Politico: “Right-leaning pundits and politicians have taken notice of Buttigieg’s rising popularity, an ascent that began in early March after the South Bend mayor’s widely heralded CNN town hall performance, which garnered a sprinkling of compliments from Republicans.”

“In the time since, a number of conservatives have shown a growing interest in Buttigieg and at times offered positive remarks about the Democratic candidate, a treatment quite the opposite of what most of the mayor’s primary challengers are receiving from the GOP.”

Andrew Sullivan: “Trump would be the oldest president in history at 74; Buttigieg would be the youngest at 39. Trump landed in politics via his money and celebrity after years in the limelight; Buttigieg is the mayor of a midsize midwestern town, unknown until a few weeks ago. Trump is a pathological, malevolent narcissist from New York, breaking all sorts of norms. Buttigieg is a modest, reasonable pragmatist, and a near parody of normality. Trump thrives on a retro heterosexual persona; Buttigieg appears to be a rather conservative, married homosexual. Trump is a coward and draft dodger; Buttigieg served his country. Trump does not read; Buttigieg does. Trump’s genius is demonic demagoguery. Buttigieg’s gig is careful reasoning. Trump is a pagan; Buttigieg is a Christian. Trump vandalizes government; Buttigieg nurtures it.”

“To put it simply, Mayor Pete seems almost designed to expose everything that makes the country tired of Trump.”

Pete Buttigieg, who is officially still just “exploring” a presidential bid, tweeted that he’ll be making a “special announcement” in South Bend on April 14.

Axios: “Online interest in Buttigieg — a 37-year-old gay veteran and Harvard graduate who speaks 8 languages — has skyrocketed since his CNN town hall, generating more engagement with his tweets (2.10 million interactions) during this period than any other candidate’s main account except Beto O’Rourke — with half as many followers. Buttigieg’s campaign raised $7 million in the first quarter of 2019.”

Pete Buttigieg announced that his presidential campaign raised over $7 million in the first quarter.

Politico: “The challenge for Buttigieg goes beyond teaching America how to pronounce his last name. Local operatives said the 37-year-old lags behind the rest of the sprawling pack of 2020 candidates in building infrastructure in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — a problem Buttigieg’s campaign is racing to correct as resources start to roll in.”

Eric Lach: “Part of Buttigieg’s appeal is that he offers a kind of political refuge: he’s a candidate that lets you forget about the baggage and conflicts of the race’s front-runners, if only for a little while. He sounds comfortable discussing complex issues, smiles warmly, and has no visible political enemies. Putting himself forward as an alternative choice has been part of Buttigieg’s brand for as long as he’s been on the national political stage.”

Harry Enten: “Buttigieg just scored his highest Democratic primary national poll number to date at 4% of Democrats and Democratic leaning registered voters, according to Quinnipiac University. That easily beats his old high of 1% in a live interview national poll. A jump of 3 points may not seem like a lot, but, because the margin of error shrinks significantly the closer you get to 0, the move from 1% to 4% is likely statistically significant.”

“Obviously, the Quinnipiac poll is just one poll, but it is just the latest sign that the Buttigieg brand is rising among Democrats.”

New York Times: “Ideologically, Mr. Buttigieg is a progressive — sometimes an adventurous one, calling to expand the Supreme Court and abolish the Electoral College. But his main themes are generational change and winning back Rust Belt voters who supported Mr. Trump.”

NBC News: “While Trump obtained deferments to avoid Vietnam, Buttigieg signed up for military service when his generation went to war in Afghanistan. He comes from a small Midwestern city rather than the Big Apple. And perhaps most important to primary voters and some Republicans, his politics are informed by a deep grasp of history, philosophy and ethics that are at odds with Trump’s rejection of expertise.”

“That helps explain why, for a growing group of Democrats — from the elite salons of New York, Washington and blue-checkmark Twitter to the small-dollar cash mines of the 50 states — Buttigieg is fast becoming the diamond in a presidential primary rough full of better-known and better-funded rivals.”

“I think everyone wants to fit you on an ideological spectrum which I think has never been less relevant. More and more people want to know what your ideas are and whether they make any sense.”

— Pete Buttigieg, in an interview on Fox News Sunday.

Pete Buttigieg (D) said that his campaign raised enough individual donors to guarantee a spot at the first Democratic Party debate of the 2020 cycle, The Hill reports.

“Buttigieg, who is exploring a White House bid but has not officially announced a campaign, announced Saturday that his team had received more than 76,000 individual donations, passing the 65,000 individual threshold set by the Democratic National Committee.”

“Look, you could be a senior senator and have never managed more than a hundred people in your life. I not only have more years of government experience than the president of the United States, but I have more years of executive experience than the vice president of the United States, and more wartime experience than anybody who arrived in the office since George H.W. Bush.”

— South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, quoted by the Washington Post, on his experience to be president despite being 37 years old.

“I get the audacity of somebody like me talking about running for this office, but frankly it’s a leap for anybody.”

— South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in an interview with ABC News, on running for president.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the young, gay, millennial Navy veteran, who ran unsuccessfully in 2017 to lead the Democratic National Committee — announced early Wednesday morning that he is forming an exploratory committee to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, CBS News reports.

Washington Post: “Buttigieg suffused his announcement with references to his youth and the generational exception he represents compared to most of the Democratic field. He turned 37 on Saturday, making him the youngest entrant so far in the presidential race.”

“I get the urge people will have after Trump. ‘Look at the chaos and the exhaustion: Wouldn’t it be better to go back to something more stable with somebody we know?’ But there’s no going back to a pre-Trump universe. We can’t be saying the system will be fine again just like it was. Because that’s not true; it wasn’t fine. Not if we could careen into this kind of politics.”

— South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), quoted by the Washington Post., warning Democrats not to look in the rearview mirror for solutions.