Buttigieg campaign official: We need a candidate who's not polarizing

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Buttigieg campaign official: We need a candidate who's not polarizing

Buttigieg campaign's New Hampshire co-chair Maura Sullivan weighs in ahead of the state's primary election.

This is a rush transcript from "Democracy 2020," February 10, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, ANCHOR: Here now is Maura Sullivan, the New Hampshire Co-Chair for Pete Buttigieg's campaign. Maura, good to have you here.

MAURA SULLIVAN, BUTTIGIEG CAMPAIGN'S NEW HAMPSHIRE CO-CHAIR: Great to be here.

MACCALLUM: So, what do you make of these polls because he's slipped the past 48 hours the numbers have declined a bit and it seems like Amy Klobuchar has been gaining some steam and they're kind of in the same lane. No.

SULLIVAN: Well, we're not focused on polls. We're focused on the energy and the momentum that we're seeing on the ground throughout the Granite State. I've been all across the state over the past few weeks and the past few days from Keene to Berlin to Conway to Hampton, Manchester, Merrimack, the crowds, 5000 alone on Sunday. Over 1800 in Nashua, over 1100 in Dover when I was with Pete yesterday.

The energy on the ground is just palpable. And I think he's really proving that he is the candidate who can unite progressives, can unite moderates, independents and even Republicans.

BAIER: So, when you look at the crowd now for President Trump and he's getting thousands here. How do you talk about that/ What do you think about it?

SULLIVAN: We're focused on the crowds that we're seeing for Pete, right and we're focused on this race and this primary right now. And you know who is the candidate that can beat Trump. And Pete is clearly proven, coming out of Iowa as strongly as he did that, he's the candidate to do that.

I mean look, we need a candidate who is not going to polarize this country on the Democratic side. We need someone who can unite a broad coalition of progressives of independents of moderates and of Republicans and Pete very clearly proved in Iowa that he is the candidate to do that.

MACCALLUM: He definitely took some of the real estate that Joe Biden thought he was going to have in Iowa. There's no doubt about that. But the biggest knock against Pete Buttigieg is that he lacks experience. When you compare him to somebody like the former Vice President or Amy Klobuchar who says you know I've served in the Senate for years, how do you answer to that, because he was the mayor of a city of 100,000 thousand people.

SULLIVAN: I'd argue that that is exactly the experience that we need in Washington right now. Look, America as we know is made up of cities and towns just like South Bend. And Pete has the experience, executive experience of running one of those cities for eight years, dealing with real challenges and real problems that Americans face. And so, he's going to bring that to Washington.

He's also a fellow veteran. You know Pete raised his right hand and swore an oath to something greater than himself, which is the Constitution of the United States. He put his life on the line for our country and he served with Americans from all across our country and with very diverse backgrounds in Afghanistan. And he you know - I can tell you, probably didn't always agree with everyone, right. But we worked together, and we figured it out. And when I was in Iraq and Pete was in Afghanistan, nobody ever asked if we were Democrats or Republicans. We had a mission and we worked together to get that done. And Pete's going to bring that exact skill set to Washington.

BRET BAIER, ANCHOR: So, how do you think that the divide in the Democratic Party between progressives and this kind of more centrist lane is going to play out. Is he describing himself as a moderate?

SULLIVAN: I think what is important here is who can win, who can beat Donald Trump. And look that's going to be tough to do and the voters that I'm talking to you know in Hampton and Merrimack, in Exeter and Dover, in Durham, in Berlin are focused on, who can win. And we're not going to be able to do it by running the same playbook that we have before. We need something different. And we need something inspiring.

Look, polls don't win elections. Passion and conviction win elections, passion for your candidate, for volunteers and for a staff that's willing to work 18 hours a day around the clock.

MACCALLUM: Well, there's no doubt. We were at the event at the middle school yesterday. He's definitely has a very passionate crowd. And the polls won't matter at all after tomorrow night, what will matter are the numbers as they come in. Maura, thank you very much.

SULLIVAN: Thank you. It's great to be here.

MACCALLUM: Good to have you with us. Thank you.

SULLIVAN: Thank you.

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