To the latter fear, this is neither a book with a plethora of policy strategies nor does it articulate a "message" on the scale that a Presidential campaign demands. Mayor Buttigieg does tell a number of stories about how he handled being mayor of South Bend which do lend themselves to reasonable expectations concerning what he might do in the White House, but I don't have an idea, for example, about what he considers reasonable gun control, wise immigration policy or exactly what he thinks should be done first to the Affordable Care Act to address it's many uncontroversial problems.
I do come away with the faith that whatever he decides to do will probably be something I can support, but frankly I had that feeling before I picked up the book.
The book surprised in this way. Mayor Buttigieg has led a admirable life thus far, he is a modern Renaissance Man, he has talents that range from music to being a polyglot, a fan of literature and a keen observer of statistics and evidence-based decision-making. Also, Mayor Buttigieg and I share a predilection for holding ourselves and our work publicly-accountable mostly because it's the best way to kick ourselves in the ass and get stuff done.
He may be the closest thing to an anti-Trump in the public sphere since Mr Rogers died. He describes a life that recognizes he has made mistakes and will make more. He acts with personal courage consistently, from service in the Navy Reserves that caused him to be deployed to Afghanistan to coming out as gay on the eve of re-election by writing a prominent editorial in the newspaper.
He came out as gay in his early thirties, only a few short years ago, to live authentically after it occurred to him in Afghanistan that life was not a dress rehearsal. He didn't do it for applause, he did it because he wanted to have a boyfriend.
Mayor Buttigieg and his husband Chasten are every bit as lovely as Barack and Michelle Obama. Chasten is a teacher who originally trained as a nurse. Chasten was essentially his first real boyfriend, they met via phone apps, but Mayor Buttigieg asked him to get married after a long courtship. I am as curious about their sex life as I am about the Obama's sex life, which is to say, not at all.
I want this guy to be President, but honestly I am comfortable with all of the truly viable candidates (other than the incumbent), even the Republican William Weld. This book is a good way to get to know Mayor Buttitgieg, but frankly you are probably going to hear every single story in this book on the campaign trail in the next few months. It contains a trove of material for doing political radio, TV interviews and podcasts. I've already heard him, with Rachel Maddow, lifting parables directly from this book.
If you're a fan, and want to get up to speed, it is a well-written book that is easy to read.
