Mr. Buttigieg’s jump in recent polls, along with Mr. Biden’s staying power, could suggest a persistent appetite for more unifying voices. Pundits and party leaders have long pushed the notion that the Democratic base skewed to the progressive tastes of its most vocal activists, especially in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. This mirrored what had been a sustained rise by Ms. Warren over several months, along with the ongoing struggles of more consensus-themed candidates like Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado and a host of others who are no longer in the race.
Polls released in recent weeks, however, indicate the appeal of a more moderate, less combative Democratic message has been perhaps undervalued. A New York Times/Siena College survey of primary voters in battleground states showed a preference for a candidate who would seek common ground with Republicans, rather than one who would push a bolder and less compromising progressive agenda. Ms. Warren appears to have lost ground, both in national surveys and in Iowa, while Mr. Buttigieg has become increasingly less shy with his criticism.
“It’s definitely not unifying,” he said aboard his campaign bus in Iowa when asked about Ms. Warren’s and Mr. Sanders’s approaches. If nothing else, Mr. Buttigieg argued, he represents a more pragmatic alternative that is characteristic of his age cohort — or at least the part of it not screaming itself hoarse at Warren and Sanders rallies.
“The fighting is not about being at people’s throats,” countered Ms. Warren in an interview after a rally in Exeter, N.H. Emphasizing a willingness to “fight,” she said, demonstrates commitment. “Fighting is about throwing your whole self into making the changes,” she said. “The big fights define who we are. The big fights inspire people to come out. The big fights signal just how important this is.”
“Fighting,” she added, is a proxy for the “big structural change” her campaign is promising, as opposed to what she calls the “nibbling around the edges” philosophy. This is essentially Ms. Warren’s critique against what she considers the small-bore mind-set some in her party embrace.
Other progressives have joined her in this criticism, often directed at Mr. Buttigieg. He has been attacked over his past employment at McKinsey & Company, the international consulting firm, and his ties to Mark Zuckerberg, the C.E.O. of Facebook. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the luminary freshman from New York and a supporter of Mr. Sanders, castigated Mr. Buttigieg for adopting a “G.O.P. talking point” in his dismissal of tuition-free public college proposals.