Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1122280
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 MAY 2019 NEWS Crazy about 'Maltese' Pete PETE Buttigieg: US presiden- tial candidate, Mayor of South Bend, a former naval intelli- gence officer, Harvard gradu- ate, openly gay and, as it hap- pens, Maltese-American. Now the dark horse of the Democratic race for presiden- tial nominee is taking the me- dia by storm, with appearances on major chat shows, fending off unfriendly questions on Fox Network, even suffering a lampooning on Saturday Night Live. In Malta, Buttigieg is now a regular on Facebook feeds for avid followers of interna- tional politics and US politics. And as his star rises, and more Americans start getting the pronunciation of his last name correct, could the island be set for some Pete-fever as the Democratic race heats up? Now he is being touted as one of a number of potential candidates who could shake things up in the forthcoming race to take Trump out of the White House, joining the likes of former Democratic repre- sentative Beto O' Rourke, 46, or Julian Castro, the 44-year- old former San Antonio may- or. The novelty would be how these candidates are the prod- uct of a radically diverse gen- eration: Castro would become the first Latino to win his par- ty's nomination, but Buttigieg – who married his husband last year – would be the first openly gay nominee from a major political party. The Washington Post seems to think there's something about Buttigieg: "'normal' and 'regular' are not adjectives that apply to the son of a Maltese immigrant father [the late Prof. Joseph Buttigeg] and an Army brat mom who grew up in decaying South Bend, got himself into Harvard, sum- mer-interned for Ted Ken- nedy, worked for John Kerry's presidential campaign, won a Rhodes Scholarship, learned Arabic in Tunisia, landed a jet-setting consultant's job, left it to return to his beat-up hometown and become the youngest mayor of a midsize U.S. city, transformed that city into a national model of renewal, and then — deep breath — volunteered for ac- tive duty in Afghanistan while serving as mayor, came out as gay in the local newspaper, married a schoolteacher live on YouTube, turned heads in a dark-horse bid to lead the Democratic National Com- Is the US presidential race going to be upset by the 37-year-old son of a Maltese immigrant? DAVID HUDSON asks election watchers about the media sensation that is 'Mayor Peter' Buttigieg "There is a proximity that engages us. Until recently, Malta was a land of emigration and we love to bask in the success of Maltese descendants"