POLITICO: All the president’s mayors
TINA SFONDELES, POLITICO
Though he was never one himself, President JOE BIDEN has what longtime aides call a love affair with mayors. And if you need any evidence of it, check out his administration.
Biden has filled the ranks of his teams with former mayors.
Four, PETE BUTTIGIEG, TOM VILSACK, MARTY WALSH and MARCIA FUDGE, are in his Cabinet. Three others — RAHM EMANUEL, ERIC GARCETTI and TOM BARRETT — are on their way to ambassadorships. Compare that to Biden’s former boss, President BARACK OBAMA, who had three former mayors in his Cabinet — JULIÁN CASTRO, ANTHONY FOXX and Vilsack — during his eight years in the White House.
Biden has been vocal about his appreciation for those who run towns and cities. Transition officials tasked with nominations knew the president wanted mayors in his Cabinet, a source with direct knowledge told West Wing Playbook.
Biden has admired mayors since his days in the New Castle County Council, Wilmington Mayor MIKE PURZYCKI tells us.
“He understands, as so many people do, that mayors exist really where the rubber meets the road every single day. As important as Congress is, they’re there at a distance. There’s a lot of space between their lives and the lives of people who don’t get the trash collected and people who have crime on their front door,” Purzycki said. “I think Joe intuits that and he responds to it. That’s just who he is.”
That’s one of the reasons that Biden was drawn to Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., who he has compared to his son Beau. During the campaign, Biden’s team put out a web ad that eviscerated his rival for having such limited, provincial experience (installing decorative lights under bridges!). But Biden himself hated the spot, according to BOB WOODWARD and ROBERT COSTA’s new book, “Peril,” and demanded that it be taken down.
Whatever bad blood existed was patched up quickly, when Buttigieg quickly endorsed Biden upon dropping out. And when it came time to fill out his Cabinet, Biden was drawn to his former primary opponent, appreciating his campaign rhetoric of getting things done without political bickering, which hit on Biden’s potholes-are-bipartisan mentality.
"Mayors don't have time for the ideological and tribal games that dominate Washington's approach to politics,” HARI SEVUGAN, former deputy campaign manager for Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign said.
Biden certainly shares that craving for bipartisan cooperation, but he has had little of the hands-on experience he so admires over the course of his political life. A U.S. senator at 29, he never managed a town, or city or state. And though those close to him don’t think the absence of that experience weighs on him, it is true that throughout his time in public life, and as president as well, he has been prone to pontificate about how the real political work happens at the local level.
“Being a mayor maybe is the toughest job in American politics,” Biden told mayors and governors during an Aug. 11 virtual meeting on infrastructure.
“They know where you live,” he said to laughs, “and you affect their everyday lives more than anybody,” Biden said.
There’s also a clear political advantage to Biden’s love affair for mayors. As he tries to push his infrastructure bill through Congress, winning the support of mayors could influence reluctant lawmakers in the House and Senate.
Mayors are also an integral part of his efforts to “Build Back Better” after the Covid-19 pandemic, as recipients of enormous amounts of federal funding included in the American Rescue Plan.
“Not only does President Biden understand the importance of cities across the U.S. but he also acknowledges the leadership of mayors and that they know what is best for their own municipalities,” Chicago Mayor LORI LIGHTFOOT told us.
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