Pete Buttigieg knows Northwest Indiana Democrats aren’t alone in being angry about the way things are going in the country right now and promised he’s going help however he can.
At a stop in Schererville on his way back to South Bend from Chicago Tuesday afternoon, the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and South Bend Mayor told a room of 275 Democratic volunteers for U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, and District 1 State Senate Candidate Scott Houldieson that he’s been amazed at the energy he’s felt traveling the country. People are fed up, but he said the good news is that they have the chance to do something about it in three weeks.
“Part of why I think we’re seeing extraordinary energy and extraordinary results ahead is because there’s a lot of folks who really did expect their lives would change for the better under this president,” Buttigieg said. “There were a lot of people who believed him that they were going to cut costs from Day 1, only to have groceries more expensive because of their trade policies (and) rent more expensive because of the deficits they created.
“Literally everything in our lives is more expensive, not because they tried to make things more affordable and failed, but because they have directly and actively increased the cost of living in this country. It doesn’t have to be that way, and we can do better.”
Republicans aren’t even trying to defend their policies anymore because they know no one likes having their healthcare cut or their food expenses rise astronomically for biliionaire and corporation tax breaks, Buttigieg said, so they resorted to trying to shuffle around the voters to make sure they stay in power. When that didn’t work in Indiana, “(Houldieson’s) opponent said the failure to redistrict inspired him to run,” he said of District 1 State Senate Republican candidate Trevor De Vries. “Think about that, when all of us know that that’s just plain cheating.”
What Republicans did, however, was create a path for Democrats and others against gerrymandering to send a message “from the White House to the streets of this district,” and that message will be loud and clear when Houldieson gets sent to the Statehouse, he said.
“We’re closing in on the final argument of everyday life. This has been the direct consequence of corporate greed getting their way in Indianapolis, so we have the chance to reaffirm the message” that it’s unacceptable,” Buttigieg said in a later press conference.
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Buttigieg later mentioned how one of his twins asked him if the good guys always win. He paused before he answered, he said.
“Good wins when we see to it that it does,” he said. “Do you believe we’re going to win? Then be prepared to do the work, and do it every single day.”
Houldieson, of Highland, said Buttigieg’s camp reached out to his camp and let them know he would be in Chicago and heading to South Bend Tuesday. With Democrats already fired up, Buttigieg was just what they needed to keep the energy going.
“He’s endorsed us, and he believes the supermajority needs to be broken. Where better to build our base than right here?: Houldieson said.
Mrvan said he’s been spending a lot of time with farmers in Hebron and listening to the pain they’ve felt with rising diesel prices. He also reiterated the legislation he has ready to go to get British Petroleum and NIPSCO in check.
“I can’t do enough (to give working families everything they need), but I can stand next to them, not pose with them,” he said. “The cost of inflation is hurting our families.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.