The Note: Biden, Sanders hope late attacks make them stronger in Iowa

A few big questions loom large over an unusual caucus run-up in Iowa.

ByRick Klein and MaryAlice Parks
January 31, 2020, 6:02 AM

The TAKE with Rick Klein

Do Sen. Bernie Sanders' rivals fear the Bern, or do they fear being singed if they burn Bernie?

Does former Vice President Joe Biden get a Trump bump?

Does it register that former Mayor Pete Buttigieg has decided, just days before the caucuses, to start naming names?

Can Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Amy Klobuchar book tickets to Iowa without worrying about return flights to Washington?

A few big questions loom large over an unusual caucus run-up in Iowa. It's a four-way race where five candidates are in serious contention for delegates -- and with two front-runners separated only by polling assumptions, ground-game build-out and turnout guesswork.

PHOTO: Senator Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign town hall meeting at La Poste in Perry, Iowa, Jan. 26, 2020.
Senator Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign town hall meeting at La Poste in Perry, Iowa, Jan. 26, 2020.
Ivan Alvarado/Reuters

So far as those front-runners go, Iowa will neither make nor break Sanders and Biden. They are both the focus of late attacks -- from Republicans as well as Democrats, for all that says about their candidacies from here.

Both are raising money and shaping messaging around the fact that they're being targeted. But it adds to a fluidity of a race that is showing signs of late intensity -- and could at last be the focus of national attention.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

If you squint right now in Iowa, parts of 2020 look eerily similar to 2016.

Sanders is throwing rock concerts with A-list celebrities, while the party-pick candidate is holding smaller, more mellow events with mostly older voters. As Hillary Clinton was known to do too, former Vice President Joe Biden is talking about President Donald Trump and actually little else.

Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Thursday seemed anxious by the redux reflected in the top-tier choice, telling voters now isn't the time "to get caught up in reliving arguments from before."

"The less 2020 resembles 2016 and our party, the better," he said, again pitching that someone new and younger like himself was a better alternative.

Of course, last time, Trump -- and all the anxiety he gives Democrats -- was not on the ballot.

Sanders and Biden have different core bases largely based on age, so in the final stretch they are competing for many of the same voters to grow their rings of support.

Parties can over-learn lessons from the past election, but there are many possible -- and even competing -- takeaways from last time that voters are grappling with this go-around.

The TIP with Kendall Karson

Deal or no deal? That's the buzz in Iowa, with Biden's campaign -- in a not-unprecedented move that is often a marker of the final days before the caucuses -- seeking to privately broker alliances with his rivals in an effort to ensure an early lead out of the gate.

PHOTO: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., addresses a gathering at Barley's Taproom in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Jan. 28, 2020.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., addresses a gathering at Barley's Taproom in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Jan. 28, 2020.
Gene J. Puskar/AP

On Thursday, the campaign manager for Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar -- one of Biden's rivals who could potentially fall short of securing the 15% of the vote in a caucus room needed to be eligible to receive delegates, according to recent polling -- confirmed that Biden's campaign approached her team about a potential deal to share precinct support if one of them falls short. But it was an offer that Klobuchar campaign manager Justin Buoen said was "immediately laughed off."

Biden, too, dismissed, but did not deny, the rumors, telling reporters, "I don't doubt that, but I can't confirm that. I don't know ... but look, every campaign I've been in, in the caucus, everybody's looking, says 'OK, if your guy doesn't win, or your person doesn't win, who are you gonna go with?"

In Iowa, where caucusgoers will have two opportunities to declare their support for a presidential contender, Biden's campaign isn't the only one seeking out a campaign alliance. Earlier this week, allies of Biden and Sanders spoke with aides on Andrew Yang's campaign about a possible deal, according to the Washington Post. But no deals have been cut, yet.

ONE MORE THING

Presidential candidate Andrew Yang touts his top qualifier as his business acumen. But a closer look at the numbers for the nonprofit he founded, Venture for America, show that it's not kept pace with its founder's ambition.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. Friday morning's episode features ABC News' Trish Turner on the Senate's expected vote Friday on witnesses in the impeachment trial. Then, ABC News Foreign Correspondent James Longman breaks down what happens after Brexit day. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast. ABC News Political Director Rick Klein and Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl talk with former Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean in a special Iowa preview "Powerhouse Politics" podcast. https://apple.co/2RgxmLL

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • Former Vice President Joe Biden will appear on ABC's "Good Morning America" from Iowa. He will then continue his bus tour with a community event in Burlington, Iowa, at 10:15 a.m. (CST), a community event in Fort Madison, Iowa, at 2 p.m., and a campaign stop in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, at 5 p.m.
  • President Donald Trump speaks at a White House summit on human trafficking at the White House at 12:15 p.m. He and first lady Melania Trump travel to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in the afternoon.
  • Andrew Yang continues his bus tour with a town hall in Tipton, Iowa, at 10 a.m. (CST), a town hall in Monticello, Iowa, at noon, a town hall in Grundy Center, Iowa, at 2:30 p.m., a town hall in Mason City, Iowa, at 5 p.m. and a town hall in Decorah, Iowa, at 7:30 p.m.
  • Former Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., will hold a door-knocking event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, at 10 a.m. (CST), has lunch at noon in Council Bluffs, Iowa, has a door-knocking event in Des Moines, Iowa, at 2 p.m. and holds a house part in Des Moines, Iowa, at 7 p.m.
  • Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg holds a town hall in Sioux City, Iowa, at 11:30 a.m. (CST), a town hall in Council Bluffs, Iowa, at 2 p.m., a town hall in Clinton, Iowa, at 5 p.m. and a rally in Davenport, Iowa, at 7:15 p.m.
  • The Senate impeachment trial resumes at 1 p.m.
  • Tom Steyer continues his bus tour with a town hall in Clinton, Iowa, at 12:30 p.m. (CST) and a town hall in Dubuque, Iowa at 6 p.m.
  • Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick continues his bus tour of New Hampshire with a conversation event in Rindge, New Hampshire, at 3:30 p.m. and a forum in Manchester, New Hampshire, at 7:30 p.m.
  • Fourth quarter Federal Election Commission filings are released.

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