Without Declaring His Candidacy, Biden Places Third in Iowa

Are Sanders' rising numbers and Clinton's flagging ones sending a signal that will attract a late entrant to the Democratic race?

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden attends the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton February 6, 2014 in Washington, DC.
Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images

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By Margaret Talev

August 29, 2015 at 10:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Vice President Joe Biden would enter Iowa in a distant third place among Democrats if he decides to run for president, but his rising popularity, combined with signs of trouble for Hillary Clinton, means the early caucus state may be less of an obstacle to Biden this time than it was in 2008.

Biden is the first choice for president among 14 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers in a Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll released Saturday. That’s up from 8 percent in May, a significant increase given that Biden is not a declared candidate. He trails Clinton, the first choice of 37 percent, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont at 30 percent.