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ORANGEBURG, S.C. — The last time Pete Buttigieg was giving a political speech in South Carolina, it was to mark a distant finish in the state’s primary that effectively ended his campaign for president.
Returning this weekend as he mulls a second run for the White House, Buttigieg set out to reintroduce himself to the state and the Black voters he struggled to win in 2020. The results were encouraging.
There was a standing ovation in a Black church in South Carolina when Buttigieg was credited for helping bring millions of federal dollars to the area for a project as President Joe Biden’s transportation secretary. A second ovation came as Buttigieg gave a speech warning of a country in “big trouble” while laying out his own vision for what should come next.
“There is no such thing as again in real life. The only way out is through,” Buttigieg told the crowd of more than 200 people at an NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner. “If we recognize and embrace a future that is different from the past, we will do better.”
The warm applause was a markedly different reception than six years ago, when a fourth-place showing in South Carolina helped derail Buttigieg’s presidential campaign while exposing his failure to connect with Black voters. The state is likely to have an even greater say in his political future as the first contest in the Democratic presidential primary in 2028.
Starting the election calendar in South Carolina is intended in part to give Black voters a greater voice at the outset of the nominating process. For Buttigieg and other potential contenders, winning the support of this group that makes up a majority of South Carolina’s Democratic electorate is essential.
PHOTOS: Pete Buttigieg returns to South Carolina as he weighs another White House run
“You need to demonstrate that you can win Black voters,” said Jaime Harrison, a former Democratic National Committee chair and South Carolina Democratic Party chairman. “If you can’t win Black voters, you can’t be the nominee of our party.”
Buttigieg insists he has made no final decision about whether to run for president again.
“Right now, I’m totally focused on 2026,” he told reporters Saturday.
But his South Carolina trip – a week after visiting another early-voting state, Nevada – had all the trappings of a potential presidential bid.
He raised money Friday in Charleston with Nancy Lacore, a U.S. House candidate trying to flip a Republican-held seat. On Saturday morning, he spoke at a policy conference before traveling to Claflin University, a historically Black university in Orangeburg.
Source: Read the original article on www.washingtontimes.com
