Experience matters. ‘Mayor Pete’ is banking on ideals mattering more.

Since Pete Buttigieg shot to the top of polls in Iowa and New Hampshire in late November, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has suddenly found himself – and his relative lack of experience – under a much brighter spotlight.

If he were elected, he would be the youngest president in history and the only mayor to go straight to the White House. Yet he has accrued an increasingly large throng of supporters and donors who aren’t concerned by the fact that he would be going from running a city of 100,000 to the world’s most powerful nation. Thanks to their enthusiasm and robust funding, he appears well positioned to do well in both Iowa and New Hampshire – the nation’s first contests, less than two months away.

“He is in a good position, probably

N.H. voters’ penchant for young candidatesLittle future for Mr. Buttigieg in Indiana politics