Biden Lands Key Endorsement From Iowa Lawmaker, Will It Help Him Catch Up?

In some good news for Joe Biden early in the new year, the former Vice President picked up an important endorsement from a member of the Iowa congressional delegation.

According to the Associated Press, Rep. Abby Finkenauer said that while she isn’t necessarily discounting the other candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, she believes Biden is the solution to a fractured political environment.

“There are days where I swear Democrats and Republicans are speaking different languages, and there’s no translator… [Biden] is the translator,” said Finkenauer.

Finkenauer, 31, a freshman Democrat in the House, is a particularly interesting endorsement given she managed to win a seat in a district that overwhelmingly supported Trump in 2016, in part due to Biden’s decision to campaign with her during her 2018 campaign.

The Iowa lawmaker may also help Biden with younger voters. At 77, the former vice president has struggled to make his campaign messages resonate with millennial and college-aged Americans. Finkenauer, however, believes that Biden’s ability to lead and reach across the aisle outweighs concerns about his age.

“It goes back to the uniting factor. You can’t divide rural America and our cities… [Biden's] understood that from the beginning,” Finkenauer said.

She also said he sees the “big picture” and knows what matters to the average American household.

This endorsement is particularly important for Biden’s campaign. Iowa, which caucuses on Feb. 3, is often regarded as potentially the most important battleground in the Democrat race in no small part because it is the first state to caucus. And right now, Biden is not leading in the crucial state.

Finkenauer plans to join Biden on his campaign tour of Iowa where they will visit at least eight towns in five days.

According to polling aggregator RealClearPolitics, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is leading in Iowa at 22 percent. Behind him is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 20 percent with Biden in a close third place at 18.8 percent. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is sitting at 16 percent.

With the polling still so close, it might not take much – like a key endorsement – for someone to pull out ahead.