Warren leads in Iowa while Biden keeps dropping

A new poll conducted by The New York Times Upshot and Siena College Research Institute has Sen. Elizabeth Warren leading the pack of Democratic Party hopefuls in Iowa, the first of next year’s caucuses and primaries. Mrs. Warren garnered 22 percent of those polled, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders with 19 percent, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 18 percent. Joe Biden, the former vice president and front runner at one point early in this race, has dropped back into fourth place garnering a 17 percent of those polled. The survey of 1,435 registered voters in Iowa and 439 likely caucus-goers was conducted between Oct. 25 and Oct. 30.

“The survey is full of alarming signs for Mr. Biden, who entered the race in April at the top of the polls in Iowa and nationally. He is still in the lead in most national polls, but his comparatively weak position in the earliest primary and caucus states now presents a serious threat to his candidacy,” reported The New York Times.

Alexander Burns, of The New York Times, writes, “The poll reveals a race in flux but not in disarray, framed by a stark debate about the direction of the Democratic Party and by a degree of fluidity arising from Mr. Biden’s travails. In the early states, at least, the former vice president appears to be buckling on one side to the expansive populism of Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders, and on the other to Mr. Buttigieg’s calls for generational change.

“While no single candidate has a decisive advantage, the strongest currents in the party appear to be swirling around candidates promising in different ways to challenge the existing political and economic order.

“Several of them would also represent change by virtue of their identities, including Ms. Warren, who would be the first female president, and Mr. Buttigieg, who is gay.”

The top four are followed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar with 4 percent, Sen. Kamala Harris and businessman Andrew Yang both at 3 percent. 

Other survey findings include: