Pete Buttigieg Remains a Hot Commodity on the Campaign Trail
(CNN) — A selfie crowd formed around Pete Buttigieg as he stood in line for coffee at the airport in Washington.One woman said she wasn't going to stop because she wasn't sure it was him. "It's me," the Transportation secretary replied.An older man explained to his wife, "That's Pete BOOT-GUG," missing the pronunciation and the emphasis."He's the President's..." the man said, unable to come up with his job title.And yet, it's Buttigieg — whose only political experience before his failed presidential bid was serving as mayor of South Bend, Indiana — who has become the most requested surrogate on the campaign trail for Democratic candidates in the midterms, people familiar with the requests tell CNN.
He's so in demand that he's getting more requests than Vice President Kamala Harris, those sources tell CNN — but still fewer than President Joe Biden — as Democrats look to defend their narrow congressional majorities and win governor's races in November.With invitations flowing into the White House and the Democratic National Committee, a relatively low-ranking Cabinet secretary's staff has to choose between Democratic candidates trying to chase him down.
