DES MOINES — Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont ruminated on the final two questions asked of him about the Iowa caucuses as he rose from a table packed with reporters here on Thursday morning.

“Do I need to win?” he said. “Is second place good enough?”

Rather than dwell on the contest at hand, he looked forward to the ones to come.

“If we lose here in Iowa — and I think if the turnout is high we will win — we’re going to go on to New Hampshire,” Mr. Sanders said. “I think we’ve got a good chance to win in New Hampshire. I think you will be surprised at how well we’re going to do in Nevada and South Carolina.”

Then he talked about his strength in Massachusetts and Minnesota, which he visited earlier last week.