(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Now that we are almost halfway through October, these polls are going to start to matter a lil bit more and the knives should start to come out here beginning Tuesday at the next debate.

A poll released by CBS News now gives a clear picture of who is starting to gain ground just a bit over 3 months until the Iowa caucuses.

From CBS News…

Early-state Democratic voters say President Trump’s allegations against Joe Biden have not affected their views of Biden and largely think they aren’t true. Even so, it’s Elizabeth Warren who continues to draw support from Democrats. She has extended the aggregate lead she had in this poll last month across the 18 early primary and caucus states.

As for individual states, she has increased her lead over the pack in New Hampshire and pulled even with Biden in Iowa. And Warren leads in our delegate model over Biden, too, demonstrating that she’s competitive in many regions.

Now, for some reason, I’m not exactly buying that people are not worried about Joe Biden and the pounding that Trump has laid on him and his son Hunter. If this were not a concern, then Hunter doesn’t resign from his cushy board position like he did yesterday [READ] WHERE’S HUNTER? He Just Quit His Sweet Gig On The Board Of A Chinese Company. Of course, it doesn’t help that Biden has an appearance once every two weeks and seems a bit lethargic. He seems bored with this and like he is only running because he wants to get out of the house for a spell.

Even though Bernie had an impressive 3rd quarter in fundraising, his campaign is in its final spin. The heart attack is a serious thing and that will play in the back of everyone’s mind, even if they say it does not.

The only place where Biden still has any sort of lead is in South Carolina where he leads 43% to Warren’s 18%. This is the state to watch over the next 4 weeks to see if Warren starts to gain on him. If she does and if she doesn’t get derailed, then it will look like she will be able to secure the nomination sooner rather than later. This is what the DNC has been hoping for all along — someone to break out of the pack and take it early.

One last thing.

The poll says that most of the Democrats surveyed DID NOT think that impeachment was one of the top things to worry about. With all of the wall-to-wall coverage on this, I find that amazing. I would have thought that it would at LEAST make the top 3 things but evidently not.

Once again, back to CBS…

And an important backdrop to all this: for Democrats deciding how to vote in these states, a candidate’s position on impeachment is not the most important issue. In fact, it ranks far behind issues like health care, climate change, income inequality and guns. This echoes something Democratic voters have voiced since the summer: they have long told us they would rather hear candidates talk about beating Donald Trump in 2020 than about impeaching him.

Who would have thunk it?

So according to this, I predict that Elizabeth Warren will be the one this Tuesday with the BIG TARGET on her back. Let’s see how she handles it.

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