Among those surveyed who watched the debate last Tuesday, 4 in 10 said Buttigieg was the candidate who did better than they expected. An additional 3 in 10 cited Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar as doing better than expected, although so far that hasn’t translated into support. She is just below 3% in the poll.
Biden was by far the candidate seen as doing worse than expected in the debate, cited by 1 in 4 poll respondents.
Among debate-watchers only, Buttigieg held a narrow lead in the poll, at 19%. Biden and Warren were tied at 17%.
There were other signs of a friendly political landscape for Buttigieg and Warren in the poll. They led the field as the second choice of respondents; Warren was picked by 22% and Buttigieg by 14%. That could be important if and when other candidates drop out of the race, or if other candidates fail to reach the 15% threshold for delegates in the caucuses and caucusgoers decide to move to another contender.
