Joe Biden’s fourth-place position in the partial Iowa caucus results is a disaster for the former vice president, multiple cable TV pundits and anchors said Tuesday.
With 62% of Iowa precincts reporting after Monday’s Democratic caucuses, Biden has received 15.6% of the delegate share across the state and 14,176 votes overall.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is currently in third, received 18.3% of the delegate share and 22,254 votes. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was in second place in delegate share and first place in overall vote total, while former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg is leading in the delegate tally at 26.9%.
The overall caucus winner is the candidate with the highest delegate share after all precincts have reported.
While most political observers did not expect Biden to win the caucuses — he has instead built his campaign around South Carolina — his poor showing so far was even worse than anticipated, according to political commentators on CNN and MSNBC.
“The fact of the matter is fourth place for Joe Biden is catastrophic,” NBC’s Chuck Todd said. “There’s no other way to put it.”
“The fact he had such a poor showing in Iowa is a bad sign for his campaign,” said CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“The fact that his campaign is so weak in Iowa, and potentially in New Hampshire, is going to be difficult for him when it comes to fundraising, is going to be very difficult for him when it comes to momentum, which is a very important part of this presidential process,” he continued.
David Axelrod, a former strategist for former President Barack Obama, reiterated that the caucus results are a “big problem” for Biden.
“The big problem he has is not only the deficiencies that showed in his appeal, but he is dead broke, and he needs to raise money,” said Axelrod.
“And it is hard to raise money off of an anemic fourth-place finish, so he needs to revive himself in New Hampshire or this firewall that everybody talks about in South Carolina may just not be there for him,” he added.
CNN political analyst David Chalian said the results are “a real warning sign” for Biden and show that his campaign wasn’t as organized as it “needed to be.”
David Adams