Byron York on more bad news for Joe Biden
Undecided moderate Democrats in New Hampshire appear not to be breaking for former Vice President Joe Biden, says Fox News contributor Byron York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner.
Ahead of the New Hampshire primary, the Washington Examiner's chief political correspondent Byron York said Monday moderate Democrats are increasingly eliminating former Vice President Joe Biden from consideration, believing he's "too old."
York, a Fox News contributor, made the comment on “America’s Newsroom” after the Iowa Democratic Party announced Sunday that former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg won 14 delegates and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will be awarded 12, following the party's disastrous first-in-the-nation caucuses last week that have been plagued with apparent inaccuracies in crucial voting data.
“Some voters who might be Joe Biden targets are now just cutting him out of the picture,” York continued, adding that one Democrat he spoke with said Biden is losing support by the minute.
“We have five people here who are fighting it out,” York said. “But the historical fact is no Democrat has ever gone on to win the nomination without finishing first or second here and I mean it seems to me right now that that includes Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.”
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Biden says he’s not “writing off” New Hampshire – but it sure looks like the former vice president is lowering expectations in the state that holds the first primary in the race for the White House.
“I took a hit in Iowa and I’m probably going to take a hit here,” Biden said in a striking moment at the top of the latest Democratic nomination debate.
For Biden, at least a third-place finish in New Hampshire could be critical, if only to prevent an exodus of donors and the possible erosion of his so-called "firewall" of support in the looming South Carolina contest.
“I was at a Buttigieg rally and a lot of people will say they're still shopping, they’re not totally committed to a candidate, but they have narrowed the choice down,” York said on Monday. “And among Democrats who believe they are centrists, who call themselves centrists, used to think the choice was Biden and Buttigieg, and I heard a number of people say they’re still trying to decide.”
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He went on to say, “They don't really like Elizabeth Warren, they don't really like Bernie Sanders, maybe too far left for them, and I said, ‘Well who does that leave?’ And they said, ‘Pete and Amy.’ Meaning Buttigieg and [Sen. Amy] Klobuchar. And I said, ‘What about Joe Biden? And they said, ‘He’s too old.’”
In an op-ed published in the Washington Examiner on Monday, titled “Centrist voters cut Biden out of the picture,” York wrote, “The Democratic presidential race in New Hampshire appears to be changing too quickly for the polls to keep up.”
Speaking on “America’s Newsroom” on Monday, York noted that Buttigieg seems to have “momentum” following the Iowa Caucuses.
“The AP [Associated Press] didn't even call a winner in Iowa, but the Iowa Democratic Party says that Buttigieg got a little bit more in delegates that Bernie Sanders did,” York said. “Although Sanders won the popular vote as we know Buttigieg then claimed victory and that has really helped him give him a lot of momentum.”
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“He appears to be really moving up. He’s moved up a substantial amount here in New Hampshire since February 1, a couple of days before Iowa in a much, much bigger position,” he continued. “So now he appears to be challenging at least for second place and possibly to win the whole thing.”
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Gregg Re contributed to this report.
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