The establishment wing of the Democratic Party tried a show of force in the New York mayoral primary. It didn’t work.
Pete Buttigieg thinks the old guard’s faceplant could be more than just an embarrassing moment at the expense of Andrew Cuomo. He said he sees an opportunity for nationwide Dems to learn from Zohran Mamdani‘s campaign.
The former transportation secretary said the democratic socialist’s methods should be studied, even by conservatives and moderates in the party.
“It’s less about the ideology, and more about the message discipline of focusing on what people care about and the tactical wisdom of getting out there and talking to everybody,” he said in an interview with NPR.
Elsewhere in the interview, Buttigieg warned Democrats against using bloodless language.
“We do have to look at what we’re doing that makes it hard to hear what we have to say. Too often we talk in terms that are academic,” he said. “We still have to have a way of talking about it that relates to how everyday life is different, how your everyday life is different and worse.”
Start your day with essential news from Salon.
Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.
The former Cabinet member immediately walked the walk, running down the lowlights of top Trump administration officials in plain speech. Buttigieg tore into Department of Homeland Security head Kristi Noem for her handling of devastating floods in Texas and called Education Secretary Linda McMahon woefully unprepared for her role.
“When you have an autocrat in power, he can get away with appointing incompetent people over very important things,” he said. “The secretary of defense, in charge of defending the American people, was accidentally texting military strike information to journalists. The secretary of public health…is a quack.”
You can watch the interview below via YouTube:
