Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Thursday talked up the importance of “balance” on a would-be 2020 ticket and in his administration, as he tries to juice his comparatively lower numbers among African-Americans and younger voters.
“Whether it’s the VP or the Cabinet, I also believe that balance is very important — diversity is extremely important,” Mr. Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said on “CBS This Morning.” “It’s one of the reasons I have committed to having a Cabinet that’s at least 50% women.”
“Not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because we’ll make better decisions,” he said. “And I think that balance is crucial whenever you’re building out a team.”
Mr. Buttigieg has risen to the top of the 2020 Democratic presidential field in recent polling on early states such as Iowa and New Hampshire.
But in a national Quinnipiac University poll released this week, Mr. Buttigieg was at 2% support among both black voters and among people between the ages of 18 and 34.
Mr. Buttigieg, 37, said he’s not out of touch with his own generation.
“But it is certainly the case that often younger candidates tend to attract more support from older voters,” he said.
He acknowledged that Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont definitely has more support among younger voters.
“I was a big fan of Bernie Sanders when I was 18 years old,” he said.
He also said he’s making an effort to reach out to black voters, particularly in southern states.
“What I’m finding is a lot of voters, in particular black voters I talk to, feel like they’ve not only been often abused by the Republican Party but sometimes taken for granted by the Democratic Party,” he said. “And that means when you show up and you’re new on the scene, as opposed to having had years or even decades in Washington, you got a lot more work to do to earn that trust.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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