A new poll shows that current 2020 Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden’s 20-point lead has shrunk.
According to a Des Moines Register survey, voters in Iowa still prefer Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders right behind him, but Biden’s span between him and his closest opponent has been reduced by a third.
Second place Sanders has also taken a hit. His once formidable lead over the rest of the contenders except Biden is now just a single point. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg are now at double digits, garnering at 15 percent and 14 percent, with Sanders only besting both with 16 percent.
New CNN/Des Moines Register Iowa poll
Biden: 24%
Sanders: 16%
Warren: 15%
Buttigieg: 14%
Harris: 7%
Klobuchar: 2%
O’Rourke: 2%All candidates below are at 1%
Bennet
Booker
Castro
Delaney
Gabbard
Inslee
YangCandidates not listed above are in image below and fell below 1% pic.twitter.com/tZUYWj3zBq
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 9, 2019
At this juncture in the primary season, it seems people are making up their minds in a seemingly more permanent way. According to The Daily Wire:
Support for specific candidates, the Register suggests, is “solidifying,” and Biden’s once-formidable lead is normalizing into something he could, conceivably, hold through the Iowa caucuses early next year. But Biden is running into trouble in Iowa in ways Democrats promoting the former Vice President’s more “moderate” campaign might not have foreseen.
“This weekend, nearly the entire field of 2020 Democratic hopefuls descended on Iowa to participate in LGBT Pride parades and give speeches at outdoor events,” The Daily Wires notes. “Sunday, at least 20 of the two dozen candidates competing for Iowa’s delegates will participate in the single largest Democratic event ahead of the Iowa caucuses: the annual Iowa Democratic Party fundraiser.”
Which candidate didn’t attend the weekend’s Iowa events? Joe Biden.
Biden leads, with Sanders, Warren and Buttigieg in a tight race for second, CNN's Iowa poll shows https://t.co/hgIDbpcSK8 pic.twitter.com/iPmYwADRnR
— CNN (@CNN) June 9, 2019
This is not smart politics for Biden. Though many speculate he might instead have been visiting with high dollar donors, the former vice president’s sinking numbers in Iowa might have something to do with the perception that voters believe he is taking them for granted.
When you don’t campaign, that’s what happens. Smaller crowds than one might expect for a supposed frontrunner are also a pretty good indication you’re doing it wrong.
Iowa is the first battleground in every presidential election. Joe Biden ignores it at his peril.