Pete Buttigieg has dropped out of the Democratic presidential race in advance of Super Tuesday. “Mayor Pete” went farther than most imagined when the campaign began, but he seems to be timing his exit well. While positioning himself as one of the “moderates” in the race–put aside whether this is actually true–he never really alienated the other candidates and their followers, other than some Bernie Bros who thought he was the ultimate white guy.
Whatever. By pulling out before Super Tuesday, Buttigieg maximizes his chances as a potential vice presidential nominee. He is not a woman, which puts him at a disadvantage compared with Amy Klobuchar and various pretenders who dropped out long ago. (No one wants Liz Warren as a vice president, but does anyone remember Kirsten Gillibrand?) But as a gay man, he is perhaps, in political terms, the next best thing. One can imagine him as either Bernie Sanders’s or Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick.
Moreover, if either Sanders or Biden were to get the nomination and actually win the election, there is a considerable likelihood that the president would not live through his first term, or remain mentally competent through that term. Such an eventuality would put this year’s vice presidential nominee in a key position. More than in most cycles, the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nomination is well worth having.
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