Yes, the "Mayor Pete" moniker is an attempt to make himself a man of the people, and, yes, his efforts to ingratiate himself to black folks is also part of this effort. He often speaks about the working class environment of South Bend and the Midwest.
You're putting your own spin on my comment about he and his dad and the locals. What I'm describing is a very demeaning, condescending view of the locals as stupid bumpkins. Think of Chris, but with a better command of the English language and a far better dresser.
I'm not denying he served and that service in general is commendable. What I'm offering is my opinion that everything this guy has done from a long time ago has been calculated to arrive at this day in his political career. If you want to get ahead as a Democrat, not only in Indiana, but nationally in a presidential election, Ditto with his self-professed Christianity. It comes in handy, particularly with swing voters in places where Democrats are not sure victors. Do you buy it? I have the same reaction to his remarks about his Christianity that I do to Trump's. It seems fake. It seems like contrivance so that he can simultaneously insulate himself from some criticism and also use it as a weapon. Think about normal people you know who are genuinely Christian. Do any of them behave like Pete does?
You can say that all the Dems have to pander to blacks, but you will notice that voters buy Biden on this issue, while Pete continues to flop miserably. That's because his efforts are so transparently fake and so clumsy that black folks don;t buy it and never will. Do you think Biden feels more comfortable around black folks than Pete?
Up until the presidential campaign, Pete has not sounded those SJW notes like many other Dems. In fact, most of those types seem to dislike Pete and some consider him unrepresentative of the LGBT norm and definitely the ideal.
If you think it's helpful at uniting people to engage in the same moralism as some fundamentalists, I would argue you need to think harder about it.
I have no idea how you're unaware of Pete's groveling at the feet of biollionaires. In several ways, he's the perfect pawn for these folks. I think this guy will do whatever those folks want him to do. Like him or not, Bernie will not do that. Remember how Mitt said a big reason he would vote for conviction was that he would have to look his kids and grandkids in the eye? I believe him. Pete will never be encumbered in that way. The family safeguards individuals against any number of things. This is why totalitarian governments have often tried to dissolve the family unit. Among other things, the family makes it more difficult for to control you, in part on account of the reason Mitt cited. When you have someone who doesn't believe he must answer to God and doesn't have progeny he will have to face, that person is that much easier to control.