I’ve gone back and forth on the campaign of Former Mayor Pete, as John McCormack has taken to calling him. It’s unquestionably preposterous for a small-town Indiana mayor to presume to run for president. On the other hand, that he bootstrapped his way into the top of the Democratic field and either won — or perhaps more likely — lost the Iowa SDE count by a handful of delegates to Bernie Sanders is an amazing achievement. It speaks to his talent as a communicator, his ability to light up an important segment of the Democratic fundraising base, and the unquenchable appetite among some Democrats for the next Kennedy or Obama, the charismatic young man who can inspire the country and write his own version of Camelot in the White House. Such is Pete’s surge in the latest New Hampshire polling that he very well could win next week. I have no idea what would happen from there, but whether he wins the nomination or not, just getting here is very impressive (and kind of absurd).