… At a basic level, this is a debate over word choice. Candidates have been selling themselves as “fighters” for centuries, ostensibly on behalf of the proverbial “you.” It goes back at least to 1828, when Andrew Jackson bludgeoned John Quincy Adams, his erudite opponent, with the slogan “Adams can write but Jackson can fight.” Populists of various stripes have been claiming for decades to “fight for you,” “fight the power,” “fight the good fight” and whatnot, all in the name of framing their enterprises as some cause that transcends their mere career advancement.
In a broader sense, though, it goes to a stylistic divide that has been playing out for nearly a year in the battle for the Democratic nomination. The split is most acute among the top four polling candidates: you could classify Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders as the pugilists in the field, whereas Mr. Buttigieg, he of the earnest manner and Midwestern zest for consensus, fashions himself a peacemaker. Mr. Biden would also sit in the latter camp, with his constant promises to “unite the country” and continued insistence — oft-derided — that his old Republican friends would be so chastened by Mr. Trump’s defeat that they would suddenly want to work in sweet bipartisan harmony with President Joe. CONT.
Mark Leibovich, New York Times