Mayor Pete seems to know how to confidently and effortlessly handle whatever questions are thrown at him.

I was able to catch several of the CNN Town Halls last night and again, I’m really impressed at the wealth of riches we have among our candidates. I think it’s great for our party to command more of the airwaves putting out the Democratic message from a wide variety of voices, hopefully reaching more and more people every day.

I really like Warren and Harris and both had a strong showing. Warren is direct and straight-to-the-point on some very good policy ideas. Harris is passionate but seemed to equivocate on a few too many topics by saying “that’s a conversation we need to have” rather than giving her full opinion. It’s a good answer when used sparingly but she seems to rely on it too heavily.

Last but not least was Mayor Pete and I have to say that I like Mayor Pete a lot! He is crazy smart, articulate, calm, thoughtful, kind and refreshingly honest with pitch-perfect messaging that comes out effortlessly and with humble charisma. Bonus! He is also squeaky-clean with no scandals or skeletons in the proverbial closet. The only “scandal”, which he addressed last night is that he had to demote (or fire, not sure) the first African American police chief of South Bend due to the chief recording some interactions with other officers. I don’t recall all the details but it sounds like there is an investigation ongoing into the matter and Mayor Pete hasn’t seen the recordings as the FBI is now involved in the investigation.

Three moments that stood out to me the most and got the most applause from the audience who had been sitting there for five hours …

1. When asked if he agreed with Bernie Sanders’ idea that people in prison should be allowed to vote while serving time and he said flatly, NO. Not while they are serving their time but when they are out then yes…. (Personally, I agree with Pete on this and I think Bernie is taking the voting rights too far to extend it to incarcerated people. I know the audience agreed with Pete as it was a big applause. Harris equivocated on this issue, I didn’t catch if Warren was asked the question.)

2. He is pro-impeachment and knows that it’s up to Congress not him but sounds like he clearly supports the impeachment process moving forward even if the GOP in the Senate prevent it from passing. (Warren’s answer to this question was fantastic and somebody needs to send her response to all the members of Congress.)

3. When Anderson Cooper teed up the question about his back-and-forth with Pence over religion and then quoted some Trump appointee accusing Mayor Pete of a “hate-hoax the likes of Jessie Smolett” Mayor Pete gave the brilliant answer “I’m not a master fisherman but I know bait when I see it and I’m not taking it.” Mic drop. The audience goes wild.

I must confess, several months ago when I heard some “mayor from Indiana” was also running for President, I completely scoffed and was like whatever. Three months later, having seen interview after interview in his brilliant and relentless media campaign, I am beyond incredibly impressed and enthusiastically “eating crow” over my initial preconceptions.

He is like the antidote to all the hate, anger and meanness that Trump has been inciting on the right. He handles both honest questions and “right-wing framed” questions brilliantly and effortlessly. He doesn't fall for divisive questions designed to drive wedges among Democrats, he reframes them and gives a brilliant answer.

I have also observed that even right-wing pundits don’t know what to make of him. He completely disarms them with his progressive messaging of inclusion and religious faith. On The View I watched him turn Megan McCain into putty and she was clearly impressed by his message. And when they do bash him as Carlson and Ingram have done, they come out looking like the mean, jealous bullies that they are, diminished and dirty, while Pete comes out looking good.

There is something big going on with Mayor Pete. I think he can reach a lot of people we might have thought of as “unreachable” and he doesn’t do it by being a centrist or moving to the right on an issue. He is a “proud Progressive” as he puts it and is focused on uniting as many folks as he can, framing the issues in a manner that make folks understand what is at stake, bringing them back home to the progressive side. Like Obama did but in his own style, Pete calls on our better angels. Even though he is religious and speaks to his religion, as an Atheist, I feel very comfortable with him and that is a huge deal for me.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Having said all that, I will get 100% behind whoever wins the Democratic nomination.

I really like all our candidates and their various messages and I’m proud that we have a big, diverse field. As a woman, I confess I would like to see a woman be President but more than that, I want to defeat Trump and Trumpism resoundingly... and so far, I personally think that Mayor Pete is our best shot at doing so.

At this moment in time, my dream ticket is Buttigieg/Abrams but again, I will get behind anyone.