(CNN) If you want to understand how much South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg's place in the 2020 presidential race has changed, take a look at this photo from a rally his campaign held in Des Moines on Tuesday night:

2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa.

The crowd was estimated as more than 1,000 people by the Des Moines Register while some said the number was actually closer to 1,600. Focusing on the specific number misses the point, though. And the point is that there were A LOT of people at the Buttigieg rally. A LOT.

"When Buttigieg told Iowans in early February that he wanted to be president, the Democrat faced a group of about two dozen at an Ames coffee shop. Half appeared to really be there for the coffee; a bean-grinding machine drowned out parts of his remarks."

Only 67 days passed between that first Buttigieg visit and the third one on Tuesday. Which speaks to how quickly he has gone from "who?" to "holy cow!" -- and all without running a single TV ad or, really, doing any sort of persuasion communication outside of a CNN town hall last month in Austin and traveling to early voting states to meet with voters. His momentum in the race is remarkably organic.