So far, it seems, Sen. Bernie Sanders' (D-Vit.) early campaigning is paying off.
The latest Iowa caucus poll conducted by the Des Moines Register, CNN, and Mediacom shows former Vice President Joe Biden leading the field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. Although Biden has yet to announce that he will even run, he earned the support of 27 percent of those polled. But Sanders, who was in Des Moines on Saturday, was close behind at 25 percent.
No other candidate even breached double digits. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) were next in line at nine and seven percent, respectively. Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas), who like Biden has yet to announce his candidacy, and Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) were the only other names to rise above one percent.
Biden and Sanders led in the last caucus poll in December, as well. Though at that time, Biden held a 13-point advantage over Sanders.
Per CNN, the Poll was conducted by Selzer and Co. in Des Moines from last Sunday through Wednesday among a random sample of 401 likely Democratic caucus-goers. The questioning took place over the phone. The margin for error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
Yi Gang, China’s central bank governor, said on Sunday that China and the United States are close to securing a currency deal as part of the two nations’ broader trade negotiations, which are inching toward a resolution.
As part of the agreement, Yi confirmed that China would not manipulate its currency. China’s management of its currency has remained a sticking point between Washington and Beijing for years. President Trump has accused Beijing of purposefully devaluing the yuan in order to keep goods cheap and gain a competitive advantage on the international trade market. China has made the same commitment in other multilateral agreements, as well, The Wall Street Journal reports.
"This is what we promised," Yi said. "Absolutely we won't do this."
Despite China’s official promise, it remains unclear how, exactly, the currency deal will be enforced. Per the Journal, both the U.S. and China are "haggling" over mechanisms that would do so, as well as how each nation should respect the other's monetary policy. Tim O'Donnell
It was a busy Saturday for several 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.
A few flocked to Austin for the Texas city’s South by Southwest festival, which the Associated Press reported was really about getting "face time with the party's young and ascendant liberal wing."
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn,), both of whom have announced their candidacies, spoke at the festival. Despite speaking in Austin, where companies like Google and Apple have a high number of employees, Warren doubled down on her promise to break up tech giants. "There are parts of big tech that are frankly just like railroads of the Teddy Roosevelt era," she said. "What's old is new. When someone gets market dominance, how then they start to destroy competition."
Klobuchar also criticized the tech industry, but did not go so far as to endorse breaking up companies.
Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who has yet to announce whether or not he’s running, also made an appearance at SXSW, but did not speak on stage. Instead he was there to attend a screening of documentary about his 2018 Senate campaign, which, per AP, could be the "springboard" for a White House run.
Other candidates such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), as well as Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper hit the campaign trail elsewhere. Sanders and Hickenlooper traveled to Iowa, while Harris spoke in South Carolina. Tim O'Donnell
It might soon be déjà vu all over again for Alabama.
Reuters reported on Friday that Roy Moore, the former chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court and the Republican candidate in the 2017 Alabama special election for Jeff Sessions' Senate seat, said that he is "seriously considering" challenging Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who defeated Moore during that previous campaign, in 2020.
Moore was a heavy favorite early on in 2017, but allegations that he sexually assaulted or pursued teenaged girls while in his 30s derailed his campaign, and Jones won the vote by a narrow margin, becoming the first Alabama Democrat in a quarter-century to win a Senate election.
Moore spoke about the possibility of running again on Friday during an appearance on the radio show "Focal Point", a Christian-based program which airs on American Family Radio. Per The Washington Post, Moore said that the 2017 election "was stolen" thanks to a "disinformation" campaign (he has denied the allegations against him.) The Post noted that there were a slew of misleading online tactics geared toward influencing the election, but most political analysts agree that those tactics were not the reasons behind his defeat. They argue that the allegations remain the impetus for Jones' victory. Tim O'Donnell
R&B singer R. Kelly will be released on Saturday from a Chicago jail, where he has been held since Wednesday for failing to pay more than $161,000 in child support.
A spokeswoman for the Cook County Sherriff's Department, which operates the jail where Kelly is being held, said that someone posted the money Kelly needed to make the payment. She did not know who posted the money, the Associated Press reports.
Kelly's arrest over the failed payments occurred just shortly after the 52-year-old was charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse against four women, including three who were minors at the time of the alleged abuse. Kelly has denied any wrongdoing multiple times, including during an explosive interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning on Wednesday. Tim O'Donnell