Concord, New Hampshire(CNN) Two decades ago, Pete Buttigieg composed a nearly 1,000-word tribute to Bernie Sanders.
He spoke glowingly of Sanders' candor and conviction in an essay that would earn the teenager top honors in an essay contest.
Flash forward to 2020, and Buttigieg is locked in a tense primary fight with the man he once praised. Sanders has refocused some of his attacks on the former mayor, the latest business-friendly, moderate stand-in for the political establishment, while Buttigieg now finds himself in the awkward position of lobbing grenades at the Vermont senator.
In the crowded field of Democratic candidates, it's a rivalry neither of them expected.
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Sanders spent most of January homed in on Joe Biden, hammering the former vice president over his record on social security, foreign policy and trade. And, for his part, Buttigieg targeted Elizabeth Warren throughout the fall, even at one point saying that he was in a two-way race with her in Iowa.
But the dust and delegates have settled in Iowa, leaving Warren and Biden in third and fourth place, respectively, and Sanders and Buttigieg in a virtual tie at the top. Polls now show the Vermont senator and the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor heading into Tuesday's primary in New Hampshire as the favorites.
This rapid reordering of the primary's top tier has forced Sanders and Buttigieg to redirect. Sanders has pointed to Buttigieg's wealthy donors, while Buttigieg has questioned Sanders' ability to help downballot candidates and unite the party.
Despite the recent lash of pointed rhetoric, Sanders and Buttigieg still feel like accidental rivals.
Sanders turns from Biden to Buttigieg
Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner, Saturday, February 8, in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Since Iowa, Sanders has largely ignored Biden and trained his fire on Buttigieg, whose billionaire donors have become an instant staple of his stump speech.
The initial wallop came on Friday morning, at a Politics and Eggs breakfast in Manchester, where Sanders read off a series of headlines heralding Buttigieg's popularity with billionaire donors. Later in the day, aides passed around pieces of paper with a mashup of the stories -- including one from Forbes that read, "Pete Buttigieg has most exclusive billionaire donors than any Democrat."
In the past week, Buttigieg has thrown elbows too, stamping Sanders as a hypocrite --- in fundraising emails and text messages to supporters -- for accepting the support of "dark money groups," including the organization Sanders formed after the 2016 primary, Our Revolution.
"I like Pete. He is a smart guy. He is a nice guy," Sanders said on Sunday in Dover. "But if you are serious about political change in America, that change is not gonna be coming from somebody who gets a lot of money from the CEOs of the pharmaceutical industry. No one really believes that you're gonna take on the pharmaceutical industry when they give you massive amounts of money."
Buttigieg responded during Friday night's debate.
"I have been very clear on both my record, where I have sued pharmaceutical companies, and what I'm campaigning for, that includes raising wages and raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy," he said before ribbing Sanders, whose personal net worth rose in recent years after his book became a best-seller. "As the only person on this stage who is not a millionaire or a billionaire, I know a thing or two about building a movement, because mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is not exactly an establishment fundraising powerhouse."
Buttigieg, since Iowa, has also struck a more aggressive tone when discussing Sanders.
Hoping to sow doubt in Democratic voters, he has suggested the Vermont senator would be a drag on downballot races and, echoing the angst of some of his supporters, questioned Sanders' ability to unify the party ahead of a November showdown with President Donald Trump.
"I respect Senator Sanders," Buttigieg said in Salem. "But in a moment like this, when the message goes out that you're either for a revolution or you must be for the status quo, most of us don't know where we fit, and would rather be part of a movement that makes room for all of us. This is a moment to come together."
It's a message Buttigieg re-upped in another fundraising email on Monday, when he blasted Sanders for pushing "the kind of my-way-or-the-highway politics that's polarized the country." Sanders, at an event in Manchester that morning, dug into Buttigieg again.
"Even in the newspapers today, you can see candidates conferring with their donors," Sanders said, before directly addressing his supporters. "You are my donors. We don't go to rich peoples' homes and get advice from millionaires and billionaires who are raising all kinds of money."
Reconciling the past
Pete Buttigieg and Sanders take a break during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University on January 14, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Buttigieg put a different spin on Sanders' ideological commitment in his award-winning 2000 essay for the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest.
