Pete Buttigieg Embraces Top-Tier Status With New Message of Unity

  • Mayor greeted by one of largest crowds in Iowa campaign so far
  • Warren counters that a moderate approach is doomed to fail
Pete Buttigieg during a campaign stop in Britt, Iowa, on Nov. 4.Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty Images
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Exuding a new confidence as a top-tier candidate, Pete Buttigieg is seizing on Joe Biden’s stumbles in Iowa and deepening questions about Senator Elizabeth Warren’s electability to pitch himself as the alternative to both -- and the candidate best positioned to lead the Democrats against President Donald Trump.

Buttigieg, who has firmly established himself as a serious contender to win the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3, pitched himself to voters on a four-day swing through the state as a young moderate with the policy positions and background that could help Democrats recapture the industrial Midwest.