Jonathan Bernstein, Columnist

Gang Up on Pete Buttigieg? Maybe Not

His Democratic rivals face risks in playing the “attack dog” role in tonight’s debate.

February 7, 2020 at 12:08 PM UTC

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

Let the Friday night fight begin.
Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty Images

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We may still not know if Bernie Sanders or Pete Buttigieg actually won the Iowa caucuses, but we do know one thing: Buttigieg has received a classic New Hampshire bounce from it. According to the 538 estimate, he’s gained 4 or 5 percentage points this week and zoomed past former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren. The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, now trails only Sanders in the New Hampshire polls.