"Fortunately for the political process, there remain a number of committed individuals who are steadfast enough in their beliefs to run for office to benefit their fellow Americans," Buttigieg wrote then. "Such people are willing to eschew political and personal comfort and convenience because they believe they can make a difference. One outstanding and inspiring example of such integrity is the country's only Independent Congressman, Vermont's Bernie Sanders."
Asked about those words during a 2017 interview on "The Axe Files," former top Obama strategist David Axelrod's podcast, Buttigieg praised Sanders for his "conviction politics," arguing they made him an effective messenger with independents and Republicans.
"I like to say, I'm like a hipster. I like to say that I knew about him before he was cool," Buttigieg said. "Not a lot of people were talking about Bernie Sanders (in 2000)."
Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg
Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, poses for a portrait at his office in December 2018.
Buttigieg was an intelligence officer with the Navy Reserve from 2009 until 2017, and he served in the war in Afghanistan.
Buttigieg thanks supporters after he was elected mayor in 2011. Buttigieg was born and raised in South Bend and went on to attend Harvard College. He later became a Rhodes scholar. After a three-year stint at the consulting firm McKinsey and Company, Buttigieg came back to Indiana and lost a race for state treasurer in 2010.
Buttigieg listens to a question during a news conference announcing an interim police chief in March 2012.
Buttigieg paddles a raft during the East Race Waterway in July 2013.
Buttigieg delivers his State of the City address in February 2014.
Buttigieg is welcomed home in September 2014 after serving a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Buttigieg speaks in November 2014 during a presentation ceremony for a newly redeveloped area in South Bend.
Buttigieg speaks out about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that was signed in Indiana in March 2015. Buttigieg and other critics of the legislation, which was signed into law by then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, contended that individuals and businesses could use it to discriminate against the gay community on the basis of religion. Pence later signed an amendment that was intended to protect the rights of LGBT people.
The State Theater in downtown South Bend shows its support for "Mayor Pete" after Buttigieg
came out as gay in June 2015.
Buttigieg's name is Maltese and roughly translates to "lord of the poultry." His husband, Chasten, tweeted a list of possible pronunciations in 2018 that included "boot-edge-edge," "buddha-judge" and "boot-a-judge."
Buttigieg speaks at a debate-watching party in Chicago in September 2016. He was stumping for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Buttigieg speaks during a Democratic National Committee forum in February 2017.
Buttigieg greets supporters during the DNC forum in February 2017. He was campaigning at the time to be the committee's chairman.
Buttigieg walks with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a personal friend, who was
visiting South Bend in April 2017.
Buttigieg appears on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in June 2017.
Buttigieg kisses his husband, Chasten, after they were married in South Bend in June 2018.
Buttigieg announces in December 2018 that he would not be seeking a third term as mayor.
Buttigieg talks with a reporter in downtown South Bend in January 2019.
Buttigieg speaks to reporters in Washington after announcing his presidential ambitions.
Buttigieg speaks during the US Conference of Mayors in January 2019.
Buttigieg speaks during a campaign stop in Ankeny, Iowa, in February 2019.
Buttigieg signs copies of his book "Shortest Way Home" in February 2019.
Buttigieg speaks on stage during the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, in March 2019.
Buttigieg answers questions from supporters during a fundraising event in West Hollywood, California, in March 2019.
Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden talk during a break in the first Democratic debates.
Buttigieg takes part in CNN's Democratic debates in July 2019.
Buttigieg announces the end of his presidential campaign at an event in South Bend, Indiana, in March 2020.
A few years and one fiercely contested primary contest later, Buttigieg and Sanders are talking an awful lot about one another. Buttigieg was serenaded at a party dinner on Saturday night with chants of "Wall Street Pete" by the Vermont senator's supporters.
"Mayor Buttigieg was right in 2017," Sanders spokesman Mike Casca said of Buttigieg's interview with Axelrod. "Sen. Sanders has a record of bipartisan achievement that dates all the way back to his time as mayor of Burlington. He's always advocated for policy change from a place of conviction. Others? Not so much."
During a CNN town hall last week, Buttigieg was asked how reconciled the praise of Sanders in essay with their current clashes.
"What I really admired about Senator Sanders, and still do, is his consistency and willingness to say exactly what he believes," Buttigieg said. "It doesn't mean I agree with him. I didn't agree with him on everything then and don't agree with him on everything now."
Buttigieg under fire from both sides
Buttigieg speaks during the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020, in Manchester, New Hampshire.
