Kalamazoo Democrats heard from a high-profile supporter Monday of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Pete Buttigieg competed with Biden for the Democratic nomination. But after he dropped out, the former mayor of South Bend endorsed the former vice president’s bid.
“Every moment I’ve spent with Joe Biden, including when we were competing, including when I was up and he was down, or when he was up and I was down, he was always the exact same person,” Buttigieg told a crowd outside the local Democratic Party headquarters. “Gracious and decent, and wouldn’t it be nice to have a gracious and decent person in the highest office in the land?”
Buttigieg urged Biden supporters to help get out the vote by reaching out to friends and family members who feel disenchanted with politics.
“If your healthcare is on the line, if your marriage is on the line, whatever your deepest reason is, talk to those loved ones in your life and let them know how much it matters to you,” he said.
“Remind them that as a citizen, your moment of maximum power is the moment that you fill in that ballot because that’s when the system has to listen to you,” he added.
Close to a million Michigan voters had returned an absentee ballot a week ago. The Secretary of State’s office expects to have new figures Tuesday.
