As we wade through the confusion after the Iowa Caucus results were delayed due to tech issues and other “inconsistencies,” one of the top-tier candidates, former Vice President Joe Biden, has not been having a great time, calling the preliminary results a “gut punch.”
“At this rate, New Hampshire will be the first in the country to get to vote,” Biden said, taking a swipe at the chaos the delays caused, according to the Des Moines Register.
However, he acknowledged, “I’m not going to sugarcoat it: We took a gut punch in Iowa. The whole process took a gut punch. But this isn’t the first time in my life I’ve been knocked down.”
Biden, who has pretty much been topping the polls since he announced his candidacy found himself in a surprising fourth place in Iowa with about 97% of precincts reporting.
This was after being extremely confident ahead of the caucuses, noting that he wasn’t concerned about not reaching the 15% viability threshold. And it’s true, Biden currently has just under 16% of the raw vote.
Still, as the dust in Iowa is settling, Politico reports that the first casualty of the unsatisfactory finish has been announced, with the Biden campaign partying ways with its Iowa field director, Adrienne Bogen.
“We had precinct captains who didn’t know how to run a caucus. And a few didn’t even show. We lost friggin’ people on the second ballot of voting in the caucus! Someone’s head had to roll,” a top-level Biden campaign staffer told the news site.
However, Bogen’s friends said that she was merely a scapegoat for the struggling campaign.