"It sure feels like Buttigieg and Klobuchar have wind in their sails"

The Minnesota senator and the South Bend, Ind., mayor each raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours following the debate, a sign that their critiques of progressive leaders Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders during the debate struck a chord. Energetic crowds greeted them in the first caucus state soon after — including voters who said they were looking for alternatives to Joe Biden, the longtime polling leader who has slipped in Iowa over the past month.

The events mark the first moment since Biden entered the 2020 primary that other moderates sense a real opportunity to cut into the former vice president’s support, which has largely blocked them out of the top of the race. And they’re doing it by contrasting themselves with Warren and Sanders, overshadowing Biden’s own attempts to sell an alternative to Medicare for All and other popular plans on the left.

“If you want the left-most possible candidate, you’ve got a clear choice. If you want the candidate with the most years in Washington, you’ve got a clear choice. For everybody else, I just might be your person,” Buttigieg said after an event at the University of Chicago, where he spoke with David Axelrod, former President Barack Obama’s chief strategist. “I think we saw that space opening up.”