There are some lines that describe an era so perfectly that for a brief moment in the tornado-like news cycle of our modern world people stop, take notice and let it register. “This porn star presidency” is one of those lines.

The author of that brilliant encapsulation of our skanky common moment was the current mayor of South Bend, Indiana, 37 year-old Pete Buttegieg. Also included in his vitae are:  Harvard graduate, Rhodes Scholar, Afghan war vet and … gay. In other words: Not exactly your usual combination of stuff.

Buttegieg, who gets lots of love from Democratic media machers like the “Pod Save America” kids, is running for president and was doing the obligatory town hall with CNN’s Jake Tapper Saturday night. By the next morning, pundits were in a bit of a swoon. Donors, too. Naturally the latest porn-saturated insanity out of Trumplandia had something to do with it.

As Buttegieg was auditioning in front of his first big national audience, we were learning about the madam of the sleazy strip mall massage parlor/whorehouse where Trump buddy Robert Kraft (billionaire owner of the New England Patriots) had a habit of stopping by for what is colorfully referred to as a “rub and tug”. (Likely more “tug” than “rub” if we’re being honest.) It seems the madam has so thoroughly ingratiated herself with Trump and his tacky, “ewwww”-inducing crowd of “Boogie Nights” hangers-on she’s cuddled up close to him at Mar-a-Lago and is openly selling White House access to Chinese favor-seekers.

Buttegieg is clearly very smart and also a good public performer. He has some pretty progressive ideas, but he explains them in well-composed sentences and paragraphs low(er) information voters can understand. His tone Saturday was also an entirely appropriate mix of sadness (over the sheer goddam shamefulness of Trumpiness) and disgust (over the enablers of such a sleazy role model.) The “porn star presidency” line came in response to a question about who he’d rather have as president, Trump or Mike Pence.

(Couldn’t I just drive a stake through my ears instead?)

So yeah, a big moment for Mayor Pete, and based on it, purely for horse race purposes, I am formally moving him up into the super-elite “Lambert’s Top Five.” (Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke and now, Buttegieg.) That ought to spike his fund-raising.

But Buttegieg reignites a point I think is, um, foundational, in this race. Namely, Trump’s opponent next year has to pull together a lot of different people, not just the “empowered” women and jazzed up “young” (under 25) who only rally for presidential elections. To deliver a true wave election that sweeps out a few GOP senators, a wad of state legislatures and other things XXX-Trumpy, the 2020 Democrat has to have extraordinarily broad “celebrity” appeal. Both you and I may roll our eyes at the pop culture fanboy/fangirl aspect of this stuff, but it’s a stark reality people. “Traditional” is probably not going to cut it … deep enough.

I don’t think what I’ll generously refer to as “The Chronically Pissed Off Gun Crowd” as critical to Democrats’ chances of winning. Mostly old, white and male, conventional thinking is that those coots are so marinated in their self-pity and sense of victimhood they’re unreachable with any policy-driven message. But, true as that may be, they aren’t exactly ideological. They’re as eager for someone to “stop all the bullshit” as you and I am.

Getting them into the mix — without alienating “the base” (the pissed-off gals, disgusted “young”, ranting bloggers, etc.) pretty well nails down a big commanding win.

So how does “the gay thing” play?

Maybe not as bad as you might think. Based on quite a bit of direct, personal experience with badly groomed dudes nursing $2 beers in dive bars across this fine and exceptional country of ours, I don’t think “gay” is the landmine you might think. Most of them know someone, male or female, who swings for the other team. (Some may swing themselves, given their common reality of having a hard time keeping a gal, if you know what I mean.) It’s nothing they openly celebrate. Northern Wisconsin and the mountain west aren’t exactly the West Village. But “discomfort” isn’t quite the same thing as “freak out”.

All that might change of course when — not if — someone comes up with an Al Franken-level photo of Buttegieg in drag at a Gay Pride parade or (horrors!) kissing his husband. But if he’s been talking “authentically” and coherently, as he seems genetically inclined to do, he could survive that kind of thing.

So, Gay Mayor Pete, welcome to The Elite.