Democratic candidates ignore frontrunner Bernie Sanders, fight among themselves instead

Four years ago, Donald Trump’s rivals for Republican presidential nomination made one fatal mistake. Now the other side might be repeating it.

Four years ago, Donald Trump’s rivals for Republican presidential nomination made a pivotal mistake. Now the other side of US politics might be repeating it.

Senator Bernie Sanders is the runaway favourite to win tomorrow’s New Hampshire primary and has raced to the top of national polls – but instead of targeting him, his competitors for the Democratic nomination are busy fighting among themselves.

Mr Trump’s opponents did the same thing in 2016, allowing him to win the state by a huge margin as they focused on each other.

RELATED: Trump blows away rivals in New Hampshire primary

New Hampshire is the second state to hold its nominating contest, giving the Democratic Party’s voters the chance to decide who they want to represent them in the general election against Mr Trump in November.

The top candidates are Mr Sanders, former vice president Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Tomorrow’s primary comes a week after the first contest of the campaign in Iowa, which was a logistical disaster for the party. Massive delays in the reporting of results left it with no declared winner for days.

Eventually, the vote count showed Mr Buttigieg and Mr Sanders practically neck-and-neck, with the former a fraction ahead on pledged delegates.

RELATED: Multiple shocks in first contest of 2020 election campaign

The five most recent polls from New Hampshire, on the other hand, all show Mr Sanders leading by a fairly comfortable margin.

• Boston Globe/Suffolk: Sanders 27, Buttigieg 19, Klobuchar 14, Warren 12, Biden 12;

• WHDH/Emerson: Sanders 30, Buttigieg 23, Klobuchar 14, Warren 11, Biden 10;

• CNN/University of New Hampshire: Sanders 29, Buttigieg 22, Biden 11, Warren 10, Klobuchar 7;

• Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald: Sanders 23, Buttigieg 20, Warren 16, Biden 14, Klobuchar 6;

• CBS/YouGov: Sanders 29, Buttigieg 25, Warren 17, Biden 12, Klobuchar 10.

Bernie Sanders is the clear frontrunner in New Hampshire. Picture: Joseph Prezioso/AFP

Former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg. Picture: Mary Altaffer/AP

TARGETING THE WRONG MAN?

So, with Mr Sanders the clear favourite in New Hampshire and threatening to build even more momentum, you would expect the other candidates to be trying to take him down.

Instead, the biggest target of incoming fire this week has been Mr Buttigieg, the youngest and least experienced candidate in the race.

Mr Buttigieg, 38, has never held an elected office at national level. The only real item on his political resume is his tenure as the mayor of South Bend, a mid-sized city of about 100,000 people.

Since his strong showing in Iowa, other candidates vying for the support of moderate Democratic voters have unleashed a barrage of attacks focusing on that inexperience.

At last week’s presidential debate, Senator Klobuchar compared Mr Buttigieg to Mr Trump, who was a real estate mogul and reality TV host before he became president.

“We got a newcomer in the White House, and look where that got us,” Senator Klobuchar said, drawing enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

And Mr Biden, who is facing tough questions about the viability of his own candidacy after a weak performance in Iowa, dropped a “nuke” of a political advertisement on his younger rival, juxtaposing their experience.

The Biden campaign dropping a nuclear bomb on Mayor Pete today.

This is the most brutal ad I've seen in a long time.🔥😂
pic.twitter.com/aQpb2P6LH7

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) February 8, 2020

For example, it contrasted Mr Biden’s work on striking the nuclear agreement with Iran to Mr Buttigieg’s work changing regulations on pet microchipping in South Bend.

“I do not believe we’re a party at risk if they nominate me,” Mr Biden told reporters after the ad dropped.

“I do believe we’re a party at risk if we nominate someone who’s never held a higher office than mayor of South Bend.”

In response, one reporter brought up Hillary Clinton’s criticism of Barack Obama’s relative inexperience during the 2008 primaries.

Mr Obama ran for president during his first term as a US senator representing Illinois. Before that, he had been a member of the state Senate.

“Oh come on, man. This guy’s not Barack Obama,” Mr Biden shot back.

Barack Obama had been a US senator for just two years when he ran for president. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

Mr Buttigieg reacted to the jab during several interviews on national television. On Fox News Sunday, he was confronted with additional quotes from Mr Biden.

“Barack’s experience was much wider,” the former vice president had said.

“I know Barack Obama. He’s not Barack Obama.”

Mr Buttigieg had his retort ready.

“He’s right, I’m not. And neither is he. Neither are any of us running for president,” Mr Buttigieg said.

“This isn’t 2008. This is 2020. We are in a new moment, calling for a different kind of leadership.”

Meanwhile, Mr Sanders has enjoyed a relatively gentle ride through the final week of campaigning in New Hampshire.

Mr Buttigieg has offered some criticism, accusing Mr Sanders of running a campaign that would further divide American voters and drive some away from the Democratic Party.

“This is a moment for bringing as many people as we can into the picture. But a picture where your only choices are between a revolution or the status quo is a picture where most of us don’t see ourselves,” he told one crowd of supporters.

Mr Sanders, in turn, has slammed Mr Buttigieg for accepting donations from “billionaires by the dozen”.

“If we are serious about political change in America, that change is not going to be coming from somebody who gets a lot of money from the CEOs of the pharmaceutical industry,” he said.

ECHOES OF TRUMP

If you were paying close attention four years ago, this situation might feel somewhat familiar.

Back in 2016, Mr Trump was the runaway frontrunner in New Hampshire, averaging 31 per cent in the polls – way ahead of young Florida senator Marco Rubio, who was in second place with 14 per cent.

But instead of focusing their attacks on Mr Trump, the other candidates for the Republican nomination instead went after Mr Rubio – quite successfully too.

No one really went after Donald Trump until it was too late. Picture: Timothy Clary/AFP

At the time, there was still a prevailing view that Mr Trump was not a serious candidate and would eventually fade. The candidates behind him in the polls – Mr Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Jeb Bush – spent a lot of time fighting among each other in an effort to become the chief alternative to him.

We all know how that turned out. Mr Trump’s momentum quickly became unstoppable and he won the nomination easily.

Mr Sanders will hope history is about to repeat.

We’ll be covering the results from New Hampshire live tomorrow. Polls should start to close around 11am AEST, so be sure to join us then.