OK, so where do Mayor Pete's followers go now?

So, you probably saw that Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the Democratic primary race over the weekend after another disappointing finish, this time in South Carolina.

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Conventional wisdom holds that the departures of the Hoosier and Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar will most benefit Joe Biden, who isn’t moderate, as hard as he tries to make it seem, as Taylor wrote here Sunday. But he is less far left than most of the other survivors. That could be helpful, at least in the sense that a smaller field consolidates the anti-Bernie voters.

BTW, Tom Steyer suspended his campaign too. (Under FEC rules, ‘suspending’ a campaign allows it to continue fundraising to pay off debts and late bills.)

(Memo to Tom: California TV stations in Bakersfield are still running your ads during every break. Tell them to stop. Please!)

But is it true that Pete’s people will walk over to Joe’s corner?

Turns out, no. It isn’t.

The clever folks over at Morning Consult, who come up with the most interesting poll questions this cycle, have been checking the followers of all the Dems, asking about their second and third choices.

It seems Mayor Pete’s followers plan to go in several different directions, to most everyone left – Joe, Bernie Sanders, Mike Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren. Not equally but pretty close.

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Results showed 21 percent of Buttigieg’s first-choice backers said their second choice was Sanders, while 19 percent said Biden or Warren and 17 percent said Bloomberg.

Those switches would give each a two point bump in their national standing, according to Morning Consult. But not likely that much in Super Tuesday voting since Buttigieg’s and Steyer’s names remain on pre-printed ballots.

The poll of 13,428 Democrats found Buttigieg was pretty popular among 13,428 Democrats. He drew a 57 percent favorable rating vs 22 percent unfavorable. That suggests the 38-year-old could have a political future in his party, if he so chooses.

Only eight percent had never heard of the ex-mayor, which is a smaller figure than Amy Klobuchar and Tulsi Gabbard drew.

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