Joe Biden to blitz Iowa back roads by bus in 800-mile hunt for support

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will crisscross Iowa by bus for eight days starting on Saturday, the longest trek of his campaign, to make a personal appeal for support in a critical state where he has lost ground in polls.

Biden, who served as vice president to Democratic former President Barack Obama, is seeking the party's nomination to face Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election but is battling a historically large field of rivals, many with better-financed operations.

Iowa, the state that hosts the first nominating contest on Feb. 3, will be a key test. Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor and U.S. agriculture secretary, said many of the state's Democrats are still weighing their options.

"They're going to be looking for somebody who, at the end of the day, understands how to move the country forward in a way that's realistic but also progressive," said Vilsack, who endorsed Biden earlier this month.

Public opinion polls show Biden's one-time double-digit lead in the state has disappeared, and he is now fighting fast-rising Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders for first place.

Biden, 77, still enjoys a lead in national public opinion polls.

"It really is time to start turning over our government to a younger generation," said Linda Murken, chair of the board of supervisors in Story County, Iowa, where Biden is expected to campaign on Wednesday. Murken has endorsed Buttigieg, saying younger leaders may inspire younger voters and have a greater sense of urgency about climate change.

Biden campaign manager Greg Schultz told donors earlier this month on a conference call the campaign does not have to win Iowa to secure the nomination. But Biden's fundraising pleas underscore the need to counter a wave of ads in Iowa for Trump and Biden's Democratic opponents.

"Our opponents' advertising blitzes and cash-on-hand advantage have turned into real support for them in Iowa," said one Biden campaign email to supporters last week.

Biden's campaign ended September with under $9 million in cash on hand, trailing Trump, Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg and Senator Kamala Harris, according to the most recent filings with the U.S. Federal Election Commission.

The post-Thanksgiving holiday bus tour by Biden will cover 18 counties and more than 800 miles (1,287 km). Biden is slated to start it with an appearance alongside his wife, Jill, at his campaign's field office in Council Bluffs.

"The goal is to have him connect with people one-on-one," said campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo. "It is a very close race as we get close to voting with the four folks. And that was always the expectation."

Biden won't have the state to himself. Buttigieg, Warren, Sanders, Harris and other candidates are all expected to campaign in Iowa at points during the same eight-day stretch. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in New York; Editing by John Whitesides and Cynthia Osterman)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

White House hopefuls Trump, Clinton face first test in Iowa

* Candidates make final push for caucus votes

* First state contests could generate momentum


DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowans kicked off the first of the 2016 U.S. presidential nominating contests on Monday in caucus votes that could bolster or complicate the presidential hopes of the front-runners, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Opinion polls showed Trump, a blunt-speaking billionaire businessman who has never held public office, with a small lead over his closest rival Ted Cruz, a conservative U.S. senator from Texas.

Clinton, a former secretary of state, had a slight edge over insurgent Bernie Sanders, a self-styled democratic socialist U.S. senator from Vermont.

A large bloc of undecided voters in both parties in Iowa may hold the key to victory, and turnout efforts will be critical. Many supporters of Trump and Sanders are new to the process and disenchanted with traditional politics.

A Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Iowa poll on Saturday showed three in 10 likely Democratic caucus-goers and 45 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers were still uncertain.

Iowans begin choosing candidates at 7 p.m. CST (0100 GMT on Tuesday), with results expected within a few hours. The contest is the first of the state-by-state party battles to pick nominees for the Nov. 8 election to succeed President Barack Obama.

A win for Trump could validate an aggressive campaign that has alarmed the Republican establishment, dwarfed the efforts of many seasoned politicians and been marked by controversies such as his calls for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and for a wall along the Mexican border.

Candidates took to social media to encourage their supporters to turn out or contribute funds.

"We can and we will get back to the founding principles that made America great," tweeted Cruz (@tedcruz) with the hashtag #CaucusForCruz.

Clinton's Twitter account (@HillaryClinton) tweeted a code for cell phone owners to receive text message alerts once results arrived.

Trump began the day with a rally in Waterloo, Iowa, saying his lead in opinion polls would not matter if people stayed home. At a later rally in Cedar Rapids, he said his security had warned him there might be protesters with tomatoes, and he responded in typically pugnacious fashion.

"If you see someone in the crowd getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them," he told the crowd.

The Iowa caucuses are the first of the state-by-state contests that lead to the parties' formal presidential nominating conventions in July. The Iowa voter gatherings are a long and sometimes arcane ritual, taking place in 1,100 schools, churches and other public locations across the Midwestern state.

For the winners in Iowa, the prize will be valuable momentum that could stretch for months, while many of the losers on the Republican side could quickly begin dropping by the wayside.

LAST-MINUTE PUSH

The 2016 election is shaping up to be the year of angry voters as disgruntled Americans worry about issues such as immigration, terrorism, income inequality and healthcare, fueling the campaigns of Trump, Sanders and Cruz.

On the Republican side, opinion polls show foreign policy hawk Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, might win third place in Iowa and stake a claim as the best hope for the party's mainstream.

For the Democrats, Clinton needs a win in Iowa to prevent a potential two-state opening losing streak that would raise fresh questions about a candidate who was considered the clear front-runner just two months ago. Sanders is leading in polls in New Hampshire, the next state to hold a nominating contest.

Clinton began her day at her campaign's south Des Moines field office, where she served roughly 60 volunteers donuts and coffee. An extensive ground operation, much like Obama's as a candidate, has been cited as one of her advantages.

A former U.S. senator and first lady, Clinton often touts her years of experience in politics, and says she will defend much of Obama's legacy. Sanders has attacked from the left and promised to do more than Clinton to help American workers.

Clinton, who lost Iowa in 2008 and went on to lose a protracted primary battle to Obama, told ABC's "Good Morning America" program that it would be different this time, adding, "I think I'm a better candidate."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com