ADVERTISEMENT

Biden Tries to Upstage Trump Before Iowa Rally: Campaign Update

Iowa remains up for grabs with nearly half of voters saying they could change their minds five days before the Feb. 3 caucuses.

Biden Tries to Upstage Trump Before Iowa Rally: Campaign Update
Steve Bullock, governor of Montana and 2020 presidential candidate, speaks during an Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S. (Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)  

(Bloomberg) -- Former Vice President Joe Biden will try to deflect some of the attention from President Donald’s Trump’s Thursday evening rally in Des Moines, Iowa, with a pre-rally speech that’s also intended to convince Iowa Democrats that he’s best suited to represent the party’s standard-bearer in November.

While both men are campaigning as the Senate’s impeachment trial of Trump is taking place, the speech is not expected to address the details of impeachment, a campaign official said on the condition of anonymity to preview the address. Rather, Biden will focus on the broader choice voters have Monday’s caucuses, arguing that no progress can be made on the issues important to Democratic voters unless Trump is defeated.

While the official said the speech was meant to be inspirational, it will amount to a closing argument as it comes days before voters gather for the caucuses with polls showing no clear front-runner.

The former vice president will speak Thursday morning in Waukee, a Des Moines suburb, hours before Trump’s rally, which comes as he hopes to inspire a strong turnout in Monday’s Republican caucuses as a sign of the party’s strength in the state.

Biden’s speech will be paired with a 60-second ad called “Character,” in which a narrator says that quality is what counts in the Oval Office, whether it’s Barack Obama’s or Donald Trump’s. With a series of images of the candidate’s past, the commercial highlights his working-class background, his family tragedies, his work in the Obama administration and his countless miles on Amtrak trains. “Character matters. Maybe more here than anywhere,” the narration says in closing, an image of the Oval Office on the screen.

Iowa Is Still Up for Grabs, Poll Shows (2:37 p.m.)

Iowa remains up for grabs with nearly half of voters saying they could change their minds five days before the Feb. 3 caucuses, according to a Monmouth University poll released Wednesday.

The poll of likely Democratic caucus goers found Joe Biden leading with 23%, closely followed by Bernie Sanders with 21%, Pete Buttigieg with 16% and Elizabeth Warren with 15%. Amy Klobuchar had 10%. The numbers have barely changed from Monmouth’s last survey earlier this month.

“Caucus electorates are the most difficult to model in polling,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, in a statement. “The smartest takeaway from this, or any Iowa poll for that matter, is to be prepared for anything on Monday.”

Iowans also have yet to make up their mind. The poll found 45% of likely caucus goers said they were open to changing their support on caucus night -- 13% of voters said it was a high possibility and 23% said it was a “moderate possibility.”

Sanders supporters are the least likely to waiver, 58% said they were firmly supporting him, followed by Warren with 55%, Buttigieg with 49%, Biden with 48% and Klobuchar with 47%. The poll conducted Jan. 23-27 had a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.

COMING UP:

Some of the Democratic candidates will debate again in New Hampshire on Feb. 7.

The first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses will be held Feb. 3. The New Hampshire primary is Feb. 11. Nevada holds its caucuses on Feb. 22 and South Carolina has a primary on Feb. 29.

CNN will host town halls featuring eight presidential candidates in New Hampshire on Feb. 5 and 6.

(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

--With assistance from Emma Kinery.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Council Bluffs, Iowa at jepstein32@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Magan Crane, Max Berley

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Opinion
Biden, Sanders Pull Further Ahead in ABC-WaPost National Poll