Joe Biden will be happy if he just doesn't lose too badly.
"Our goal is to come in fourth," said Luis Navarro, campaign manager for Biden, speaking at a campaign rally in a downtown Des Moines' restaurant that attracted more than 500 people.
In contrast, an Obama rally at the same time across town filled a school gymnasium.
The Biden folks aren't giving up, however. If Biden doesn't receive enough support to be viable on Thursday night, the dozen supporters with whom I spoke said they'll first try to recruit supporters from other non-viable candidates--Dodd, Kucinich, Richardson. If that doesn't work, they'll remain undecided.
Not one supporter with whom I spoke said she or he would go with one of the top three candidates, Clinton, Edwards or Obama.
"Jimmy Carter came in second to undecided in Iowa," John Washburn reminded me.
Overall, Biden supporters reiterated the Delaware senator's experience as the top reason to caucus for him.
"Ending the war is the key answer to everything else," said Jan Svec. "Biden has the connections and credibility in Washington to get that done."
They also lamented that the mainstream media had not paid more attention to their candidate. "He hasn't had the exposure or star power to attract the media," said Washburn. On the other hand, Washburn admitted that Iowa, where the candidate can speak directly to voters, had given Biden more of a shot than he might have had with his limited budget and resources.
"The top three campaigns are so organized," Washburn said. "They have the money, marketing, and people to create strong networks."
If Biden supporters perceive themselves as more on their own, they're stoic about it. Leaving the restaurant, their faces already pink with the cold, almost every person had some bit of campaign paraphernalia. "The Biden signs are the best," another reporter observed. "They're so sturdy."
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here is some good news. Today in the boston globe David Nagle who is the state democratic party chairman in iowa said,"I think joe biden will exceed expectations by a signicant margin."
On the stump from Cedar Rapids, Iowa today (Ana Marie Cox's "Swampland" blog at Time.com):
"I keep running into people who say, "I'd really like to vote for Biden, but he's not electable, is he?" (Indeed, there's a significant amount of subterranean Biden yearning out here.)"
Hopefully the "subterranean Biden yearning" will surface big time on Thursday.
Joe is a lot of people's second choice. It could happen. We're pulling for him - he's still the best among a good group.
I am heartened by tidbits from Iowa that suggest Biden could make a surprise showing.
In a radio interview today on the Ed Schulz Show, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin said Biden could surprise everyone with a stronger than expected showing.
A Time article from Ames, Iowa has people from Clinton, Edwards & Obama campaigns jumping ship to caucus for Biden.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/
article/0,8599,1699170,00.html
And why wouldn't they? Once people actually hear Biden speak, everything falls into place. The lightbulb suddenly goes on.
Other candidates have their pluses, but everything comes together in Biden.
go joe go.
Nothing against the great states of Iowa or New Hampshire, but it is amazing that these two sparsely populated states -- who keep jockeying for the position -- get such a strong hand in determining who runs for President.
How many residents of either state can draw a map containing Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq?
For that matter, how many residents of ANY state?
He has my vote. Come on, Iowa. Let's ditch the celebs and get a real president! www.JoeBiden.com
If only the voters in this country knew how very badly we NEED Senator Biden!!!
Please wake up Americans.
I cannot bring myself to support anyone in the top three. What a disaster!!
Senator Dodd is also a very smart and experienced candidate.
An Edwards-Biden Ticket would be incredible. Edwards could clean up Washington and address domestic issues while Biden cleaned up Bush's devastation internationally.
Don't count Senator Biden out by any means. The polls are meaningless. Very few of the people who are polled are actually caucus goers. Iowan takes their votes very seriously. I don't believe they are as swayed by the top three media darlings as people seem to think they are. Iowans know the real deal when they see it and that is Joe Biden. He is peaking at just the right moment. I don't believe for a minute that Iowans will let this country down by voting for second best. Biden '08
I love Joe Biden...and I sorely wish these three in the front and it was the OTHER way around....
* Biden
* Richardson
* Dodd
Because of these three, I have dumped my support for the top three and now am totally undecided with the FL Primaries coming up January 29th.
I watched Biden on C-Span yesterday, and he gave far and away the most cogent, fact-filled speech I have heard from any of the other candidates. I hope he does well in Iowa and gets his message out to the country. If a Democrat other than Biden wins the presidency, Biden would make a wonderful Secretary of State. The VP slot would drive him nuts. Joe's a pragmatist, not an ideologue or a waterboy.
I'd like to see Joe as the V.P. candidate.
I'd like to see Chris Dodd take over as Senate Majority leader ASAP.
He would make a great Vice President for Barack Obama!
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you...then you win" --Mahatma Gandhi
I just followed the link - the Daily Kos just dropped their support of Obama. They are going to wait this out to see who to support but they have decided Obama is a campaign fraud. 800 posts.
What is interested to me, is that these bloggers only see three choices, Edwards, Clinton, and Obama. They have never be made aware of Biden, Richardson, Dodd - all who have personally written articles on Huffington Post.
Apparently many people have bought the mainstream media's and internet pop-ups in which there are only 3 choices.
I also looked at CNN's "polls" and again I see that when you add up the numbers - it's only 75% of the vote between the "3" candidates. I've noticed this for some time now. So, why only 75% - that means either 25% are undecided which is as many votes as those supporting the tope "3" or there are 25% split among Biden, Richardson - probably not Dodd or Kucinich - they've always polled at 1%.
Hum...There is light at the end of the tunnel...
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Posted January 1, 2008 | 03:15 PM (EST)