Democrats descend on Iowa for steak, beer and politics

DES MOINES – The state of the 2020 race played out Saturday at the Polk County Steak Fry in Iowa.

Joe Biden, the Democratic front-runner, was mobbed by voters and reporters as he marched with supporters behind a fire truck that was accompanied by a drum line.

Elizabeth Warren was greeted on the main stage by thousands of her signature "liberty green"-colored signs and chants of "two cents" in support of her proposed 2% tax on the assets of people worth $50 million or more.

Pete Buttigieg, standing in front of the bus he will ride across the state, addressed hordes of supporters in yellow "Pete for Iowa" shirts. Bernie Sanders, who consistently polls second or third in the race, spoke but had a limited presence.

Biden's mob wove past a small gaggle of voters around Kamala Harris. The only people trailing Cory Booker were reporters who wanted to ask more about his statements earlier Saturday suggesting he might drop out in the ­coming weeks.

The Steak Fry, a signature event on the Democrats' calendar, featured all the hallmarks of Iowa politicking: candidates grilling steaks, posing for selfies and marching with supporters. The 18 candidates each also spoke for about 10 minutes, mostly abbreviated takes on their stump speeches.

But with more than 12,000 Democrats there, all signs pointed to a tightening top tier of candidates, and those below that signaled they were shifting gears in what could be last-ditch efforts to keep their campaigns afloat.

Booker and Harris, on the other hand, used the Steak Fry to indicate they were shifting gears.

Booker's campaign announced Saturday it needed to raise $1.7 million in the next 10 days or the campaign would have to make some "tough decisions."

Booker expressed confidence that he might still have a viable path to the nomination. "Let's be clear: This race isn't solidifying at all," he said. "Over 90 percent of Democrats say they have not made their definitive, final choice and we know from the history that polls have never, in my lifetime, predicted who would become the president from our party."

Harris' campaign, faltering in the polls, said earlier this week it would be making a big bet on Iowa, a marked shift from her earlier focus on South Carolina, the third nominating contest in the country with a majority-black Democratic voting base. "I don't know if y'all heard, but I'm moving to Iowa," Harris joked on Saturday.

The Harris campaign said it would double their organizers to 120 from 65 and that the California senator would visit the state every week. The goal is for a top-three finish that would "slingshot" her from Iowa forward, Juan Rodriguez, Harris' campaign manager, said Thursday.

"When I'm out talking to people here or elsewhere, voters haven't hardened and made their decision, and I think there's still a lot of time in this," Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said.