Pete Buttigieg

We got to have leaders who are ready to deliver a future that is better, not just better than now, but better than before

Obviously, the current cruelty and chaos can’t get us where we need to be as a country, but neither can the old politics as usual

There’s no going back to the old status quo, nor should we try

I’m excited. I’m here because Sarah can win, and I think it’s really important for people to understand that these are very competitive races in districts and places that I think a lot of the national commentators sometimes write off.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

We’ve got to build something that is not just better than now, but better than before, and that’s going to require a lot of Midwestern common sense.

I have been preaching from coast to coast to anybody who will listen in our party that our politics cannot just be about what we’re against.

He is the son of a Decorah bowhunter; (he’s a) problem solver, sworn enemy of ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ with the results to show for it.

I know that’s going to happen because of the kind of people who are stepping up to lead, like my friend Rob Sand, your next governor.

We need to immediately get to work to build something better, like a political system where everyone’s vote counts the same, and the person who gets the most votes wins the election.

What I felt then, what I feel now and what I believe we all feel in our bones is why, in a few short months, Democratic victories in Iowa will defy assumptions around the country and challenge the rest of the country to follow your lead.

Only in Iowa could a young Indiana mayor enter a field of literally 20 men and women competing for the American presidency, and wind up winning.

The bridge should be open and there should be nothing political about it.

The craziest thing about this is that Mexico was never going to pay for the wall, but Canada actually paid for the bridge.

It’s always been ugly, but now it feels more and more like bloodsport.

The 24 hours until they returned are among the darkest hours of my life.

I was bewildered and troubled, but tried to stay calm.

They should be worrying about what kind of ice cream they’re getting this afternoon, not why they are being brought into a meeting with a grownup asking strange questions or why their Papa is suddenly unavailable to read them a bedtime…

But this is the ugliest thing that has happened to me since my career in service began.

Even so, this is different.

Everyone knows politics is ugly these days.

I don’t know how much we can do about it, but so help me God, if there is any way to press civil or criminal charges over this, we will.

It’s not lost on me that this happened soon after we shared photos of our family on social media for Father’s Day.

“For twenty-four deeply distressing hours, we had no idea what I was accused of or what was about to happen,” Buttigieg wrote.

“Now imagine the same concept, but with Child Protective Services instead of a SWAT team,” Buttigieg wrote.