Joe Biden Fights For Survival In Iowa

Democratic Candidate, Senator Tells Potential Voters That Foreign Policy Affects Their Everyday Lives

(CBS)  This story was written by CBSNews.com political reporter Brian Montopoli.

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When you’re running for president, being known as a foreign policy guy isn’t necessarily a positive.

“Everybody tells me that [voters are] more concerned about strictly domestic issues,” Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CBSNews.com.

But Biden argues that voters understand that “everything they care about domestically is affected by what’s happening out there.”

“I think they’re pretty smart,” he said.

With Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama firmly entrenched as the Democratic frontrunners - and enjoying the fundraising and media coverage such status affords them - Biden’s presidential campaign has reached a critical point.

Along with fellow second-tier Democratic candidates Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson, Biden is now making what could be a last stand in Iowa. Like Dodd and Richardson, he has been campaigning almost exclusively here in the run-up to the caucuses.

His aim? A finish that allows him to stay in the race.

“We need to finish a strong fourth in Iowa,” says John Marttila, a senior advisor to Biden. “If we stay in the game and keep the campaign together through January, we are convinced that Joe Biden will become an increasingly attractive candidate to voters.”

Political observers have been focused on how the outcome of the caucuses will affect the top three Democrats, but barring an Iowa disaster, all three will likely be able to keep their campaigns running through New Hampshire and beyond. The second tier candidates may not be so lucky.

“These top three have enough legs going into caucus night that they’re likely to stay bunched up,” says David Wilhelm, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee and a senior Biden advisor. “The Iowa caucuses may have an indeterminate conclusion [for them]. The winnowing that may occur is in the second tier.”

A Democratic presidential debate is scheduled for Saturday in New Hampshire, and the second tier Democratic candidates, including Dennis Kucinich, will be excluded if they do not poll at least five percent support nationally or in the state. The only way around the requirement is a finish in the top four in Iowa. Particularly for Biden, who generally does well in debates, that fact makes at least a fourth place finish even more crucial.

Biden’s events don’t have the spectacle of those of the three frontrunners - the crowds are smaller, the music gets played through a laptop, and the candidate pulls up not in a bus but a sport utility vehicle. But while Biden has a not-undeserved reputation for being long-winded - a half-hour after he began a question and answer session with potential caucus-goers in Newton, he had only taken three questions - his stump speech has been getting heads nodding.

“Imagine the person you’ve picked to caucus for,” the Delaware senator told roughly 150 people at a Newton community center on Monday. “…Are they prepared at this moment to know what to do in Pakistan? Are they prepared - at this moment - to know what they would do in the war in Iraq? Not generally say I want to get the troops out, but how. And what’s going to be left behind.”

On Tuesday, Biden criticized Clinton for suggesting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf “wishes to stand for election.” The uncoming elections in Pakistan are for parliament. “There are good people running," Biden said, after referencing Clinton. "But to say Musharraf is up for election! Musharraf was elected - fairly or unfairly - president six months ago. It's about a parliamentary election!"

Mary Harris of Story City attended a Clinton event last week, but not because she supports the former first lady: Harris needed too settle on a second choice in case Biden is not viable at her caucus location. (Under Iowa’s arcane caucus rules, if a Democratic candidate gets less than a certain level of support at a caucus - the threshold is usually 15 percent of attendees - his supporters must choose another candidate.)

“He’s got the experience, foreign affairs experience,” she said. “He has the heart, the gut, and good morals. He’s just an overall good guy.”

With the average Iowa caucus-goer more than 60 years old, Biden is hoping his long tenure in the Senate and foreign policy experience will resonate enough to help him outpace Richardson, who polls suggest is his primary competitor for a fourth-place finish. He has visited 94 counties in Iowa, often with his extended family; in Newton, Biden’s 90-year-old mother sat to his right as the candidate made his pitch.

Biden’s success may ultimately come down to how his support is distributed, thanks to the unique rules of the caucuses. He and Richardson both poll around 5 percent in the state - Richardson has a slight edge - but they need their support to be concentrated in certain precincts so that their supporters aren’t forced to choose another candidate.

