In a survey of likely Iowa democratic caucus-goers, former Vice President Joe Biden holds a 21-point lead among potential 2020 Democratic contenders. | Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Freedom House Elections Poll: Biden leads among Iowa Democrats

Former Vice President Joe Biden was among the first to drop out of the 2008 Iowa caucuses after he won just under one percent.

Today, Biden holds a 21-point lead among potential 2020 Democratic contenders in a survey of likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers.


While that places him well ahead of the field of prospective candidates, his advantage might not hold for long, according to the new poll.

The same group, of which 37 percent said they’d caucus for Biden if the caucus were held today, also described their ideal presidential candidate as someone younger and free of Washington tarnish.

“I think while he has awesome numbers, my recollection in 2014 was Secretary Clinton had stratospheric numbers,” said Iowa-based Democratic strategist Jeff Link, whose client, former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, funded the poll. “I think for people like Secretary Clinton or like Biden, they are very popular until they join the race. Then they become a candidate like everybody else as opposed to the revered figure.”

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The survey found that after Biden, 16 percent backed Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 12 percent supported Sen. Bernie Sanders, 10 percent picked Sen. Kamala Harris and Sen. Cory Booker received support from 8 percent. No other candidate received more than 2 percent.

The respondents overwhelmingly rejected President Donald Trump – with 96 percent holding an unfavorable view – yet only 50 percent supported a candidate who sought impeachment hearings against the president.

Among the candidate qualities that ranked the highest among those polled was “someone who can heal the racial, ethnic and partisan divide in our country” and “someone known for making good judgments and working with and listening to others.”

David Binder Research conducted the cellphone and landline poll of 500 likely 2020 Democratic caucus-goers from Sept. 20-23.

Judge, who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Chuck Grassley in 2016, paid for the poll with funds left over from that race and is directing the money toward researching rural voting trends, including how the same group of voters could choose Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, then go for Trump in 2016.

“The focus on rural America is to get these presidential candidates thinking about how do we construct messages that rural voters can relate to,” said Link.

