You\u2019d be forgiven for not knowing, or at least not knowing how to pronounce, Pete Buttigieg\u2019s last name (it\u2019s\u00a0boot-uh-judge<\/i><\/a>). His political experience to date includes two terms as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and \u2026 well, that\u2019s pretty much it.<\/p>\n But on Wednesday Buttigieg became the\u00a0second mayor<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0throw his hat in<\/a>the 2020 Democratic presidential primary ring, and he\u00a0might not be the last<\/a>. Buttigieg\u2019s age \u2014 he\u2019s 37 now, and would be the youngest U.S. president ever if elected \u2014 and Midwestern background could help him stand out against a\u00a0quickly<\/a>\u00a0crowding<\/a>\u00a0field of aspirants. But it\u2019s also possible that Buttigieg, who wasn\u2019t even included in a recent Politico\/Morning Consult\u00a0poll of 20 potential candidates<\/a>, won\u2019t be able to get on voters\u2019 radars or build a base of support.<\/p>\n On paper, Buttigieg is impressive. The son of an immigrant father from Malta, Buttigieg graduated from Harvard, earned a Rhodes Scholarship, and worked as a consultant at McKinsey before moving back home to Indiana at age 29 to become the mayor of South Bend, making him the youngest mayor of a city with more than 100,000 people. While still serving his first term, Buttigieg took a seven-month leave of office to serve with the Naval Reserve in Afghanistan in 2015. Less than a year later, Buttigieg came out as gay. Buttigieg\u2019s sexuality didn\u2019t stop South Bend voters from re-electing him to a second term with\u00a0more than 80 percent<\/a>\u00a0of the vote.<\/p>\n All that success didn\u2019t go unnoticed. In a 2016\u00a0New Yorker interview<\/a>, Barack Obama name-dropped Buttigieg as a potential leading light for the party. And the New York Times (\u201cThe First Gay President?<\/a>\u201d) and Washington Post (\u201cCould Pete Buttigieg Become the First Millennial President?<\/a>\u201d) have both published profiles of Buttigieg in the last three years.<\/p>\n Now, though, Buttigieg faces the challenge of turning that attention and potential into a campaign. How might that happen?<\/p>\n When FiveThirtyEight editor-in-chief Nate Silver wrote about how\u00a0Democratic longshots might build constituencies<\/a>\u00a0in 2020, he identified Millennials as Buttigieg\u2019s core base.<\/p>\n If Buttigieg can become the preferred choice of young voters, though there\u2019s no guarantee of that, it would give him a powerful toe-hold in the race \u2014 Millennial voters could account for about a third of all primary voters in 2020. Even in his announcement video, you can see Buttigieg leaning into his youth and the need for a new generation of leadership:<\/p>\n I launched a presidential exploratory committee because it is a season for boldness and it is time to focus on the future. Are you ready to walk away from the politics of the past?<\/p>\n Join the team at https:\/\/t.co\/Xlqn10brgH<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/K6aeOeVrO7<\/a><\/p>\n — Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) January 23, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHow Buttigieg could win<\/b><\/h2>\n
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<\/picture><\/div>PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY FIVETHIRTYEIGHT \/ GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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