The exchange began with a simple enough question, “How does Governor Pete sound to you?” But for the next couple of minutes the answer to that and some pointed follow up’s were anything but simple.
Here for the first time you’ll be reading what appears to be the first comments by new Michigan Traverse City resident Pete Buttigieg on his thoughts or lack of same on running for governor here.
The “Off the Record” Public TV interview was conducted in the basement of Kellogg Center almost a year ago on December 21st. It was arranged by former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard who had booked the U.S. Transportation Secretary to be part of the governor’s $1 million endowment for the Jim Blanchard Public Service Forum.
As you might expect his first response to the opening inquiry avoided a direct answer to the thrust of the question.
“I’ve got one job and the other is father and they keep me busy,” he began the dance around the issue.
Earlier in the same chat, he had confirmed that he had thought about the vacancy left by the impending departure of Michigan’s senior U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, but it did not go much beyond that but note he did confirm he thought about it.
The governor thing was a whole nother thing.
“Have you thought about governor?”
“I have so much to keep me busy with my job to sit around thinking,” he wiggled again.
“Have you ever thought about Michigan governor?”
Now he gives some ground if you can call it that.
“Not in a serious way.” “Not in a serious way! How did you unseriously thing about it?”
Now he laughs then proceeds, “I gotta tell you I am dead focused on my job.”
The interviewer noted that no one had ever used that phrasing which, of course, warranted another follow-up.
“In your unserious moments what did you think about?”
“It’s not a serious answer because it’s not a serious question,” the cat and mouse game went into overdrive as he added, “I’ve got a serious job and serious commitments to it,” he tried to end it.
But wait. There’s more. Previous Michigan governors have often commented that if you really want to get stuff done for the citizens being governor is the job to have, so it was noted that the secretary was that kind of guy, so why not governor?
He concedes that that is actually how he felt when he was Mayor of South Bend and how he feels today with his current post but he reflects, “I don’t know if this is going to be the last elective or appointed job I ever have, but I know my future depends on how I do this job.”
In an attempt to put a conclusive period on the back and forth over what he might or might not do, there was this, “So say I don’t want to be governor of Michigan.”
“I don’t think about how much I want to or don’t want to, besides the job I have,” he asserted as the dry hole remained just that.
Since then his name has certainly come into play in this town as the list of potential replacements for the current governor seems to be growing by the day. And to update his thinking on all this, on November 3 he told the AP when the issue came up that after the election he would decide on “how to make myself useful.” An answer in keeping with his cagey way of addressing this but you must note that is not a yes but not a no either.
Interestingly the issue did come up while Mr. Buttigieg was in Studio C home to “Off the Record” weeks ago during the campaign for president. One of the crew members helping to record his exchange with a national media outlet, reminded him that he had been on OTR.
“Yeah. That’s the one where I was asked about being governor,” he quickly recalled.
Yep, but not in a serious way.
