‘I’m still undecided’: Iowa shows how Joe Biden has a long way to go if he is to seal the deal for 2020 race

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In a packed union hall in south Des Moines on Thursday, there was a lot of love for Joe Biden. But there just wasn’t a whole lot of commitment.

With a healthy lead over all of his Democratic rivals that has wavered very little since he announced his candidacy, the former vice-president is heading into the final six months before the Iowa caucuses with considerable momentum.

On paper, things look good. He has near-universal name recognition. He was the vice president to a popular president many Democrats wistfully remember, especially when compared to a sitting president with a notoriously low approval rating. Heck, the folksy candidate from Delaware – or Scranton, Pennsylvania, depending on how you look at it – has unrivalled experience in a 2020 field that includes a woman best known for self-help books.

And yet, this: “I’m still undecided! I’m still undecided!”

That was Paula A Martinez, an Iowa judiciary worker and Democratic official, who attended Mr Biden’s town hall gathering in south Des Moines, just hours after the presidential frontrunner spoke from the Des Moines Register “Political Soapbox” – a tradition on the campaign trail that will draw virtually every Democrat to speak to Iowa voters under the hot prairie sun over the next few days.

Ms Martinez was not alone with that sentiment in the room, or at the state fair hours earlier when Mr Biden laid out his case for becoming the standard bearer of the Democrats, and the man to take on Donald Trump.

“I’ve been trying to listen to all of the candidates, and to listen to them multiple times,” Kevin Cavallin, 48, a voter from Aimes, said after Mr Biden spoke at the town hall. And an hour and change of hearing the vice president lay out his vision didn’t make Mr Cavallin budge in his favour, he said.

Mr Cavallin said that he views Mr Biden as the “safe option” to take on Mr Trump, but wonders if the types of bold, progressive proposals coming from candidates like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren might be worth the gamble.

“I’m in a quagmire,” he said.

The hesitance underscores the fragile circumstances that Mr Biden finds himself in, just as voters in Iowa are set to start paying more and more attention as they try to find their preferred candidate to caucus for on 3 February.

The political veteran with decades of public experience finds himself facing down the potential of a strong progressive challenge, with the likes of Mr Sanders and Ms Warren gaining strong support, and rising, in polls across the nation and in Iowa. While Mr Trump enjoys a 73 per cent approval rating in the state, according to the most recent Monmouth University poll, he is beaten by Ms Warren in that metric, who comes in at 76 per cent.

In terms of voting intentions, Mr Biden climbed to 28 per cent support from 27 per cent in April while Ms Warren is making ground, on 19 per cent, up from 7 per cent in April.

And, from further towards the centre, the candidacies of Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg – among others – have laid bare a potential upset for Mr Biden in his third presidential run, even if their threat isn’t quite as pressing for the former vice president.

But, it’s not as though he hasn’t cinched this thing because he’s rusty, or even because the 76-year-old seems slow on the trail.

When speaking to the union workers on Thursday, Mr Biden held court for nearly an hour and a half, diving into issues ranging from climate change and workers’ rights to healthcare and gun control.

Peppering in his folksy charm, Mr Biden captivated his audience. He cracked jokes, and earned laughs for his sarcastic jabs at the president – even as he protested, saying “I’m not kidding, folks, this is serious” – and he laid out a pragmatic approach to reaching many of the goals progressives challenging him from the left have put forward.

“He’s not my favourite right now, but I like him,” said Michael Scholer, 71, a retired union worker, who attended the town hall.

But Mr Scholer said Mr Biden still has a chance to win him over, even if it hasn’t happened yet: “I think he hit all the right notes tonight.”