It remains clear to me that Buttigieg won his position as Transportation Secretary only because of dropping out ahead of Super Tuesday and endorsing Biden. It was a political reward.
1. "Only" implies that his endorsement happened without any context. The context is that he won the Iowa caucus and did well in NH, had impressed Obamaworld with his skills, and made history as the first LGBTQ candidate to seriously contest a nomination, let alone win a statewide caucus. His dropping out did meaningfully boost Biden against Sanders even if he was never going to win. Besides, his skill set which people brush off here is perfect for a Cabinet Secretary whose job is to lead and inspire an organization and get media attention, not to get out there and pave roads.
2. Any time a Cabinet officer is someone you've heard of instead of an Anthony Blinken or whoever is head of the VA, there's an element of political reward. That's how politics works.
It's depressing to me as a gay man that people look to reasons to write off or dismiss Pete's Cabinet position as if it weren't breaking a glass ceiling many people weren't interested in acknowledging in the first place.
Pete doesn't have a record as a Senator or Governor because as a gay man, he was was disqualified from those roles until very, very recently - we have Jared Polis but no senator yet. It's infuriating when people knock him for lack of experience without acknowledging that he was excluded from gaining experience and has been trying to move ahead any way he can in the limited paths open to him.
