This American Muslim Says: Thank You, Pete
By: Adham Sahloul
Tags: Pete Buttigieg, Election 2020, Foreign Policy, Muslim, Democratic Party

[Obviously, all views expressed here on my own, in my personal capacity as a former volunteer foreign policy advisor to Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 campaign.]

On Sunday, former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg’s campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination came to an end. Or, as Obama national security advisor Amb. Susan Rice put it, “a pause.” Pete’s is a brand of politics that has catapulted him from mayor of a small city to a national figure who outlasted established names in this race. Though many would have liked to see a President Pete in the White House in 2021, he demonstrated the type of selfless leadership this country needs by dropping out of the race when the math no longer added up. Pete will be around. As will all who saw what inclusive, pragmatic progressivism can accomplish in a city in the industrial Midwest and in the hearts and minds of many.

This is especially the case for those of us who wait with bated breath for any mention of foreign policy in the presidential debates (there have been painfully few). What has drawn more than 400 foreign policy and national security professionals to the 38-year old former mayor? I can only tell my story. As a Chicagoan who might not have put much thought into a neighboring city called South Bend, I should have looked the other way. His letter to the Muslim community as mayor of South Bend following the Christchurch, New Zealand massacre early last year, caught my attention, however. In this love letter to America, he extolled the qualities of my community, writing, “You are our teachers and our doctors; our neighbors and our friends. We all live here as one, and whether you grew up right here in South Bend or whether this is your first year in America, you have an equal claim on the blessings of life in this community, and a great deal to contribute. And so we are thankful to count you among us.”

Despite a broad Democratic coalition that has embraced the American Muslim community in the past two decades, few Americans in public life have spoken about my community with such thoughtfulness and eloquence. Fewer yet have spoken to the community like this. Pete continues, “And I write not only to console you and reassure you, but to ask something of you. I wish to tell you not only that you are loved but also that you are needed. The City very much needs you at a time like this [emphasis mine], because you help to demonstrate the values and desires that we all have in common. In your community involvement, in your professional work, in your very presence — when you live in accordance with your faith, and bring your stories and traditions to the tapestry of the City and country, you are not only exercising a right but also bearing a gift.” Imagine being asked to be a part of our nation’s healing. In graduate school and early career stints in Washington that most foreign policy professionals experience, as a Muslim and Middle Eastern American I have only ever felt tokenized at best or patronized and marginalized. Here was a call for national service and proud, active citizenship.

When presented with the opportunity to join his roster of foreign policy advisors, I was immediately on board. Having worked on Middle East policy issues since the Arab Spring democratic uprisings, I knew that the next U.S. president needed to make true on America’s promises and restore U.S. leadership where it mattered most. America needs a foreign policy that ensures that the U.S. remains competitive, compassionate, and forward-thinking. The solution to the world’s crises, to a rising China, to a quickly-evolving global security environment was not reflexive isolationism or the foreign policies of the past. Pete gets that.

And I think the other candidates get that, too. To be certain, many of the other candidates have advanced bold, courageous ideas to restore U.S. global credibility. But perhaps more important is that Pete communicates these ideas in earnest to the American people, and connects what happens abroad to what happens at home. As a war veteran he brings skin in the game necessary to push back on endless war while advocating for what we ought to be for, not simply repeat what we all Democrats are against. And to his credit, as he has done with his domestic-facing policies, he engaged the voices and expertise of those who bring different forms of skin in the game to national security. This included making sure that women, diaspora, first-generation, persons of color, and LGBTQ voices were at the table and in many cases in leadership positions on his foreign policy team.

On Syria, the largest scale humanitarian crisis since the Second World War, a strategic nightmare for U.S. interests and a moral stain on presidents both Democratic and Republican since 2011, Pete brought a clarity of vision when it was not politically advantageous to do so. Remember: before Syria was Donald Trump’s problem, it was Barack Obama’s failure. Until the South Carolina debates last week, the situation in northwest Syria — where a million people were displaced in two months from a Syrian government and Russian onslaught — had yet to be mentioned. Pete was the candidate who answered in support of self-determination, in solidarity with the millions of people facing displacement, freezing temperatures, food shortages, and bombardment in Idlib, and with a clear vision for restoring U.S. leadership in a volatile, globally-important region that some of his competitors would rather wash their hands clean of.

This is the candidate I worked for. I have had many friends and colleagues in the American Muslim community, many of whom either lean towards Senator Sanders, weren’t familiar with Pete, or thought ‘his time isn’t now’, who have been curious and in some instances critical of my support for his candidacy, in some places on Twitter far less responsible than most. Let me address that: like each candidate, he was not perfect. Each of us prioritize different policy issues, and each of us are welcome to different theories of change, be it on healthcare, gun control, trade, or education. Democrats today are debating theories of change. Pete, Joe, and Amy’s (and Beto, Kamala, and Booker’s!) have a resonance with many Democrats, though this remains to be seen on Super Tuesday and beyond. To be sure, Pete’s platform was far more progressive than Joe or Amy’s, but he is a progressive who cared about how to get to the end state that most Democrats believe in. He brought along a community of people who prioritized the how of policy and politics — in substance and behavior — above all. The campaign’s Rules of the Road reflected what he thought our politics ought to look like, regardless of political persuasion. And while no candidate or campaign in this race had a monopoly on decency (hey, Warren, Yang, and Biden people!), Pete’s campaign was a standout in this department.

Speaking personally, this campaign brought the very best out of me as a Muslim and citizen. My favorite Rule, and the one that permeated across every interaction across the campaign, was “Belonging.” When there was pushback or agreement, thoughts or counter-thoughts, when there was a national security crisis the candidate needed to be briefed on or a primary contest the next day, I knew that my voice was welcomed by my team’s leadership. I knew that how he governed as mayor and how he ran his campaign was how he would serve in the White House as well as how he would look to serve as a citizen. And I know that his humility — most notable in his decision to drop out before Super Tuesday — will lead him to continue to listen to communities across this country who have yet to familiarize themselves with him and whom he has yet to meet and learn from. He will be a better candidate for all of the input, critiques, and ideas you share. And I encourage you to continue to vet him as a public figure, in good faith, and to let your voice be heard by him.

In that aforementioned letter to the Muslim community, Pete wrote, “The diversity of our community is its strength…We would be poorer without you.” As we’ll soon find out, this presidential race is poorer without him. The Democratic Party will appreciate the energy, ideas, and decency he and his supporters — along with all of the Rules of the Road — bring to the general elections.