By Eric Bradner and Gregory Krieg
Our weekly roundup of the news, notes and chatter about the prospects for the next Democratic presidential race:
The first television ad of the 2020 Democratic presidential race is set to air Sunday in Iowa — on NBC, during the Super Bowl.
Maryland Rep. John Delaney’s ad is titled “Dirty Word.” That word? “Bipartisanship.” It’s a play for the relatively small share of Iowa caucus-goers who are moderate — and a bet he can quietly court those voters while the rest of the field races leftward. The little-known Delaney is a longshot who’s trying to take advantage of what he sees as an open window, while he’s the only Democrat officially in the race.
The $37,000 buy is small — it’s in Des Moines, Sioux City, Davenport and Cedar Rapids — though Delaney intends to ramp up his ad spending over the next month with what his campaign says will be similar ads.
One more note: We’re now just a little bit closer to the 2020 Iowa caucuses than we are from the 2016 caucuses.
News and notes:
BIDEN TIMELINE: ‘A YEAR FROM NOW’: Former Vice President Joe Biden said at a book tour stop in Orlando on Monday he will make a decision about 2020 by the end of the year. “Maybe a year from now I’ll decide I’m the best single person to do it, and I’ll go do it,” he said. “But I can’t look in the mirror and walk away because I’m afraid, because I don’t want to take on the responsibilities, because I don’t want to make the effort. I’m not built that way. I can’t do that.”
— Another interesting tidbit from The Orlando Sentinel’s Steven Lemongello: “Biden, who would be 77 in 2020, closed by saying he hoped a younger Democrat such as Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., or Cory Booker, D-N.J., would step up in advance of the election. But, he said, ‘It’s not my style to say I guarantee I won’t run. I don’t know. I don’t plan on running. But I’m a great respecter of fate.’”
WARREN IN TEXAS: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren helped Annie’s List, which backs progressive women in Texas, raise $420,000 with her appearance at an event Friday. Here’s a Warren applause line while riffing on government spending on child care compared to other countries, via the Texas Tribune’s Patrick Svitek: “Fun fact about the US: Unlike Iceland and many of those other countries, the U.S. has never elected a woman president. We need to fix that.”
IT’S CAUCUS TIME IN IOWA. Seriously. The 2018 edition, slated for this coming Monday, February 5, could be more important than you’d think. Because the Democratic gubernatorial and 3rd and 4th District congressional primaries are so crowded, the activists elected at the caucuses could end up deciding those races in special conventions (if none of the candidates hit 35%) later this year. “We are really moving forward with the presumption this is likely to be decided at convention,” John Norris, the longtime Iowa political operative turned candidate for governor, told The Des Moines Register’s Jason Noble, who explained here why it all matters going forward.
— Also to watch: Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday endorsed former campaign aide Pete D’Alessandro in that tight 3rd District race. D’Alessandro now has the Bernieworld hat trick — endorsements from the National Nurses United union, Our Revolution and Sanders himself.
— Watch this weekend: Eric has a story coming on how Sanders is revving the engines of his political machine ahead of a midterm push that could be a test drive for 2020.
From the right:
KASICH: ‘I JUST DON’T KNOW’: Ohio Gov. John Kasich, on CNN’s “New Day” this week, said he doesn’t know whether he’ll run for president (against Trump) in 2020. “I just don’t know,” he said. “If I felt my country called me and it was practical, I’d have to very seriously think about it. Right now, I’m not out there trying to create delegates and states or anything like that. I don’t know what the future is going to bring.”
Before you go:
California Sen. Kamala Harris’ social media team got some props for its handling of the State of the Union — with tweets ready for any and every policy issue Trump brought up. … Former FBI Director James Comey is increasingly vocal with his criticism of congressional Republicans’ handling of a controversial memo. We wonder whether he’ll weigh in on presidential politics. … The DNC has a new interim CEO: Mary Beth Cahill, who managed John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign.
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