It is very important to get off to a quick start in the primary race.
If you expect to win, you need to either carry one of the first four states or at the very least, have a strong showing in second place in all of them.
Shockingly, the top candidate in Iowa is not Biden, Sanders, or Warrenā¦ it is Pete Buttigieg.
Buttigieg Soars to Lead
Iowa is the first state to hold an election, or in this case a caucus, for the primary.
Everyone expected this state to set the tone for a Biden domination of the primary to easily win the nod.
If Biden could sweep all four states in February, he should be able to crush the field on Super Tuesday.
The CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll, however, shows Pete Buttigieg as the dominant leader, capturing 25 percent of likely voters in the state.
Not only is Buttigieg the leader, but he is the leader by a rather large margin.
The āfrontrunnersā in the race all sit at 15 to 16 percent, a full 10 points behind South Bendās Mayor.
Now, if you do the quick math, that only leaves table crumbs for the rest of the field.
The top candidate in the remainder of the field is Senator Amy Klobuchar, who landed six percent.
Five other candidates shared a three percent capture, included in that group are Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.
What Does This Mean for Buttigieg?
More than any other candidate, Buttigieg has spent a lot of time and money in Iowa to keep himself in the race and it is clearly paying off.
Buttigieg has managed to gain support across many demographics, suddenly making him a real player in this election.
Forget the national polls right now because if Buttigieg does well in Iowa and New Hampshire, it will change the way people vote.
There is also the fact that Buttigieg is far younger than the frontrunners in this race, showing the party may truly be looking to move forward from the older candidates in the field.
As a presidential threat, though, well, that is a completely different matter.
Buttigieg does not exactly have a great record as a mayor and his support among the law enforcement community would not be expected to be very strong considering his most recent stances.
He could, however, hurt Trump with the military, as he is a veteran who served in a combat zone.
Overall, though, I donāt see Buttigieg as much of a threat as a primary candidate, but he could present a challenge for Trump if he winds up on a ticket as a VP candidate.