Revolution or return to decency? 2020 Democrats’ final Iowa arguments show their case against Trump

Biden has spent the final stretch in Iowa arguing he is best suited to beat Trump and restore a fundamental decency and stability to the White House. The former vice president has more frequently cast himself as a steady foreign policy hand in recent weeks as the specter of war with Iran rose.

His message to Iowa voters, at its core, has revolved around his ability to beat Trump. Biden’s campaign has repeatedly pointed to polls showing him beating Trump in hypothetical head-to-head matchups in November.

In a Thursday speech designed to contrast his character from Trump’s, the former vice president highlighted what he called his role in lifting swing-district Democratic candidates in the 2018 midterms.

“I took on Trump all over the country — and beat him. In fact, we beat him like a drum — and in the process took back the majority in the House. We should remember that this year,” Biden said in Waukee, Iowa.

Biden issued a refrain during the speech that he has repeated throughout his campaign: “Character is on the ballot.” He said two Trump terms in the White House would “fundamentally alter the character of this nation.”

Biden also took aim at Trump’s foreign policy, saying the world will “sleep a little easier” with him in the White House because “they’ll no longer have to worry about Donald Trump waking up in the middle of the night and starting a war with a tweet.”

The former vice president, who frequently touts his middle class roots in Scranton, Pa., has not forgotten to add some economic appeal to his final argument. During a speech in Marshalltown, Iowa, last Sunday, he said that “we need a president that also understands that this country wasn’t built by bankers and CEOs.” Though he took care to stress — as he sometimes does in separating himself from Sanders — that “they’re not all bad guys.”

“They didn’t build the country. Ordinary people like my mom and dad and my grandmom and grandpop, people in this neighborhood, people in this room, ordinary people given half a chance,” he said.

Biden has consistently led the 2020 Democratic field in averages of national polls since he entered the race in April, but Sanders has recently cut into his edge. Sanders leapfrogged him in Iowa polling averages, though surveys suggest Biden still has a good chance to leave Iowa with the most delegates.

Multiple voters at Biden’s Marshalltown event said the increased tensions with Iran made them lean more toward supporting him in the caucuses.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/02/sanders-biden-buttigieg-warren-make-final-case-in-iowa-caucuses.html