Iowa’s caucuses kick off the primary season. A weak showing in a crowded Democratic field can end a campaign
A PERSON would have to be dead inside not to not love the Iowa State Fair: 11 days of agriculture contests, carnival rides and inventive fried food. On opening morning, a line slowly snaked past Cookie Monster and Big Bird carved out of butter. A sudden rainstorm produced a larger-than-expected crowd for an indoor cow-judging contest .
Thursday’s speakers, Joe Biden and Steve Bullock, avoided any such gaffes. Mr Biden, who holds a comfortable if shrinking lead in most polls, was by far the bigger draw. The former vice-president began by announcing that he was running “to restore the soul of this country”. Restoration has emerged as Mr Biden’s main campaign theme—as it was, in a different and more malevolent way, for Donald Trump in 2016.
But Mr Biden’s speech was rambling and unfocused, more a laundry list of mainstream Democratic positions than a coherent narrative. Perhaps that was because he is the front-runner, and thinks he needs to do little more than tread water. Perhaps he sees himself as a known quantity, and feels he does not need to make the case for himself as strongly as his rivals, all of whom are newer to the national stage. He has always been somewhat discursive.
Mr Bullock, the current governor of Montana, made a similar argument for electability. In a general election, he told the crowd, I’ll win California, Massachusetts and Vermont. But, as the only Democratic governor elected in a state that Mr Trump carried in 2016, he also claimed to have a better shot at winning back Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
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