Top Iowa Democrats say Joe Biden has done everything wrong in the state


Joe Biden is far from inevitable, especially in Iowa.
While other candidates doubled down in the early-caucus state immediately after joining the 2020 race, Biden didn't enter the fray until April, after most top Iowa hires were already picked up. That, along with a host of other mistakes, could cost the former vice president Iowa if he doesn't shape up, 11 top state Democrats tell Bloomberg.
Biden may have hopped into the 2020 competition and immediately claimed first place, but that hasn't held up as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has taken the lead in the state. Top Democrats attribute the fall to Biden's reliance on big-dollar fundraisers. Instead of spending time with voters who "expect to meet candidates face-to-face," Biden is "criss-crossing the country," only spending three days of September in Iowa, Bloomberg writes. It all leaves Biden risking "a humiliating third or fourth-place finish in Iowa early next year," the top Democrats tell Bloomberg.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That's not to say losing Iowa will cost Biden the entire race, seeing as he'll almost certainly win South Carolina not long after. But it would severely damage his frontrunner reputation and "would slice into his chief argument — that he's best suited" to beat President Trump, Bloomberg writes.
In a statement, Biden's team says the former vice president has 70 endorsements and more on the way, and that his wife Jill Biden and other pro-Biden officials are campaigning strongly on his behalf. Read more at Bloomberg.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
French finances: what’s behind country’s debt problem?
The Explainer Political paralysis has led to higher borrowing costs and blocked urgent deficit-reducing reforms to social protection
-
Climate change is getting under our skin
Under the radar Skin conditions are worsening because of warming temperatures
-
Sudoku hard: October 14, 2025
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia James
Speed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
Speed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats