Mayor Pete "Boat Shoes" Buttigieg and Sen. Kamala "Five-O" Harris were once considered "top tier" contenders in the 2020 Democratic primary. A new poll from CNN suggests that is no longer the case.
Boat Shoes and Five-O are mired in fourth place at 5 percent, well behind the emerging top tier of candidates. Joe Biden remains the frontrunner with 29 percent support, while Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) are neck-in-neck with 15 percent and 14 percent, respectively. The poll is especially bad news for Harris, whose support has plummeted 12 percentage points since late June.
CNN poll: 2020 Democrats
Biden 29% (+7 since late June)
Sanders 15% (+1)
Warren 14% (-1)
Buttigieg 5% (+1)
Harris 5% (-12)
O’Rourke 3% (-)
Booker 2% (-1)
Castro 2% (+1)
Gabbard 2% (+1)
[everyone else 1% or less]https://t.co/nSU6zOT1k3— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) August 20, 2019
Meanwhile, failed Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke remains irrelevant despite his best efforts to rebrand himself as the candidate who is most offended by racism. Julián Castro and Sen. Cory Booker are also bordering on statistical irrelevance despite recent debate performances that were widely praised by pundits.
Speaking of statistical irrelevance, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, once considered a formidable contender, has managed to achieve it, joining New York Mayor Bill de Blasio among candidates whose level of support has been reduced to an asterisk.