| | | | Is Pete Buttigieg peaking too soon? |  | | The last 48 hours may well be the best 48 hours of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign.
First came a Quinnipiac University poll of New Hampshire voters on Monday that showed Buttigieg at 15% support -- clumped with the rest of the front-running pack, including former Vice President Joe Biden (20%), Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (16%) and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont (14%). (Buttigieg began running ads in the Granite State on Tuesday.)
Then on Tuesday, Buttigieg got even better news: In a Monmouth University Iowa poll, he stood at the top, with 22%, followed by Biden (19%), Warren (18%) and Sanders (13%). Even more impressive for Mayor Pete is that he gained 14 points between an August Iowa Monmouth poll and this survey while Biden lost 7 points and Warren 2. (Sanders gained 5 from that August poll to now.)
Taken together, there now exists the possibility that the 37-year-old wonderboy could win the first two voting states, a sweep that, if it came to pass, would put him in the driver's seat for the Democratic nomination.
What could possibly rain on the Pete parade? Try this -- in tweet form from former Obama senior strategist Dan Pfeiffer:
"This is almost twelve years to the week that Obama made his move in Iowa, the only challenge for Buttigieg is that the Caucus is one month later this cycle so it's a bigger challenge to sustain the momentum," Pfeiffer tweeted about the Monmouth results.
Which is true! In 2008, due to attempts by other states to lessen the influence of Iowa and New Hampshire, the Iowa caucuses were held on January 3. In 2020, they are scheduled for February 3.
Which means that Buttigieg needs to sustain his momentum in Iowa -- which he quite clearly has -- for the next (gulp!) 83 days. Not impossible, but a heck of a lot harder than keeping momentum for, say, 30 days.
For some perspective, 83 days ago was August 21, 2019. On that day, President Donald Trump canceled his planned trip to Denmark after the country's leaders made clear they had no interest in selling Greenland to the United States. And on that same day, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee dropped out of the presidential race.
Feels like a loooooong time ago, right? And it speaks to Buttigieg's challenge over the next 83 days.
The Point: Any of the candidates -- with the possible exception of Warren -- would change places with Buttigieg as of today. But that doesn't mean his work in the race is done.
-- Chris | | "I think I started this campaign with 4,000 friends on Twitter. "
-- Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who just reached 1 million Twitter followers. | | | YOUR WEDNESDAY VIEWING TIMELINE | | Wednesday is the first of the televised impeachment hearings, starting with top US diplomat Bill Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent. Here's a rough schedule of how the day will go: - 9 a.m. ET – Members of the media are allowed into the hearing room following a security sweep.
- 9:45 a.m. ET – Public attendees are allowed into the hearing room.
- 10 a.m. ET – The House Intelligence Committee hearing is gaveled in.
- 10:05 a.m. ET – The chairman and ranking member give opening statements, followed by swearing in of witnesses and their opening statements.
Some more backstory on how this will play out, from Phil Mattingly:
On the Democratic side, the opening lines of questioning will be spearheaded by Daniel Goldman, a former federal prosecutor with the Southern District of New York who joined the House Intelligence Committee in March and led the questioning in the closed-door depositions.
On the GOP side, it will be Steve Castor, the chief investigative counsel for the House Oversight panel who has been detailed to the House Intelligence Committee, along with his boss, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. At the conclusion of 90 minutes, the rest of the panel's members will each have five minutes to question the witnesses.
The hearing is expected to end between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. ET.
Look for rolling takeaways from Chris throughout the day and in The Point on Wednesday night. | | | New Coldplay! Enjoy "Everyday Life" -- (even if noted Coldplay hater Chris won't). | | | New Coldplay! Enjoy "Everyday Life" (even if noted Coldplay hater Chris won't). | |  | Who pays when Trump comes to town? | | Chris explains why local governments are complaining that they've been left with a Trump check.
Stay in the loop with The Point on YouTube. Subscribe! | |
LAUREN'S CAMPAIGN TRAIL LATEST | | Mark Sanford: Has ended his bid in the Republican presidential primary, citing impeachment for crowding his issues out of the conversation.
Deval Patrick: Is considering a run for the Democratic presidential nomination ahead of Friday's New Hampshire Primary filing deadline. He did not, however, file ahead of Arkansas' primary filing deadline today.
🎧 Lauren has more in today's Point podcast
Michael Bloomberg: Filed for the Arkansas primary. He hasn't officially announced a presidential run. | | | 10
The number of times (at least) that Donald Trump interacted with Rudy Giuliani's indicted associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, according to a new CNN KFile investigation.
The interactions include VIP photos at campaign events, attendance at high-dollar fundraisers and a retreat. Trump has been adamant that he does not know the men. | | | | | | |
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