A big part of winning a primary campaign is how you handle it after your surge is over and coverage enters a more skeptical phase. It's a bit like a poker player who is running really hot/lucky and then loses a big pot or two. Do they go on tilt or steady themselves?
Harris had a major surge in June/July and then her campaign seemed to totally lose its way once (somewhat inevitably) her numbers began to fade a bit. Beto had sort of a pre-primary surge in Dec/Jan, the bubble popped a bit, and he never quite lived up to the lofty expectations.
By contrast, Buttigieg, although his surge in April/May was more modest, weathered the storm somewhat well, raised a lot of $, remained in a better position than he was pre-surge, and was fairly patient before making his next big move (going on attack vs. Warren from the right).
Early returns on how Warren is handling the scrutiny phase are somewhat mixed, although her surge was quite robust (lasting over many months) so my prior is she'll keep most of her gains.
Buttigieg Surge 2.0 means a Buttigieg scrutiny cycle 2.0 is coming soon with results TBD.
Buttigieg Surge 2.0 means a Buttigieg scrutiny cycle 2.0 is coming soon with results TBD.
