The two oldest but better known Democratic Party stalwarts in a presidential wannabe field dominated by young and lesser known Millennials topped a poll of Iowa voters on March 9
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, 76, who has yet to declare his candidacy for president, was the first choice for president of likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers. Biden received 27 percent of the vote in the Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll while Sen. Bernie Sanders, 77, took 25 percent.
"If I'm Joe Biden sitting on the fence and I see this poll, this might make me want to jump in," said J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co, which conducted the poll.
The Des Moines Register's Iowa poll has a long track record of relative accuracy in the state that starts the presidential nominating process. Iowa will hold the first contest in the Democratic race in February 2020.
Nearly 65 percent of the voters said Biden has more experience than any other candidate and should enter the race. On the other hand, 31 percent said Biden's time as a candidate has passed.
Biden has a solid lead in most national polls of Democrats, while Sanders, who lost the 2016 Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton, typically lands in second. These polls also show Sen. Kamala Harris of California in third ahead of other senators, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
The ranking was almost similar in the Iowa poll, but Warren was third with 9 percent of voters, and Harris was fourth with 7 percent. Beto O'Rourke got 5 percent of voters, down 6 percentage points from December.
It was the Register's first Iowa poll since candidates began declaring their runs at the start of the year. Likely Iowa caucus-goers were also surveyed on issues dominating early discussions and that has the support of most of the Democratic presidential hopefuls.
The controversial Green New Deal that has become a divisive issue among Democrats was supported in full by 65 percent of the Democratic voters. It was partially supported by 26 percent with 4 percent not supporting. The deal intends to fund government programs on clean energy and make buildings energy efficient while also helping reduce poverty.
The poll also measured Democrat support for Medicare-for-all with a universal coverage plan funded solely by the government. This concept was first proposed by Sanders in 2017 to replace the current array of private and government-financed healthcare coverage. It was supported by 49 percent of likely caucus-goers; partially by 35 percent with 11 percent not supporting.
