Democrats in Iowa like to see their candidates UP CLOSE….
It’s a small state in terms of delegates for the nomination…
Almost 100% white….
It represents almost nothing of the nomination vote in numbers and demographics …
Biden leads there, and around the country , for the nomination and the general election…
But it’s the start off, with New Hampshire which is the same disproportionate nomination stop…
So Right now?
Joe Biden IS gonna HAVE to spent more time there….
“He needs to come out and do some retail politics with us. He comes here with higher name ID but that isn’t going to totally carry the day. I don’t think he can take anything for granted,” said former Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge. “I don’t think Bernie Sanders can take anything for granted either … We have some people who are working really hard here.”
Biden’s light campaign schedule in general has come under scrutiny. At the moment, he remains the front-runner in Iowa, just as in national polls, but there are warning signs: a Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom survey of likely Iowa caucusgoers released Saturday shows that although Biden leads the sprawling field with 24 percent, the former vice president is down 3 percentage points since the last poll in March.
At the state party’s first major event Sunday — a Hall of Fame dinner attended by 19 candidates — Biden was a no-show. Even so, many here were surprised that his campaign lacked any presence whatsoever at the festivities surrounding the dinner, where party enthusiasm ran high and each campaign competed to show how many supporters they could turn out.
Biden’s campaign said he had a family commitment that day, and state party chair Troy Price said the former vice president called him personally to express his regrets. But party officials say Biden also has yet to commit to two other traditional events important to the party here: the Polk County Steak Fry and the annual Iowa Democratic Wing Ding dinner, a fundraiser that benefits county parties.
“He’s got some catching up to do,” said Randy Black, who chairs the Wing Ding and serves as Cerro Gordo County vice chair. “If Joe Biden wants to remain 12 points or 15 points ahead then he’s got to start to pull out the stops, and start meeting and greeting and saying hello. I think it’s what happened to Hillary Clinton. She took crucial states for granted and it hurt her.”
But Biden’s arrival Tuesday — when he begins a two-day tour that will take him from Ottumwa to the far eastern edge of the state — could end up working to his advantage. Instead of competing with 19 others at a crowded and chaotic party event Sunday, he will land in Iowa on the same day as Donald Trump…
image…Joe Biden greets guests during a campaign event May 1, in Des Moines, Iowa. | Scott Olson/Getty Images