T-R photo by Lana Bradstream Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg tells a group of Marshalltown residents on Thursday why he would be the best choice during the Monday caucus.

Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer introduced Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. at a Thursday town hall.

“It is my pleasure to introduce him and endorse him for the caucus,” Greer said to the crowd of roughly 170 people gathered in the Midnight Ballroom.

Buttigieg told the crowd that even though people might not agree on everything, they could at least agree that things could be better.

“I am opening the door to a new generation. That is how we win,” he said.

Buttigieg said the climate has reached a state of emergency and Marshalltown is proof of that, along with floods in the Midwest and extreme fires in Australia.

Not only is the climate of the world in need of repair, Buttigieg said the climate in Washington, D.C. is more intensely polarized than ever. To fix that issue, he said people need to look to the future and not get mired in arguments of the past.

“Vice President Biden has said we can’t afford to take a risk on somebody new, but I believe history has shown us we can’t afford to take the risk of falling back on the familiar and the same Washington playbook to help us,” Buttigieg said.

He said he is not running for the presidency of the United States because it is an office he feels like occupying. Rather, the office has a purpose.

“The purpose of the presidency is not to glorify the President but it’s to empower and unify the American people,” Buttigieg said. “That is why I am asking for your support.”

The candidate opened the floor to questions from the crowd. No one identified themselves, but people had a range of questions from U.S. Supreme Court judge appointments to how Buttigieg would support small business owners. He was asked if he would increase or decrease the amount of money spent in the U.S. Department of Defense.

“We need to review how we are spending our taxpayer dollars and the D.O.D. cannot be exempt from that,” Buttigieg said. “I believe we need to have the strongest and finest military in the world. I’ve also seen the capacity of contracts to waste enormous sums of money and we’ve got to look at our contracting practices.”

China, he said, is developing artificial intelligence that the United States is not. If that happens, the most expensive military equipment will not work, Buttigieg said.

There are a lot of things the candidate said people should be upset about, such as active shooter drills in elementary schools, the need for higher wages and gerrymandering.

“Running for office is an act of hope,” Buttigieg closed the town hall with. “So is supporting someone running for office, so is canvassing and volunteering, voting and caucusing. . . I have very high hopes for the state of Iowa. I was knocking on doors here in 2008 for a senator from Illinois when this state changed what America thought was possible in who we nominate. I watched that happen. I remember that feeling when Iowa made history. I also remember, on a very personal level, the feeling when I turned on the news a couple years ago and saw Iowa make history by giving folks like me the permission to believe that they could one day wear a wedding ring. So I am asking Iowa to make history one more time.”

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Contact Lana Bradstram at 641-753-6611 or lbradstram@timesrepublican.com