Pete Buttigieg says he offers style and message parallels with Barack Obama's Iowa campaign

DES MOINES – It was the beginning of an outdoor town hall for Pete Buttigieg in mid-October, and the shivering crowd watched Matt McCoy jump on stage to help introduce the Democratic presidential candidate.

McCoy, a Polk County supervisor who has endorsed the South Bend, Indiana, mayor, was on the elevated platform for mere moments before he compared Buttigieg to President Barack Obama. The crowd cheered so loudly in response they appeared to temporarily forget the 30-degree temperature.

"He was going to launch his campaign from Iowa," McCoy said in recalling Obama's 2007 effort in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. "And here we are again tonight with that feeling in the air. That opportunity for change."

As the field of 2020 presidential hopefuls descends on Iowa this weekend for several cattle call events, many are seeking to stand out at Friday's Liberty and Justice Celebration. Buttigieg, in particular, is looking to break out at the Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser, once known as the "Jefferson-Jackson Dinner," by drawing parallels to Obama's historic Iowa campaign.

The dinner is credited with propelling Obama toward his first-place finish in the Iowa caucuses in early 2008, a point that Buttigieg's campaign reminded his supporters.

"It was the moment that changed everything for the Obama campaign and, ultimately, for the country," read a Buttigieig fundraising email this week from Larry Grisolano, a former adviser for Obama in 2007 who now works for the Buttigieg campaign. "That same moment for Pete, and for America, is this Friday night."

Buttigieg himself has nodded to Obama's first Iowa campaign for months.

"I'm asking you to spread something that I know went out of style a little bit in American politics: And it's hope," Buttigieg said at the Oct. 12 town hall where McCoy spoke. "Hope" became synonymous with the former president's 2008 race to the White House.

"Because running for office is an act of hope. Organizing for somebody running for office is an act of hope. Voting is an act of hope," Buttigieg said in October.

People who show up to Buttigieg's events in Iowa often draw Obama comparisons. According to those potential caucusgoers, Buttigieg is uniquely suited to bring people together following the presidency of Donald Trump.

"We were for Obama, and we're for Pete," said Connie Bergman, a 76-year-old retiree from Ames who went to a Buttigieg town hall on the Iowa State University campus on Oct. 16 with her husband, Al.

Buttigieg told the Des Moines Register in an interview that he's heard the Obama comparison on the trail and it's "flattering" because he believes Obama "was a great president."

"I think there's some overlap, certainly, between the style that he brought, and what I'm trying to offer," said Buttigieg, who campaigned for Obama in Iowa in 2007.

Buttigieg said there are obvious similarities with what he needs to do in Iowa and what Obama accomplished back then. Buttigieg, who has had to overcome a lack of name recognition at the start of the election cycle, has climbed the polls and become a top fundraiser. Buttigieg now has one of the largest operations in Iowa, with more than 100 staffers in the state and more than 20 field offices.

"Another thing I have in common with him," Buttigieg said in referencing Obama. "As somebody who's not been on the national political scene for a very long time ... the best way that my campaign can demonstrate that we're ready to win, and ultimately win the presidency, is to start with a very good showing here in Iowa."

George Rankin, 55, who traveled to Iowa from Washington State in September with his wife, Emilie, for the Polk County Steak Fry, ended up following Buttigieg that weekend for the candidate's multi-day bus tour. The couple traveled to Iowa in 2007 to see Obama.

"He's got that 'it' factor that Obama had," said the 65-year-old Emilie Rankin. "... an ability to describe issues in a way that people can understand, but in depth."

The Rankins think Buttigieg can win Iowa like Obama, and they highlighted that no one back then knew who Obama was, either.

“We had an Obama sticker ...," George Rankin recalled about their appreciation for Obama in 2007. “And someone came up and said, ‘What’s an Obama?’ So we’ve been through this process.”

Barbara Rodriguez covers health care and politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at bcrodriguez@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8011. Follow her on Twitter @bcrodriguez.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Election 2020: Pete Buttigieg tries to draw parallels to Barack Obama's first Iowa campaign