For Buttigieg, the back-and-forth with Sanders is playing out like a Greek tragedy -- or comedy, depending on where you stand -- amid a less quirky pile-on from his moderate rivals, who have spent the last few days trying to blunt his momentum. In one of the primary's harshest ads, Biden mocked the former mayor as a small-time politician comically unqualified for the presidency.
The intra-moderate fighting put a smile on the face of Sanders senior adviser Jeff Weaver, who on Oscar night praised the editing of Biden's online ad, noting it was perfectly constructed to be clipped into short bites for consumption on cable news programs.
"Hats off for execution," Weaver deadpanned before Sanders took the stage in Keene on Sunday night, offering some cheeky praise to the Biden team.
The sudden focus on Buttigieg has caught even some Sanders supporters in New Hampshire -- and around the country -- by surprise.
Buttigieg said on Sunday he considered deficit reduction a priority, even though the issue is "not fashionable in progressive circles." The argument was hardly a new one; he's been making it for months. But when the comments were highlighted in a story that afternoon, the online left pounced, as if responding to a new development, and slammed the mayor for using -- in their view -- Republican talking points.
At the Sanders rally in Keene, a handful confessed to not having paid much mind to Buttigieg before last week. Others were complimentary, if ultimately wary of the young candidate.
Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders
US Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Chicago in March 2019. Sanders, an independent from Vermont, is the longest-serving independent in the history of Congress.
Sanders, right, leads a sit-in organized by the Congress of Racial Equality in 1962. The demonstration was staged to oppose housing segregation at the University of Chicago. It was Chicago's first civil rights sit-in.
Sanders takes the oath of office to become the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in 1981. He ran as an independent and won the race by 10 votes.
Sanders, right, tosses a baseball before a minor-league game in Vermont in 1984. US Sen. Patrick Leahy, center, was also on hand.
In 1987, Sanders and a group of Vermont musicians recorded a spoken-word folk album. "We Shall Overcome" was first released as a cassette that sold about 600 copies. When Sanders entered the US presidential race in 2015,
the album surged in online sales. But at a CNN town hall, Sanders said, "It's the worst album ever recorded."
Sanders reads mail at his campaign office in Burlington in 1990. He was running for the US House of Representatives after an unsuccessful bid in 1988.
In 1990, Sanders defeated US Rep. Peter Smith in the race for Vermont's lone House seat. He won by 16 percentage points.
Sanders sits next to President Bill Clinton in 1993 before the Congressional Progressive Caucus held a meeting at the White House. Sanders co-founded the caucus in 1991 and served as its first chairman.
Barack Obama, then a US senator, endorses Sanders' Senate bid at a rally in Burlington in 2006.
Sanders takes part in a swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol in January 2007. He won his Senate seat with 65% of the vote.
Sanders chats with Dr. John Matthew, director of The Health Center in Plainfield, Vermont, in May 2007. Sanders was in Plainfield to celebrate a new source of federal funding for The Health Center.
Sanders speaks to reporters in 2010 about the Obama administration's push to extend Bush-era tax cuts. Three days later, Sanders held a filibuster against the reinstatement of the tax cuts. His speech, which lasted more than eight hours, was published in book form in 2011. It is called "The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class."
Sanders and US Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, walk to a news conference on Capitol Hill in 2014. Sanders was chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
In March 2015, Sanders speaks in front of letters and petitions asking Congress to reject proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
In July 2015, two months after announcing he would be seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for President, Sanders
spoke to nearly 10,000 supporters in Madison, Wisconsin. "Tonight we have made a little bit of history," he said. "You may know that some 25 candidates are running for President of the United States, but tonight we have more people at a meeting for a candidate for President of the United States than any other candidate has."
Seconds after Sanders took the stage for a campaign rally in August 2015, a dozen protesters from Seattle's Black Lives Matter chapter
jumped barricades and grabbed the microphone from the senator. Holding a banner that said "Smash Racism," two of the protesters -- Marissa Johnson, left, and Mara Jacqueline Willaford -- began to address the crowd.
Sanders shakes hands with Hillary Clinton at a Democratic debate in Las Vegas in October 2015. The hand shake came after Sanders' take on
the Clinton email scandal. "Let me say something that may not be great politics, but the secretary is right -- and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about the damn emails," Sanders said. "Enough of the emails, let's talk about the real issues facing the United States of America."