Considering what’s at stake, the number of voters the second-tier candidates are fighting for is disconcertingly small. They could take fourth place with, say, just seven percent of the Democratic vote. And since there will be an estimated 150,000 Democrats caucusing in Iowa Thursday night, that means they could only need about 10,000 votes - so long as they are distributed across the state just the right way.

The small size of the electorate, and the unpredictability it creates, does give Biden and his rivals a real chance to exceed expectations and keep their long-shot presidential bids alive. Asked what his goals are Monday, Biden, who is often mentioned as a potential cabinet member for one of the three frontrunners, cut off the questioner.

“To win,” he said. “My goal is to win.”

[hwy71so]

%u201CI think they%u2019re pretty smart,%u201D he said.

Yeah, us "little" people are pretty smart...

Why is he talking down as though the American people are little kids that need a mother hen?

[csjantho]

To all Iowan''s standing for Joe Biden tonight, thank you. And, please know that there are many of us who are standing with you all around the country (& the world). You can be proud to be caucusing for the greatest candidate both parties have to offer. Again, thank you.

[sjfallon-2009]

Read this account from a person in Davenport, Iowa%u201D
%u201CTuesday, January 01, 2008

Cecil Chapman
Davenport

I received a call from a pollster inquiring as to whether I planned to caucus and who for. My reply was %u201CI will support Joe Biden.%u201D Asked if my support was firm, I replied %u201Cdefinitely.%u201D The next question was %u201CWho do you think will work hardest for the American people, Clinton, Edwards or Obama?%u201D my reply was %u201CJoe Biden.%u201D At this point the pollster repeated the question, and when my reply was the same, he said he%u2019d consider that as %u201Cundecided.%u201D When I reiterated my choice, he thanked me and hung up. My point is that when the answers didn%u2019t fit what the pollster wanted he was no longer interested in my opinion.

I urge everyone reading this to caucus for your candidate, but do your homework. Don%u2019t just blindly follow the polls thinking your vote is wasted if not for the top two or three

candidates. I believe it is only wasted if you don%u2019t cast it for the person you feel is the best qualified person for the job regardless of their poll

standing.

For me that person is Joe Biden.%u201D

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/01/01/opinion/letters/doc4779c0e583a05095344052.txt

[sjfallon-2009]

Doesn%u2019t anyone notice that there%u2019s something very strange about the poll numbers? You hardly ever hear about the number of undecided voters. Yet, CNN and several other news outlets have reported that undecided voters in Iowa stand at 25% for Dems and 50% for GOP. Anyone who paid attention in math class knows that when all percentages are added together you must come up with 100% or you%u2019ve messed up the math. This means, of course, that a reported 25% standing in the polls is actually 18%.

But, even so, the undecided percentages seem awfully high. Indecision, you say? Sorry, that%u2019s wrong. They%u2019re cooking the books.

[zeboshoes-2009]

We don''t have time for OJT for the President. Biden''s right; the international issues are killing us--the war for one. Few seem to know that Biden''s the only one with an actual plan to get us out of Iraq responsibly, a plan with bipartisan and Iraqi support. Don''t be fooled by the polls; his support runs deep. There may be Repubs who will reregister on caucus night to caucus for Joe.

[nirak2-2009]

bill1fg,
Hillary and Obama in Congress? Come on fellow, wake up and smell the coffee

[bill1fj]

To be really fair to everyone we should have a national primary day.
That would make each state and each voter equal.
Say the first week in May, and then the primary winners would have about 6 monthes until the November elections.
Probably to much politics involved to do something fair.

[bill1fj]

I can''t understand why anyone would vote for hilary or obama.
They have both been in congress for a while and haven''t done anything but talk.
They haven''t done anything about the middle east mess, except talk.
They haven''t done anything about over 20 million illegal aliens except talk about giving them amnesty.
They haven''t done anything about health care and insurance, except talk.
They haven''t done anything about education except talk.
hilary and obama are just professional politicans that do nothing, except talk.
Think about it.

[samthetvcat]

PPS I think the fame angle''s a big problem, but maybe part of the problem too has been how the experienced candidates with actual experience have used the precious airtime they''ve had. I think people need to hear what somebody''s accomplished in the past and what skill set has been acquired and how that skill set would be relevant to a future scenario that would make them uniquely qualified over somebody with less experience who could rely on and advisor with that experience to fill in their gaps. Because nobody really has ALL the experience relevant to being President without having been President before. A governor of Massachusetts or Arkansas wouldn''t necessarily have foreign policy experience. A senator of NY wouldn''t necessarily have leadership experience. A senator from Arizona wouldn''t necessarily have experence brokering peace amongst warring factions. etc . . .

