Former Vice President Joe Biden said he was not taking his front-runner status for granted as he returned to Iowa on Thursday, ahead of a wave of rival Democratic presidential contenders who will in coming days visit the state that starts the party’s nominating contest, reports Trend referring to Reuters.
Before the weekend is out, more than 20 contenders will attend the Iowa State Fair and speak at a state Democratic Party dinner, giving Iowans a full picture of the field.
Next February’s caucuses in Iowa will kick off the process of selecting the person to run against Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 general election.
Speaking to a sun-baked crowd at the fair, Biden said: “We must defeat this president to change the trajectory of this country.”
For Biden, the trip to Iowa gives him an opportunity to try and cement his lead in opinion polls over the rest of the field, one that appeared greatly endangered after he turned in an uninspiring performance at the first Democratic debate in Miami.
But Biden appeared to have held his own at last week’s debate in Detroit against attacks from others on the stage. And his numbers in public opinion polls have largely returned to where they were before the Miami debate.
At the state fair, Biden largely stuck to his campaign stump speech without mentioning the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio last weekend that shocked the United States.
In response to Democratic calls for action on gun control legislation, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell suggested he was open to bipartisan discussions on possible restrictions on assault gun sales and background checks. But he refused to call the Senate back early to consider new gun legislation.
After his appearance, Biden told reporters he believes Congress can pass a new ban on assault weapons.
“We can get it done, and we can get background checks done,” he said. “We can get it done because the public is finally at a point where they are sick of it. Sick of it.”
Biden suggested he understands that his front-runner position could be tenuous, and said he would continue to campaign in Iowa to amass support.
“It’s early,” Biden said. “It’s way early.”
An poll of Iowa Democrats released by Monmouth University on Thursday showed Biden with 28 percent of the vote, with progressive rival U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has been building momentum in the state, second at 19 percent.
In his speech at the fair, Biden, 76, at times fumbled parts of his delivery, saying at one point that in comparison to Trump, Democrats “choose truth over facts.”
Sherry Leydens, 72, of Ankeny, Iowa said she had come to the fair to see Biden, who she said she will support in the caucuses. “He is the best person to take on Trump,” she said.
But Mickey Long, 47, of Burlington, Iowa said with others gaining, “it kind of made me rethink things.” Once a Biden supporter, she was now considering Warren, Long said.