Buttigieg under fire as Democratic rivals see 2020 threat

[left-of-center2012]

US Democratic candidates galloped into a critical phase of the 2020 campaign Friday after a bruising presidential debate which saw Pete Buttigieg brave incoming fire as a credible emerging threat to his rivals' White House ambitions.

The young mayor of South Bend, Indiana is not the frontrunner -- that title currently belongs to former vice president Joe Biden, who put in a solid performance in the year's final debate. But Buttigieg's steady rise in recent nationwide polls has brought him attention, including attacks by rivals who see him as an obstacle to their success in early voting states Iowa and New Hampshire.

To date, Buttigieg's national high water mark was 11.8 percent in late November. Although he has slid slightly, to 8.3 percent, he has consolidated his status as a genuine contender, leading the polls in Iowa, the state that sets the tone in the primary race with its February 3 vote. He has also made impressive gains in New Hampshire, which votes the following week.

"This is a fight for Iowa and New Hampshire right now," California Governor Gavin Newsom told NBC after the debate. "Buttigieg is out-performing and, as a consequence, he's at the eye of that storm."

https://news.yahoo.com/buttigieg-under-fire-democratic-rivals-see-2020-threat-221419750.html