Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin is a kingmaker of sorts, having been first to encourage his former colleague, Barack Obama, to run for president in 2008.
Now he’s got his eye on up-and-coming South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg in the running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Durbin said that he was first introduced to Buttigieg last summer after former Vice President Joe Biden bailed out of a big Democratic event he was organizing in Springfield, Ill., due to laryngitis.
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?
Join the team at https://t.co/Xlqn10brgH. pic.twitter.com/K6aeOeVrO7
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) January 23, 2019
A friend suggested Buttigieg as a last-minute replacement. Durbin said he “called Mayor Pete,” who immediately agreed to speak to the 3,000 people coming to the event.
“He brings an amazing background,” Durbin told students at an event sponsored by Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service at the McCourt School of Public Policy. “Successful mayor, served in the military, married a gay partner, and very open about the whole thing. And he comes down to downstate Illinois and in 30 minutes tells that whole story, doesn’t pull any punches, and gets this wild reaction from the crowd,” he said.
“And I’m thinking to myself, well that’s pretty good. Last minute, he comes in for Biden, and he hits the ball out of the park,” added Durbin, who said he speaks to Buttigieg when he’s on the 2020 campaign trail.