Sanders embraces Remaz Abdelgader, a Muslim student, during an October 2015 event at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Asked what he would do about Islamophobia in the United States, Sanders said he was determined to fight racism and "build a nation in which we all stand together as one people."
Sanders waves while walking in a Veterans Day parade in Lebanon, New Hampshire, in November 2015.
Sanders sits with rapper and activist Killer Mike at the Busy Bee Cafe in Atlanta in November 2015. That evening, Killer Mike
introduced Sanders at a campaign event in the city. "I'm talking about a revolutionary," the rapper told supporters. "In my heart of hearts, I truly believe that Sen. Bernie Sanders is the right man to lead this country."
Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in March 2016. He
won the state's primary the next day, an upset that delivered a sharp blow to Clinton's hopes of quickly securing the nomination.
Sanders speaks at a campaign event in New York's Washington Square Park in April 2016.
Sanders speaks at a rally in Santa Monica, California, in June 2016. He pledged to stay in the Democratic race even though Clinton secured the delegates she needed to become the presumptive nominee.
Sanders
endorses Clinton at a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in July 2016.
Sanders
addresses delegates on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in July 2016.
Sanders thanks supporters after winning re-election to the Senate in November 2018.
Sanders looks at his notes as he watches President Trump deliver the State of the Union address in February 2019. That month, Sanders announced that he would be running for president again.
Sanders hugs a young supporter during a campaign rally in Los Angeles in March 2019.
Sanders addresses the audience at a CNN town hall in Washington in April 2019.
Sanders speaks next to former Vice President Joe Biden at the first Democratic debates in June 2019.
Sanders raises his fist as he holds a rally in Santa Monica, California, in July 2019.
Sanders grabs the hand of US Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the Democratic debates in Detroit in July 2019.
Sanders campaigns at the University of New Hampshire in September 2019. A few days later,
he took himself off the campaign trail after doctors treated a blockage in one of his arteries. Sanders suffered a heart attack, his campaign confirmed.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduces Sanders at a New York rally after endorsing him for president in October 2019.
In a
tense and dramatic exchange moments after a Democratic debate, Warren accused Sanders of calling her a liar on national television. Sanders responded that it was Warren who called him a liar. Earlier in the debate, the two disagreed on whether Sanders told Warren, during a private dinner in 2018, that he didn't believe a woman could win the presidency.
Sanders laughs during a primary-night rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, in February 2020. Sanders won
the primary, just as he did in 2016.
A triumphant Sanders raises his fist in San Antonio after he was projected to win
the Nevada caucuses.
Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden talk before a Democratic debate in Charleston, South Carolina, in February 2020.
Sanders addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in March 2020.
Sanders speaks to reporters in Burlington, Vermont, a day after
Super Tuesday II. Sanders said it "was not a good night for our campaign from a delegate point of view" but that he looked forward to staying in the race and taking on Joe Biden in an upcoming debate.
Biden greets Sanders with an elbow bump before the start of a debate in Washington in March 2020. They went with an elbow bump instead of a handshake because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Buttigieg is very impressive, he just doesn't have experience," said Elizabeth Duffy, 57, who drove about an hour south with her husband to see Sanders in Keene. "What worries me (about Buttigieg) is he's been changing with the sort of demographic or consensus. Bernie doesn't do that; he sticks by what he believes in and I feel like Buttigieg is open to change in a way that I don't trust as much."
Though they aren't aiming their messages at the same voters, the depth of the primary field means that defections from Sanders' base -- even if they don't go to Buttigieg -- could help the former mayor on Tuesday night.
At a Buttigieg rally this weekend, also in Keene, Judy Lundahl and Christine Benson, two 71-year old New Hampshire residents, stood near the back of the room waiting for the candidate to speak.
Both of the women voted for Sanders in the last primary -- and both are planning to cast their ballots for someone else four years later.
"I don't want to diss Bernie," Benson said, "but the white men haven't done the best job."
Benson likes Buttigieg, but is likely going to back Warren on Tuesday. Lundahl is undecided between the two, whose support also overlapped in Iowa.
"I'm looking for somebody who's got some new ideas," said Lundahl, "who has some enthusiasm from the next generation that is going to hopefully solve some of the problems we have, that my generation and the generations before have created.
Lundahl said that she gave Sanders a shot this time around, but, after months of deliberation, decided to go elsewhere -- and threw away one of his 2016 campaign t-shirts to make it official.
"That was four years ago," she joked. "I put it in my rag bag."