The Houston debate, pared down to 10 presidential primary candidates, offered an opportunity for Pete Buttigieg to raise his standing among 2020 Democrats. But the South Bend, Indiana, mayor largely got crowded by his Democrat rivals on stage.
Flush with the biggest war chest among Democratic candidates — more than $21 million through the fundraising period running through June — Buttigieg has yet to translate his campaign’s financial juggernaut into strong poll numbers.
“It was a stage so crowded, it’s a clutter right now. Pete would be so much better served if he was on the stage and just the top tier candidates,” said Brian Howey, a leading Indiana political columnist and publisher of Howey Politics Indiana.
“I think he got lost in the forest a bit with everybody else in there,” Howey told the Washington Examiner.
Among the current Democratic primary candidates, Buttigieg’s national support, according to his Real Clear Politics average, remains at 4.8%. This places him behind in fifth place behind California Sen. Kamala Harris.
Buttigieg still needs a breakthrough moment and his favorability among black voters in South Carolina remains weak.
“He’s got another two months in order to have that money find that traction for him,” Howey noted. “[Barack Obama] had momentum in November and December of ’07 and to me that that’s why Pete still has some time to find some traction, but I think the next round of debates is really crucial for him to be on a stage of five and not ten.”
The campaign funds, though, have already enabled Buttigieg to hire more full time staffers and open more campaign offices in key states, including Iowa and New Hampshire.
Despite more viral made for TV moments that erupted among other candidates on stage Thursday night, Buttigieg established his presence by talking about being gay while serving in the military under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, as well as by attacking then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, now vice president, for supporting a ban on same-sex marriage in the state.
Buttieg also went after President Trump for his trade war against China saying, “When I first got into this race, I remember President Trump scoffed and said he’d like to see me make a deal with (Chinese President) Xi Jinping. Well, I’d like to see him make a deal with Xi Jinping. It’s another example of a deal never made.”
