Notable Quote of the Day

“A presidential campaign axiom holds that there are only three tickets out of Iowa. While former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have the loyal bases and national polling leads to remain in contention regardless of the outcome in the first state to vote, the fortunes of Warren, Buttigieg and Klobuchar rest heavily on how they perform here. …

The three are also facing different challenges: Warren is aiming to relieve voters’ anxiety about whether she can actually defeat Trump, Buttigieg is hoping to persuade Iowans that an outsider is what they need and Klobuchar must convince voters she has enough momentum to actually win.

While Warren, Buttigieg and Klobuchar all need to outperform expectations, it’s unlikely all three will be able to: They’re all competing for the same type of high-information, college-educated voters who have bounced from candidate to candidate over the course of the now year-old primary race. “

– Kevin Robillard, HuffPost

Iowa Caucuses

The first presidential nominating event of the 2020 election cycle takes place in Iowa on Monday. On the Democratic side, 41 pledged delegates are at stake. On the Republican side, 40 delegates are available.

Democrats

• The Democratic National Committee released its qualifying criteria for the Feb. 19 presidential primary debate in Las Vegas, Nevada. Candidates have three paths to qualify: (1) receive at least one pledged delegate in the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary; (2) receive 10 percent support in four national, Nevada, and/or South Carolina polls; or (3) receive 12 percent support in two Nevada and/or South Carolina polls. Each poll must be publicly released between Jan. 15 and Feb. 18. The donor threshold used in previous debates was eliminated.

• Three candidates have already qualified: former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Only two other candidates have at least one qualifying poll: Michael Bloomberg and Pete Buttigieg.

• Michael Bennet released his final campaign ad in New Hampshire on Friday. The clip focuses on his electability against Trump.

• The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), which has 200,000 members, endorsed Joe Biden on Saturday. In the 2016 presidential election, ATU had endorsed Sanders. Rep. Danny Davis (Ill.) also endorsed Biden. 

• Rep. Ben McAdams (Utah) endorsed Michael Bloomberg on Friday. On Saturday, Bloomberg opened his Colorado campaign headquarters in Denver. He also released his tax plan, which would increase the corporate tax rate to 28 percent and add a surtax of 5 percent to incomes over $5 million.

• The Pete Buttigieg campaign is hosting a watch party in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday. He appeared on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, where he discussed his electability and race.

• Tulsi Gabbard will hold a virtual roundtable with attorney Sean Callagy on Monday.

• Rep. Linda Sánchez (Calif.) endorsed Amy Klobuchar on Saturday. The campaign is hosting its caucus watch party in Des Moines on Monday.

• Deval Patrick will campaign in New Hampshire on Monday, making stops in North Conway, Hanover, New London, and Nashua.

• The Wall Street Journal published a profile of Bernie Sanders’ policies throughout his career titled “The Socialist Evolution of Bernie Sanders.” Sanders is hosting his caucus night party in Des Moines on Monday.

• The Tom Steyer campaign unionized with representation from International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2325. Mattie Thomas, the co-chair of the Black Women’s Caucus of South Carolina, endorsed Steyer.

• Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky endorsed Elizabeth Warren on Friday. Warren released four more campaign ads; three will run in Iowa and one will air in New Hampshire.

• Andrew Yang announced that he had raised $6.7 million in January, bringing in $1.2 million on Jan. 31. He is campaigning in New Hampshire on Monday.

Republicans

• In addition to his two Super Bowl commercials, Donald Trump flew aerial banners in Miami before the game on Sunday. Fox News’ Sean Hannity also interviewed Trump in a pregame event.

• The New York Times profiled Joe Walsh and his Iowa campaign efforts.

• Bill Weld campaigned in Des Moines on Sunday.

Flashback: February 3, 2016

Rand Paul and Rick Santorum ended their presidential campaigns following the Iowa caucuses.