Biden’s choice of Buttigieg another win for elites

At the Joe Biden presser announcing his pick as Transportation Secretary yesterday, Mayor Pete claimed he’s had “a personal love of transportation since childhood.”

Seriously. He said that. Out loud.

Of course he did. Buttigieg is the LGBT doppelganger of Tracy Flick — the grasping, ambitious, straight-a student portrayed by Kirsten Dunst in the hilarious movie “Election.” (Pro tip: the book was even better.)

If Buttigieg had been tapped for Secretary of Energy, he would have confessed he’s “always had a thing for kilowatts.”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a Buttigieg basher by nature. I like smart people, and his

“wine cave progressivism” never bugged me the way it did “millionaire man of the people” Bernie Sanders or his fellow populist Liz Warren.

But don’t get Biden wrong, either. Picking Buttigieg was pure identity politics, an act of tokenism based on Mayor Pete’s membership in a favored group. “Openly gay?” No. “Credentialed

elite.”

Pete Buttigieg was mayor of a city the size of Framingham, and Biden wants him to oversee trillions in infrastructure spending, based solely on Pete’s standing as a member of America’s elite class.

Does this mean Mayor Pete will do a lousy job? Not necessarily. First, he’s a smart guy and second, it’s the federal government. How badly do you have to stink before anyone notices? What it does mean is that when Biden talks about a return to normalcy, he means the “normalcy” of our elite, DC “betters” governing us peons once again.

Michael Graham is a regular contributor to the Boston Herald.