We thought Pete Buttigieg was qualified to be president. Then a shooting showed how mistaken we were

Before the unofficial kickoff to the 2020 Democratic primary season, most politically engaged people outside of the state of Indiana had never heard of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

This past January, Buttigieg created an exploratory committee, and that's when "Mayor Pete" started attracting the attention of the media. In many cases, he was fawned over by news anchors and praised disproportionately in print. His credentials remained, for the most part, unexamined.

Buttigieg went to Harvard and then Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He speaks multiple languages, served in the military and if elected, would become the first gay president in United States history. He picked fights early on with Vice President Mike Pence because of his views on gay marriage — and he attracted a lot of positive attention because of it.

Donations began pouring in, and consistently coverage positively affected polling numbers. When his name got into the mix at the end of March, Buttigieg had the support of 1.8 per cent of Democratic voters. Now? He's at just over 7 per cent, which is the same as Kamala Harris and behind only Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Joe Biden. That's pretty impressive in a field of nearly 25 candidates.

But what does anyone really know about Buttigieg and his actual record as mayor? Earlier this year, Buttigieg bragged to the panel on MSNBC's Morning Joe that his role as mayor prepared him more for the presidency than a senator. Specifically, he said, "When you're a mayor, especially in a strong mayor system like ours where we don't have a city manager, you get the call. And it could be anything from an economic development puzzle for a multi-million dollar deal in an industrial park, to deciding whether to operate the emergency operation center for a weather emergency or an officer-involved shooting with racial tension where you've got to hold a community together."

Those words came back to haunt Buttigieg as he had to deal with that very officer-involved shooting episode he claimed he could handle a few days ago. On 16 June, a white South Bend police officer shot and killed Eric Logan, 54, a black man, after the officer claimed Logan came at him with a knife. The officer never turned on his body camera, and that has only heightened suspicion over the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

It was Buttigieg's response that allowed the cracks to show in the veneer of the once-pristine candidate. Buttigieg seemed rattled when speaking with protestors in South Bend. When one person confronted him and asked, "You running for president and you expect black people to vote for you?", Buttigieg responded, "I'm not asking for your vote."

That's a rookie mistake. As any campaign manager worth their salt will tell you, the last thing you should do is tell someone you’re not looking for their vote on the campaign trail.

And then the situation went from bad to worse. Buttigieg again seem blindsided by the angry reactions of some people during a town hall he convened to address the police shooting. People called him a "liar" and yelled, "We don't trust you!” as he struggled to gain control of the situation or provide reassurance. Buttigieg, the calm, cool, and collected guy people saw in green rooms across America, suddenly did not have answers.

People may hold this up as just one example, but it's a critical example. Buttigieg became flustered and unsure of himself after one crisis involving two individuals in his hometown. What's he expected to do on the national stage when the going gets tough, and even more lives are on the line?

That’s not to say Buttigieg is to blame for the shooting. But how he's handling the situation certainly makes it appear he's not ready for prime time — and makes him look extremely foolish after spending months disparaging the experience of United States senators.

The press would have eventually found that Buttigieg was not the perfect politician, and had shortcomings that may have proven inadequate for a presidential run — but the fact that the Mayor of South Bend got this far without alarm bells ringing speaks volumes about our obsession with the personality of the candidate over and above the details on their resume. As we’ve come to see this week, the resume retains its importance, even if the identity of the candidate is especially compelling or progressive. Now we all have to deal with the consequences of giving Pete Buttigieg too much praise for too little work.