Pete Buttigieg Gets a Favorable Bump in Iowa From Last Week's Debate

Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar were the consensus winners of last week's Democratic debate and both are hoping their performance will translate into some momentum for their campaigns, allowing them to argue that the race isn't just between Biden, Sanders and Warren. Any "bump" they got from the debate should translate into larger crowds, increased fundraising, and better poll results.

The first sign of such a favorable bounce showed up in their fundraising totals and crowd sizes last week.

Politico: The Minnesota senator and the South Bend, Ind., mayor each raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours following the debate, a sign that their critiques of progressive leaders Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders during the debate struck a chord. Energetic crowds greeted them in the first caucus state soon after — including voters who said they were looking for alternatives to Joe Biden, the longtime polling leader who has slipped in Iowa over the past month.

And yesterday, Buttigieg drew an enthusiastic crowd of about 1000 voters to a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, a state Donald Trump won in 2016. That isn't as many as Elizabeth Warren has been drawing recently, but it's impressive for a candidate who had been polling in the single digits before the debate.

And a new poll in Iowa, the first state to award delegates next year, found that Buttigieg has joined the top tier of candidates.

USA Today: "Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who was initially seen as a long-shot presidential contender, has surged within striking distance of former vice president Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, a Suffolk University/USA TODAY Poll finds...

.. "The poll, taken Wednesday through Friday, put Biden at 18%, Warren at 17% and Buttigieg at 13% among 500 likely Democratic caucusgoers."

Sen Klobuchar didn't see a significant increase in the Iowa poll, but she did well enough to help her qualify for the next debate in November.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

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By: Don Lam & Curated Content