Biden tours Iowa while senators stay benched

A week from tonight, Iowa Democrats plan to gather in high school gymnasiums, public libraries, church basements and other locales to make the first concrete decisions of the 2020 presidential election. And in the final days before the caucuses, former Vice President Joe Biden enjoys a distinct advantage, having much of the state to himself while the senators running for president are stuck in Washington with the impeachment trial. Even though he's not at the trial, we can expect Biden to keep at least some of his focus on the proceedings — even as he said today he doesn't see a need to appear.


"I have nothing to defend," Biden told CBS News campaign reporter Bo Erickson. "This is all a game." Erickson followed up, asking Biden whether he'd want to appear if his name comes up during the trial. "Even if they bring me up! Nobody has said I have done anything wrong, period. What is there to defend? This is all — the only reason he is being impeached is that he tried to get another government to smear me and they wouldn't."

Sure enough, Trump impeachment lawyer Pam Bondi did bring up the Biden family on Monday in relation to Hunter Biden's work in Ukraine. The Biden campaign quickly responded, saying Bondi's allegations amounted to a "conspiracy theory" that had already been debunked.

The Iowa Caucus very much remains a jump-ball, with the former vice president narrowly trailing or tied with Senatot Bernie Sanders and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg still in the hunt. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar are also factors - especially if one or both of them fail to garner the 15 percent required to accrue delegates, forcing their supporters to pick a second choice.

Biden's comments this morning come as multiple senior campaign aides tell CBS News political correspondent Ed O'Keefe that their goal for the closing week is to keep their entire operation focused on a "Biden can beat Trump" message across the airwaves, on the stump and as volunteers and staffers make calls or send texts to voters. That a separate pro-Biden PAC is running television ads with a similar message across Iowa doesn't hurt, either.

At the same time, any deviation from this plan — if Biden makes a verbal or factual stumble, or an opponent levels a new attack, or if there's an unhelpful a wrinkle for them in the impeachment trial — could imperil the campaign's home-stretch appeal to Iowans.




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