Des Moines (CNN) Pete Buttigieg touted himself as the most electable Democrat in the 2020 presidential field on Friday, delivering an optimistic speech that cast himself as the person who can best person unify the country after President Donald Trump leaves office.

Beyond the words, though, the speech notably highlighted the newfound power for Buttigieg's growing organization in Iowa. As the South Bend, Indiana, mayor spoke on Friday night, hundreds of Buttigieg's supporters sporting yellow shirts emblazoned with "PETE" roared during lulls in the speech. Some had block lettering that read "Boot Edge Edge."

Here in Iowa, Buttigieg's campaign is ascendant, highlighted by a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Friday that found the South Bend mayor at 18% in the state. That places Buttigieg in the top tier with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Vice President Joe Biden, three Democrats he was looking up at earlier in this campaign.

That standing in the polls is significant for a candidate who had barely any staff on the ground for much of 2019, to the point that professional Democrats in the state privately questioned his commitment to the caucus.

Buttigieg has since poured millions into Iowa. His campaign in the state now stands at more than 100 staffers and over 20 organizing offices across Iowa.

But even as he uses his resources on winning the primary, on Friday, Buttigieg spent significantly more time focused on the President than his Democratic opponents at the Iowa Democratic Party's Liberty & Justice Celebration, choosing to use the powerful platform to highlight his lack of ties to Washington, D.C., his military experience and the need for Democrats to push a bright, forward-looking vision for the country.

"I am asking you to picture that first day the sun comes up in this country and Donald Trump is no longer the President of the United States. A happy thought for sure," Buttigieg said. "But what comes next?"

"This country cannot afford another four years of Donald Trump. We will not recognize it if he gets reelected."

Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, poses for a portrait at his office in December 2018. Hide Caption 1 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg was an intelligence officer with the Navy Reserve from 2009 until 2017, and he served in the war in Afghanistan. Hide Caption 2 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg 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. Hide Caption 3 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg listens to a question during a news conference announcing an interim police chief in March 2012. Hide Caption 4 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg paddles a raft during the East Race Waterway in July 2013. Hide Caption 5 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg delivers his State of the City address in February 2014. Hide Caption 6 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg is welcomed home in September 2014 after serving a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. Hide Caption 7 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg speaks in November 2014 during a presentation ceremony for a newly redeveloped area in South Bend. Hide Caption 8 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg 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. Hide Caption 9 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg The State Theater in downtown South Bend shows its support for "Mayor Pete" after Buttigieg came out as gay in June 2015. Hide Caption 10 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg 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." Hide Caption 11 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg speaks at a debate-watching party in Chicago in September 2016. He was stumping for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Hide Caption 12 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg speaks during a Democratic National Committee forum in February 2017. Hide Caption 13 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg greets supporters during the DNC forum in February 2017. He was campaigning at the time to be the committee's chairman. Hide Caption 14 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg walks with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a personal friend, who was visiting South Bend in April 2017. Hide Caption 15 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg appears on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in June 2017. Hide Caption 16 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg kisses his husband, Chasten, after they were married in South Bend in June 2018. Hide Caption 17 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg announces in December 2018 that he would not be seeking a third term as mayor. Hide Caption 18 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg talks with a reporter in downtown South Bend in January 2019. Hide Caption 19 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg speaks to reporters in Washington after announcing his presidential ambitions. Hide Caption 20 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg speaks during the US Conference of Mayors in January 2019. Hide Caption 21 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg speaks during a campaign stop in Ankeny, Iowa, in February 2019. Hide Caption 22 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg signs copies of his book "Shortest Way Home" in February 2019. Hide Caption 23 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg speaks on stage during the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, in March 2019. Hide Caption 24 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg answers questions from supporters during a fundraising event in West Hollywood, California, in March 2019. Hide Caption 25 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden talk during a break in the first Democratic debates. Hide Caption 26 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg takes part in CNN's Democratic debates in July 2019. Hide Caption 27 of 28 Photos: Former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg Buttigieg announces the end of his presidential campaign at an event in South Bend, Indiana, in March 2020. Hide Caption 28 of 28

Buttigieg also used the speech to take on questions about his candidacy. He rebutted issues around his age, telling Iowans that he is so optimistic not because of his youth, but because of his experience. And he directly highlighted his differences with other Democrats on issues like "Medicare for All," the liberal health care proposal that Buttigieg has questioned in recent months.

"If talking about hope and belonging sounds optimistic for a time like this, fine, then call it optimistic," he said, "but do not call it naive, because I believe in these things not based on my age but based on my experience."

Buttigieg said he had "seen in the dust of a war zone Americans who have nothing in common besides the flags on our shoulders learn to trust each other with our lives" and "seen in the ruins of factories, my city answer those who said we were a dying community by rising up together to build a better future."

And then Buttigieg got personal.

"After all you're looking at someone who as a young man growing up wondered if something deep inside of him meant that he would forever be an outsider, would never wear the uniform, never be accepted, never know love," Buttigieg said, a nod to him being gay. "And now you are looking at that same young man, a veteran, a mayor, happily married, asking for your vote for president of the United States."

Friday's event is often seen as a turning point in the race for the Democratic nomination, one that finds Iowa's Democrats beginning to solidify their support for one or two top candidates. In 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama used what was previously known as the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner to show the organizing power behind his upstart campaign and firmly position himself among the top candidates in the Iowa caucuses, a contest he would eventually win.

That event highlighted Obama's ability to organize in the state, something that -- up until that point -- was unproven. Many in the Buttigieg campaign hoped, going into Friday's event, that the same would be true for Buttigieg.

Larry Grisolano, who was an Obama adviser in 2008, sent a fundraising email in the days leading up to the dinner with the subject line, "The parallels between 2007 and 2019."

"Pete's campaign this year is rekindling the same excitement I felt at this time in 2007," Grisolano wrote.

And Buttigieg leaned into that on Friday.

"The first time I came to this state was as a volunteer, to knock on doors for a presidential candidate with a funny name," he said, referencing his time as a volunteer for the 2008 Obama campaign. "And we knew the stakes were high then, the stakes are colossal now."

Comparisons to Obama give Buttigieg, a candidate who has never won a congressional or statewide office, significant shoes to fill. And not all of Buttigieg's advisers are looking to stoke such a resemblance.

"Every campaign is different, but what I will say is Pete's campaign has tremendous energy and enthusiasm that is propelling the campaign," said Jess O'Connell, Buttigieg's senior adviser who held a similar role to Obama's opponent, Hillary Clinton, in 2008. "Others have made the comparison that that is like Obama. I'm not ready to make that. We're running our own race."