Biden Moves To Iowa
September 26th, 2007 at 02:39pm Geraldine
As Chris Cilizza reports, Joe Biden is staking his entire campaign on a strong performance in Iowa. He has moved almost his entire national staff into Iowa in hopes of a strong performance in the caucuses. Biden seems to hope that this increased focus, combined with support from many Iowa legislators (including his recent endorsement by Iowa House Speaker Pro Tem Polly Bukta). His strategy, as reported by Marc Ambinder seems solid, based on having surrogates hit smaller towns with a particular focus on the blue collar Democratic counties along the Mississippi River. However, there is one inherent flaw. Ambinder notes that Biden has “nine field offices and 23 full-time staffers” which is puny compared to the number of staffers and field offices that Obama, Edwards and Clinton have. In fact, even Chris Dodd has 59 full-time staffers on the ground in Iowa right now.
Not only does Biden have very few staffers, they aren’t very experienced either. According to this roster of Biden field staff. Six out of his 14 field staffers (all of whom are titled Regional Field Directors) have never worked on a campaign before. And of those who have worked on a campaign, most have worked on campaigns for Chicago alderman or Colorado Board of Education, not for major statewide or federal offices. The ground game is crucial in the Iowa Caucuses and with the limited field program that he has, Biden is in trouble. Unless Biden is able to fully tap into the organizations of the legislators to endorse him, he will not do well in Iowa and get one of the proverbial “three tickets out of Iowa” that go to the top three finishers in the caucuses. Unless things change, Biden’s hoped for third place finish will be just like Joe Lieberman’s “third place finish” when he went all out in New Hampshire in 2004. A third place finish that actually means he finished fifth.
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Entry Filed under: President 2008, Joe Biden
Related Searches: chicago alderman, joe biden, iowa caucuses, iowa legislators, chris dodd
4 Comments Add your own
1. Matt Hustle | October 9th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Remember the Iowa Poll that recently showed Biden at 5%. I think there are some interesting bits lying beneath the radar in that particular poll.
Just my two cents worth…
I have been telling people for the last few weeks that Biden is building a good organization and people just roll their eyes and Biden and Dodd always get grouped together. When you hear Dodd’s name you hear Bidens and vice versa. This had justification early in the summer when Biden was at one or two percent. Look a little deeper at the Iowa Poll and I think there is a story.
Many of us intuitively believe that there will be a so called second tier candidate moving into the top three and will get a big bounce out of Iowa. I believe that will be Biden.
The Iowa Poll shows that Biden is now within the margin of error with Richardson…five percent to eight percent. That’s news…Richardson slipping and Biden gaining with only three points separating them and Biden’s infrastructure is far superior.
Even more interesting…the caucus crowd on election night will be older and Biden is now within the margin of error with Obama among Iowa seniors…eight percent to eleven. That’s news too - it seems to me. Would anyone believe until it is written that among Iowa Democratic seniors Obama is only three points above Biden?…technically tied with the margin of error! Just my two cents worth.
2. Iowa Progress » Cau&hellip | October 11th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
[…] Biden has picked up endorsements from a number of Iowa legislators as part of his campaign’s increased focus on the caucuses. Bailey is also a member of a prominent political family in Hamilton County. […]
3. Mark Langgin | October 16th, 2007 at 5:51 am
Bailey is a big pickup for Biden. I didn’t realize that his father had went with Obama.
4. independent voter | January 1st, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Biden is the best bet for the general election for Democrats and McCain is the best bet for Republicans, I give the edge to Biden for his plans to end the civil war we are in and the fact of his strong foreign policy background and his bi-partisan legislation leadership and track record of action instead of just talk.
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