As Hillary lags in the polls and her unfavorables soar, Draft Biden makes significant moves in Iowa.
The group urging Vice President Joe Biden to launch a 2016 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination announced Friday that two longtime backers of Biden have signed on as co-chairs in the early-voting state of Iowa.. . . . Draft Biden also announced on Friday that around a dozen Iowa elected officials have signed on to the effort as committee members, as well as a pair of political operatives, to direct organizing efforts in the state.The staff moves lend new credibility to the budding effort to convince the vice president to run against former secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the party’s front-runner.. . . . The Draft Biden announcement on Friday also came on the same day that news emerged that Clinton’s campaign would spend $4 million in ads in Iowa and New Hampshire over the next two months.Clinton’s lead in the state has fallen amid a surge of support for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and an uptick recently in interest for a Biden run, based on the RealClearPolitics polling average.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign is shifting strategies and is apparently now relying on the South to win the nomination.
Mrs. Clinton’s advisers, struck by the strength of Senator Bernie Sanders in [Iowa and New Hampshire], have been assuring worried supporters that victories and superdelegate support in Southern states will help make her the inevitable nominee faster than many Democrats expect. They point to her popularity with black and Hispanic voters, as well as her policy stances and the relationships that she and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have cultivated. Mrs. Clinton was similarly confident at this point eight years ago, before Barack Obama and his superior organizers began piling up delegates, including in many Southern states.
Whether this strategy pays off or not remains to be seen, but today’s release of new polls from Iowa and New Hampshire show that she has cause to worry . . . and Draft Biden has cause to hope.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) has bounded ahead of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton among Democrats in New Hampshire and has narrowed the gap in Iowa, according to a new NBC News/Marist poll.. . . . In the New Hampshire poll, Mr. Sanders draws the support of 41% of Democratic voters, with Mrs. Clinton at 32%. Vice President Joe Biden, who has said he is considering a run but hasn’t entered the race, gets 16%. In the July NBC/Marist poll, Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Sanders 42% to 32%, with Biden at 12%.When Mr. Biden isn’t included in the choices, Mr. Sanders leads Mrs. Clinton 49% to 38% in the new poll, a reversal from July, when Mrs. Clinton led 47% to 34%.In Iowa, Mrs. Clinton now has an 11-point lead over Mr. Sanders, whether or not Mr. Biden is included, according to the poll. Her lead was more than twice that in the July poll.
Add to this the fact that Biden is more popular than Clinton in both Iowa and New Hampshire, and it may be only a matter of time before Draft Biden succeeds.
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