At some point, some of the candidates seeking the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination will drop out of the race. Half of you are currently getting huffy, preparing to send me an email demanding I acknowledge former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper. The other half of you have never heard of John Hickenlooper in your life and suspect that I might be making him up.*

The point is that eventually some of the candidates that people support will start dropping out. And when they do, the people who support them will need to find a new candidate to back. (Or they might huffily swear off the primary, which is not uncommon.) That trickle of supporters between candidates is an important factor to consider in evaluating the state of the field. After all, you could be leading the pack right now, but if none of your opponents’ supporters likes you, you’re not going to gain ground as the field winnows, which is a problem.

We’re talking to you, Joe Biden.