Pete Buttigieg talks about unity, health care in east Las Vegas
Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg hosted a Tuesday evening rally at the East Las Vegas Community Center, where he told a few hundred people about shared American values that he said will help address health care, climate change, immigration and other key issues while uniting the country after a divisive four years under President Donald Trump.
Buttigieg hit the stage at 5:30 p.m as part of his third trip to Nevada over the last month.
The South Bend, Indiana, mayor also delivered the keynote speech at Battleborn Progress’ Celebrate Progress dinner after the rally. Buttigieg was scheduled to tour a local cannabis cultivation center and dispensary Wednesday morning.
■ American values. Buttigieg spoke about reclaiming traditional American values often associated with the right: Freedom, patriotism and faith. He said progressive Democrats can push for more inclusive, better versions of those values in order to drive policy.
■ Health care reform. As he did during last week’s presidential debate, Buttigieg pushed his own version of a public option health care plan that could, if Americans choose, grow into a single-payer system: Medicare for All Who Want It. He said it would provide cheaper, better insurance while not forcing any Americans off their private health care or raising taxes on the middle class.
■ What he’s learned during his candidacy? Buttigieg said politics matter to most people only in how it can affect their daily lives. He pointed to his own personal life as an example. “My marriage exists because of a single vote on the Supreme Court,” he said. (Buttigieg married his husband, Chasten Glezman, in June 2018 in South Bend as a result of the court’s landmark 2014 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.)
Contact Rory Appleton at RAppleton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0276. Follow @RoryDoesPhonics on Twitter.
