“ To me — and definitely according to the FiveThirtyEight primary forecast and recent Iowa polls — Iowa is very much up for grabs, and I don’t think that tonight was anything like the game changer needed to fundamentally reshape the race. Basically, all the candidates seemed to have their moments, but if you are an Iowa caucusgoer waiting for something to break the logjam or convince you that someone is more or less competitive versus Trump, I don’t think you saw it.”
– Dan Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania political science professor
“One thing I was thinking about was that the ideological lanes are now clearer. Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg are competing in Joe Biden’s moderate/establishment lane, although both are pretty far behind him (Klobuchar even further behind than Buttigieg). Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are still competing for the ‘left’ lane of the party. The other lanes I thought would emerge have mostly disappeared.
I’m not sure where this leaves Tom Steyer, but I’m not sure it matters.
I guess that’s not specifically about Iowa, per se, but one implication of what I’ve laid out is that those may be the stakes of the contest. Or there may be two winners — one in the moderate lane and one in the liberal one — in the sense that those lanes are still both up for grabs and vying for dominance.”
– Julia Azari, Marquette University political science professor
The candidates discussed foreign policy, trade, electability, healthcare, childcare, climate change, and impeachment. Warren had the most speaking time at 18.9 minutes. Steyer spoke the least at 12.4 minutes.
For highlights from the debate for each candidate, click here.
Democrats
Michael Bennetwrote an op-ed in The Des Moines Register about creating a broad coalition of support and appealing to Pivot County voters—individuals who backed Barack Obama twice before voting for Donald Trump.
Rep. Tom Malinowski (N.J.) endorsedBiden on Tuesday. The Unite the County super PAC launched a statewide ad in Iowa featuring Biden’s criticism of Trump’s handling of Iran. The $2 million ad buy is running through Feb. 3.
The progressive group Organize for Justice is spending more than $500,000 on digital ads against Biden and Buttigieg.
Donald Trump flew an aerial banner and ran a newspaper ad in The Des Moines Register during the Democratic presidential primary debate. He discussed trade, impeachment, and the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani during his Milwaukee rally.
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