these frustrations… but the idea is to really make the most that you can out of the areas where there’s common feeling, knowing that there should be enough to what it is to be American that it’s kind of giving us the glue even across those kinds of divides.”
That unlikely intergenerational partnership in rural America could also represent a huge strategic win for Democrats, whose electoral losses in rural America could represent a major problem for Senate control down the road.
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“I like especially that he’s talking about, like, we need good education and cultural opportunities, not just for jobs but just so your quality of life is elevated,” echoed companion Katie Stevenson, who grew up in a small town in Virginia and worked as a missionary in rural Nevada. “I don’t hear anyone else talking about that. So I think that’s a really powerful message.”

More immediately, however, Buttigieg’s emphasis on rebuilding small towns with grants, training programs and craft beer has been a boon to a candidate who less than a year ago had no national political profile—particularly in communities where they’ve already tried everything else.“In many ways, Berlin is a lot like South Bend,” said Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier, who introduced Buttigieg on Saturday. “It’s taken a lot of work, creativity and unconventional ideas, but we’re going to keep moving forward. We’ve got a lot of work still to do, but we never gave up on our city.”