Washington (CNN) It's easy to look at a poll of the 2020 Democratic primary race and conclude that Joe Biden is the front-runner, with Bernie Sanders as the alternative if the former vice president falters.

It's easy because it's, broadly speaking, true! In the new CNN-SSRS national survey , Biden is at 32% in the hypothetical Democratic 2020 primary, while Sanders is in second with 18%. None of the other 20+ candidates receives double-digit support.

That's where the race is TODAY. And it may be where the race winds up. But if you dig just a little bit into the numbers, there are two candidates not named "Biden" or "Sanders" who jump out as potentially strong bets to make noise in the contest: Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg.

Here's why: The California senator and the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, have two specific things going for them:

1) They are performing solidly in national polling

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