Pete Buttigieg scores endorsement from major South Carolina newspaper ahead of primary

With a few days to go before the South Carolina Democratic primary, a major newspaper in the state is endorsing Pete Buttigieg, saying the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has an "outsider's appeal" and a "message of unity."

In an endorsement published Monday night, The State said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and former Vice President Joe Biden were both "impressive" in their interviews with the newspaper, but it is "vital" for Democrats to "nominate an energetic, disciplined candidate who can offer voters a powerful yet pragmatic vision of a better America. The Democrats need a nominee who seeks to bring Americans together based on broad common ground — and not divide them along narrow interests." That person, The State declared, is Buttigieg.

From a historical standpoint, the Democratic Party has only won the presidency over the last 50 years "when it has resisted the temptation to pick status-quo nominees and shown the courage to choose centrist outsiders with fresh optimistic messages." Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama "successfully connected with voters by tapping into the sensibilities of average Americans," The State said, and Buttigieg "gained that needed perspective" while serving as mayor of South Bend.

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The State praised Buttigieg for his health care ideas, including enacting Medicare for all who want it. "That's preferable to demanding a radical overhaul of our health care system — an unrealistic idea that's been advanced by politicians who spent most of their time inside the insular Washington bubble," The State said. "And it exemplifies Buttigieg's ability to see a crucial issue through the eyes of Americans who simply want practical policies, not upheaval and unknowns." Read the entire endorsement, which acknowledges Buttigieg's struggle to woo black voters, at The State.