You can’t count the times that some career politician, which the good government crowd believes is not a dirty word, has sat in that TV interview chair and at some pointed lamented about the personal family sacrifi ces one has to make to meet the all-time-consuming assignment of serving the public good and your loved-ones, too.
Recent Michigan governors, in their own way, regret the missed theatre performances of their offspring or the grand slam home run by some budding MLB star in the making because duty called.
And such was the case during a recent exchange with a Michigan transplant who reflected that “every working parent knows how demanding it is to have any job while you’re raising kids. They don’t care if the president is calling...you’ve got to be there for them first and foremost.”
Say hello to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Montgomery Buttigieg, his husband Chasten and their fraternal boy and girl twins who were born in August of 2021. The four of them are navigating those career driven waters trying to find that right balance between “being there” for them and being there for the current President Joe Biden.
When he’s home in T.C. he and the family tool around in his hybrid plug in adding, “a family does that to you” referring to the mini-van in their plug in garage.
But how would like to go to bed at night not just worrying about the crying little children in the next room, but confronting the fears that you could wake up the next morning to deal with a plane or train crash, a barge that barreled into a bridge, or a pipeline that blew up placing a local community in harms way.
That’s how vast the transpo department is and to say he’s had challenges is a gross understatement.
Early on he fought the impression he was too much of a “goalong- to-get-along” regulator favoring this industry over that while the poor consumer was left out of the equation. He never conceded that criticism but took some hits nonetheless on that front.
Now in an extensive piece in Politico, the secretary has been given high marks for taking on the airline industry by imposing mandatory and timely refunds when passengers are stranded due to flights that never get off the ground or other unexpected delays. Under the old system, the airline industry actually earned money by delaying payments not in cash but in vouchers.
Mr. B. imposed the changes but a local judge slapped a hold on it declaring he did not have the power to do it. A higher court will eventually decide the issue.
While he tends to those fires, his name remains in play for a host of jobs post election.
One of them is right in his own back yard.
Could he become the second man from T.C. to become governor?
Chances are his brand of politics of working with others to find real solutions for real people, would have had curb side appeal for former Gov. William Milliken and First Lady Helen.
Burt on the next revealing and pointed question, “How does Gov. Pete strike you?” he quickly fired off this terse and not so revealing dodge.
“I’ve got a job.” But he has not forgotten the question and portions of the national media have glommed onto the speculation as well.
But as that “Off the Record” interview ended last December, there was no dodge on this loaded question for anybody thinking about running for governor.
“Which are you? A Spartan or Notre Dame?
Without batting an eyelash, “That’s not a tough question for me. I’m delighted to be an adopted Michgander, but the Irish are always going to be my team.”
Oh my. Apparently he doesn’t want to be governor that badly?
