(CNN) News junkies are more than familiar with South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. After all, the articles on him (such as this one) from the national media seem to keep at a brisk pace. He's now a clear number 2 in cable news mentions. But why?

Part of it has to do with Buttigieg's differentiating biography and rise in the polls. Indeed, well-informed voters like him , and his Google searches picked up before the media caught up.

I would caution, though, that Buttigieg's core support may position him to seem more popular to national media than he actually is.

The problem for reporters is that even the best one's opinions about the horserace are shaped by the environment surrounding them. This is especially the case early in primaries, because polling is far less predictive than it is in general elections. The people who surround national media reporters are right in Buttigieg's wheelhouse.

Buttigieg does best among wealthier Democrats. Take a look at recent polling from California ( Quinnipiac University ), Iowa ( Monmouth University ) and nationally ( Quinnipiac ). In all three cases, Buttigieg's support more than doubles as one goes from voters making less than $50,000 to greater than $100,000. The jump is rather dramatic in the Iowa poll, which had Buttigieg at 7% among those earning less than $50,000 and at 15% with those earning more than $100,000.