Has the Protracted Iowa Fiasco Damaged Biden More?

[bluewater]

I think it has, compared to just getting the bad news about Joe's disappointing 4th place finish over on caucus night.

This thing has stayed in the top of the news cycles now for days on end and has even over-shadowed the Impeachment Acquittal and the State of the Union speech.

And every time it comes up, not only are the two leaders mentioned, Biden's defeat gets rehashed.

[Hoyt]

1. Unfortunately, it damages all Democrats. What an unnecessary mess.

[highplainsdem]

2. Yes, it hurts the party overall. The majority of Democrats are unhappy with the results.

[napi21]

3. Maybe, but not much. It's much more damaging to the Democratic Party! Even the talking heads that

are usually supportive of the Dems are repeating "How do they expect to govern the Country when they can't even run a caucus?"

[bluewater]

6. It's time to bury the Iowa Carcass.

They simply cannot be allowed to go first in 2024.

The DNC should stop recognizing caucus results, period.

They can insist on that, right?

[ismnotwasm]

4. No.

[Baclava]

5. The extended time they are covering his 4th place finish can't be helping

[R B Garr]

7. Maybe you haven't noticed, but the top two are squabbling, mostly Bernie because

he is behind. Then when you look at the numbers, you see how small the totals are and ask why such a big deal is being made over a small state with so few voters.

[jalan48]

8. It hurts the Party more and allows Trump to paint us as an unorganized mob.

[TexasTowelie]

9. I doubt it.

Ultimately, there will be no confidence in the numbers produced by the Iowa caucus. Biden will appear to have made a wise decision not spending money in Iowa and using his financial resources elsewhere. There is a finite amount of spin volume that can be made over the caucus and it has already reached its crescendo.

[Skya Rhen]

10. But nobody's talking about Warren. They're behaving as if she's irrelevant. I remember when she was

the frontrunner.

[bluewater]

11. Very True. But at least she's doing better than Biden, eh?

And he was the frontrunner for much much longer.

In any case, the next test will be THIS Tuesday in New Hampshire!

On to New Hampshire!

[redqueen]

12. It's damaged the entire party.

The optics couldn't possibly be worse.

[LanternWaste]

13. I see no evidence to support the premise.

I doubt any will provided.

Thankfully, no one of note thought Biden would walk away with the blue ribbon. First place in IA was Bernie's to win or lose. He dropped the ball, and hopefully his anemic campaign will learn from this and get more competent staffers.

[bluewater]

14. Lowering expectations after the fact?

"Thankfully, no one of note thought Biden would walk away with the blue ribbon"

There were several A rated polls showing Joe in the lead in Iowa.

For example:

New Iowa Poll Shows Tight Race, With Joe Biden Jumping Ahead

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/us/politics/joe-biden-iowa-democratic-poll.html

That's the notable A+ rated Monmouth University poll.

Suffolk University/USA Today Poll Shows Biden Leading in Iowa

https://www.suffolk.edu/news-features/news/2020/01/27/16/49/suffolk-university-usa-today-poll-shows-biden-leading-in-iowa

And that's the noteworthy A- rated Suffolk University poll.

Your assertion that "Thankfully, no one of note thought Biden would walk away with the blue ribbon" is apparently not true.

[PBC_Democrat]

15. My take is that it damages the party overall, but will soon be forgotten

I think it enables both Mayor Pete and Sen Sanders to claim victory.
The chaos diverts attention from VP Biden's poor showing and his campaign will be able to cast doubt on the final results.

It helps everyone everyone except Sen Warren, she needed over-achieve and make a splash. It didn't happen. There was nothing noteworthy about the evening for her.

Analysis from the peanut gallery:

Mayor Pete - major bump, fundraising should go way up. will start taking more hits (Biden questioning his experience level)

Sen Sanders - Major bump, money coming in is already crazy and going to get better for him. will also start getting more attacks from Biden and the DNC will soon start working against him.

Sen Warren - money will dry up and SC will the end for her.

VP Biden - was struggling prior to IA, needed to show that he had the level of support the polls showed - didn't happen. Unless he kills it in NH and SC, we'll be hearing his 'maybe next time' speech.

Mr Yang - turns out that the Yang-gang is sparsely populated. his issues deserve to be part of the party platform and he should be on 46's short list for a number of cabinet positions.

Mayor Bloomberg - still spending zillions of dollars on very effective advertising. I don't think the former R will be the nominee, I think he just likes dinging 45 and raising his public profile.

Mr Steyer - was never really in it. another good name for a cabinet position.

Gov Patrick - never in it

Sen Klobuchar - Will stick around and might be the surprise on Super Tuesday. we need to keep a woman in the race and if Sanders and Pete fall from grace - she'll be well-positioned to step-up.

I still think there is a good chance that the eventual nominee isn't in the race yet. The first name that comes to mind is Gavin Newsom.

[bluewater]

17. "I still think there is a good chance that the eventual nominee isn't in the race yet."

Interesting viewpoint.

What % would you assign that chance? Something in the 10-20% range?

[PBC_Democrat]

18. Not real sure ...

Maybe 25%

Sanders has survived one medical scare - anything worse that the flu will end his chances.

Pete - if the AA support stay as dismal as it is and the anti-gay groups gain traction, he won't be able to overcome both set-backs.

Klobuchar - just waiting in the wings for the top two to implode. Mid-westerner, woman, never lost an election, Senator - my support is currently with Biden but she is my strong second choice.

I can see a brokered convention resurrecting names from the past:
Clinton - two old, saddled with 2016 loss, blamed too many people for it
Gore - too old, but interesting to discuss
Al Franken - very interesting, former senator, mid-westerner, poised for a comeback, able to verbally battle with 45

I love politics and this is going to be a blast to watch. If I was younger I'd volunteer for one of the local campaigns.

[bluewater]

19. It certainly is an interesting year!

Thanks for the discussion.

I love talking politics too.

[Garrett78]

16. I don't think so. Most of the coverage is about the fiasco and not Biden's 4th place finish.

An undisputed, prime time election night announcement would have done more damage.

[floppyboo]

20. I think in the short run, it will hurt Pete and the DNC the most.

Perez probably most of all.
In the long run it is going to destroy the party. If you thought the ideological divide was pronounced before - hold onto your hat.
Or Perez could apologize for his completely transparent handling of release of results, and then sit well back of the sidelines.