Opinion: Biden wins a first Iowa endorsement

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In case you’ve been waiting for this, the Storm Lake Times has endorsed its candidate for the Democratic nomination for president. It chose Joe Biden.

While praising the entire field of Democrats, the Storm Lake Times editorial pronounced, ‘Biden is our choice for the nomination for the powerful personal story he shares, for his deep knowledge of international affairs, and for his long record of exemplary service in the United States Senate.’ The paper found him ‘astounding with his sheer command of politics and world conflict.’

This is the first in what is likely to be a string of newspaper endorsements (Storm Lake, as everyone knows, is in west-central Iowa just north of Early and south of Rembrandt. In 2004, the paper endorsed Dick Gephardt in the caucus and John Kerry in the general election) in the remaining -- what’s left? -- 10 weeks or so before the caucuses. And the Biden campaign, which despite its hard work there has languished way down in the polls’ single digits, touted the endorsement today in e-mails to thousands of Americans as if the endorsement really mattered.

Although every campaign cultivates and covets such endorsements for their value as publicity and purported evidence of momentum, their actual power is dubious. Going out on a dark, cold prairie night to attend the caucuses and listen to hours of blabber tends to weed out casual uncommitted voters, who might be persuaded by such endorsements.

The one Iowa endorsement that has long been thought to matter is that of the Des Moines Register. But it no longer has a statewide distribution system, reaching delivery boxes at the end of long dirt driveways in every corner of the Hawkeye state as it once did. In 2004, that Gannett paper endorsed John Edwards, which wasn’t good enough to bring him victory but did help get him second place in the caucuses behind Kerry and second place on the Kerry ticket.

To put all this in perspective, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post points out that a recent Public Opinion Strategies poll of 1,000 likely voters found Biden captured 2.7% of the vote, just ahead of mock comedic candidate Stephen Colbert (2.3%), who beat Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich, both at 2.1%.

--Andrew Malcolm