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The Four Candidate Tiers

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First Read sees four tiers emerging in the Democratic presidential race based on the new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll:

  • The Top 5: Biden (26 percent), Warren (19 percent), Harris (13 percent), Sanders (13 percent) and Buttigieg (7 percent).
  • The 2 Percenters (the threshold to make the September debates): Andrew Yang (2 percent), Beto O’Rourke (2 percent).”
  • The 1 Percenters: Amy Klobuchar, Julian Castro, Cory Booker, Jay Inslee, Marianne Williamson, John Delaney, John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet.
  • The less-than-1-percenters: Everyone else.

“The good news for Booker, Klobuchar, Castro and even O’Rourke is that they get Democratic voters in our poll to say want to learn more about these candidates.”

“But that bad news for those in the 1 percent and below is that it looks like this field is going to winnow fast.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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