[samthetvcat]

PS Okay, my claims that Biden and Dodd have actual, relevant, proven experience are totally undercut by my ignorance - lol. Perhaps that''s the problem - Hillary''s supporters are ignorant, not just of Hillary''s experience, but her competitors'' as well.

[samthetvcat]

I''ve questioned claims of ''experience'' under other articles as it relates to Hillary, but Biden, Richardson and Dodd have ACTUAL, RELEVANT, PROVEN experience.

I don''t understand how people can claim that experience matters and then support Hillary. If experience mattered to you, wouldn''t you support Biden, Richardson or Dodd? What''s the real thought process here - do people just prefer an older person and are therefore using the term ''with experience'' as a synonym for ''senior''? Are they equating achievement of celebrity with achievement of influence and therefore aren''t looking deeper into the means used to achieve that ''power/status''?

I do think actual experience is a true advantage - Richardson has executive experience in which he has had to balance a budget and make decisions affecting peoples'' lives. He''s also got Congressional experience working amongst a team to negotiate deals that will satisfy a majority. And he''s got diplomatic experience disarming nukes with Communist dictator Kim Jong Ill.

I don''t even know as much about Biden or Dodd because he''s gotten even less air time than Richardson, but I would guess he''s got a similar skill set from his time in the Senate. Why on earth somebody would think Hillary is superior to any of these candidates is a total puzzle to me.

[wfbdem]

Seriously, why do these tiny, backwater states even matter?
A bunch of white farmers in Iowa have the pulse of America? This is a sick joke right

Change the system: Have California, New York, Florida, Texas, and then Michigan or Illinois in the first week of primaries. ( I do not live in any of these.) Then have 5 a week, one from each region, roughly, a week afterwords.
Why can two tiny, non-representive of the rest of the nation, make or break a candidicy? By the time I get to vote, it will be decided. Most people live in the 5 states I named. Have the polls open all week, with th eresults released on Saturday. From there you will have a much better, and more accurate numbers, per party.

[gunownerdan]

Biden is just another member of the CFR(Council on Foreign Relations) just like Bush, Cheney, Clinton, Obama, Giuliani, Huckabee, Edwards, Romney, McCain, Richardson, and Thompson to name a few.
The CFR has hijacked the foreign policy of both parties and their main goal is to destroy American sovereignty and our constitution leading to the formation of a North American Union with Canada and Mexico.

[starleo146]

Actually Biden is the smartest of the whole bunch and it''''s a shame he is not doing any better in the polls.

Posted by nirak2 at 02:55 PM : Jan 02, 2008


You can thank our illustrious media for that. They are going to get who they want to be elected, and John Mc Cain is there man Not mine for sure.

[bobnjersey]

[Really. I''''m still a fan of Bob Dole''''s claim that if a fella should run for President, he should resign his current office. Because he does it a disservice by campaigning all the time.]
[Posted by dougandslug at 03:49 PM : Jan 02, 2008]

well ... it'' between campaigning and sitting w/ lobbyists ... which one produces less damage?

[bobnjersey]

[These people are just slick talkers. ]
[Posted by dougandslug at 03:49 PM : Jan 02, 2008]

then they should be king ... cause the idiot in the white house now can''t seem to construct an intelligible sentence if his life depeneded on it.

[hillaryin08]

Isnt Biden and Bruce Springstine Butt Pirates?

[hillaryin08]

Joe who?

[mike71067]

Biden''s a liberal wing-nut and will never win the DNC nomination.

[shaedreams]

I will caucus for him tomorrow night and I have contributed $50 of my own money to help him out...I know it''s not much, but it''s all this single mom can afford. He understands that more than anyone and that is one of the many reasons he would make an excellent President! I hope Iowans and others see this before it''s too late. He truly is the best candidate but people aren''t doing their homework! I was torn between Obama and Edwards until I really started watching debates on Youtube...Biden just impressed me to all get out! PLEASE Iowans and others...do your homework on Joe Biden!