Inside Pete Buttigieg's Iowa surge: Loud crowds, strong ground game as he emerges as moderate alternative to Joe Biden in 2020

DECORAH, Iowa - Deb Tekippe spent much of this year convinced she would support Joe Biden in his 2020 bid for president, but the more she has seen of him on the stump in Iowa and in debates on television, the less confident she has become.

So, on a recent rainy evening she found herself crammed up against the bleachers in Decorah's high school gymnasium to see South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. She came away intrigued.

"I was all in for Joe Biden, but now I'm wondering what happened with him, you know? It's obvious that he's fading," said Tekippe, 63, a retired nurse who now says she won't caucus for Biden and is strongly considering Buttigieg. "Pete is on his way up. There is a lot of enthusiasm for him, and there are so many people who really want to believe in their candidate, and you have to see him in person to see how impressive he is."

Tekippe's experience reflects the new reality in Iowa: Buttigieg has emerged as the major alternative to Biden among moderate voters the former vice president has counted on as the bedrock of his campaign in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

A Quinnipiac University poll released last Wednesday found Buttigieg in second place in Iowa, a single percentage point behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders in third and Biden in fourth. That followed a recent New York Times/Siena College poll that had Buttigieg with slightly more support than Biden in the state, placing him third behind the more liberal Warren and Sanders.

The Midwestern mayor not only has caught Biden in the polls, but his campaign is also better funded, has drawn larger and louder crowds at events, and has shown signs of a more effective ground operation in a state where