DES MOINES — The Democratic presidential candidates spent the final day of 2019 sharpening their differences as they braced for the final sprint to the Iowa caucuses, with polls showing a fluid and unsettled race five weeks before the first nominating contest.
And as the year neared its conclusion on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) knocked on doors in near-freezing temperatures in Des Moines and called attention to how he differs from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on health care. Warren, meanwhile, delivered a speech in Boston that urged sweeping change and took veiled shots at Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and former vice president Joe Biden over fundraising.
The busy Tuesday on the campaign trail culminated a rush of late December events that has helped define the fault lines for the Iowa push. A day earlier Buttigieg put a renewed spotlight on Biden’s dealings in Ukraine when he said he “would not have wanted to see” his son serving on the board of a natural gas company there. Biden, for his part, said this week he would consider tapping a Republican for vice president, embracing a centrist idea that accentuates the contrast with his liberal rivals.
The crossfire reflects the candidates’ urgency about performing well in Iowa at a moment when polls suggest any of the top four candidates could win the state. Each believes a victory on Feb. 3 — when Democrats will caucus at more than 1,000 precinct locations — could provide a critical breakthrough.
Adding to the volatility is the uncertainty around President Trump’s impeachment trial, which could unfold at any time in January. Republicans have been seeking to shift attention to Biden and his son Hunter, despite no evidence of wrongdoing on their part, while the senators in the race have been trying to make every minute count before they may be stuck in Washington for the trial.
Sanders went door-knocking in a working-class neighborhood in Des Moines Tuesday with campaign volunteers, following days of holding town hall meetings where he heard stories from voters about their health-care struggles.
Asked by reporters about where he differs from Warren on policy, Sanders first responded with a light touch. “Are you upset that I haven’t attacked Elizabeth Warren?” he said, prompting laughter from his supporters. “I think we have a lot in common, and there are differences. I think it is not my style, you know, to make personal attacks on candidates.”
But Sanders soon added, “I think what a campaign is about is drawing distinctions” and cited his effort to enact a Medicare-for-all system, in which the government is the sole provider of health insurance. “I’m going to introduce the Medicare-for-all legislation in the first week that I am in office, okay?” Sanders said. “I think that is a difference that we have with Senator Warren.”
Warren broke from Sanders on Medicare-for-all in November, in part by adding an intermediate step that would allow Americans to remain on private insurance for the first three years of her administration.
Sanders, who is 78, also said Tuesday he would “probably not” be releasing further information about his health, a day after he provided letters from three physicians on his medical condition. “I think we have done everything, maybe plus, what other candidates” have done, he said.
The letters disclosed new information about a heart attack the senator from Vermont suffered on Oct. 1. They said he sustained “modest heart muscle damage” but is in good health and capable of doing the job of president.
Sanders has drawn enthusiastic crowds this week in Iowa, where he been holding more intimate events in contrast with the large rallies that were a staple of his 2016 bid and have been commonplace this campaign. He has also been appealing to nonwhite voters.
Warren spent New Year’s Eve day in Boston, where she spoke exactly a year after announcing her presidential exploratory committee. The senator from Massachusetts sought to recapture the momentum she has lost in recent weeks with a rousing speech at the Old South Meeting House, a historical church and former meeting place for American revolutionaries.
Warren said the next day would bring twin realities: the dawn of a new decade but also a lingering “chill of fear in the air.” Trump, she charged, had in the past year become “bolder with his lies and more brazen in his lawbreaking,” while Republicans had turned into “fawning, spineless defenders of his crimes.”
“Our democracy hangs in the balance,” Warren said. “Now it comes to us to fight back.”
While she did not call out any of her Democratic opponents by name, Warren alluded to competitors who have courted wealthy donors, a nod to her ongoing feuds with Biden and Buttigieg.
“It’s one year into this campaign, and you’ve never found me behind closed doors with corporate executives or spending hours on the phone sucking up to rich donors to fund my campaign,” Warren said. Buttigieg has said such claims amount to hypocritical purity tests, and Biden’s campaign has spoken of the need to raise enough money to take on Trump.
The Buttigieg campaign responded with a statement saying in part, “The only promise any donor will ever get from Pete is that he will use their donations to defeat Donald Trump. The stakes in this election are clear and stark — we have one shot to defeat Donald Trump and we can’t do that with one hand tied behind our back.”
Throughout her speech, Warren returned to themes that have driven her campaign — fighting corruption and asking voters to believe in the possibility of major reforms.
The likelihood of a Senate impeachment trial in January presents hurdles for Sanders, Warren and the three other senators in the race. They have been brainstorming ways to keep an active presence in Iowa without shirking their duties as jurors in Washington.
But impeachment poses particular challenges for Biden, who has faced questions about his son Hunter's service on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company at a time when Biden, then vice president, was spearheading U.S. policy toward Ukraine. Neither has been accused by authorities of wrongdoing, but some ethics experts suggest that at a minimum the appearance was not ideal.
During impeachment proceedings in the House this fall, Democrats argued that Trump misused his office to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Biden family. With a Senate trial looming, Republicans are seeking to deflect attention away from Trump and onto Biden, and the effect of that on the Democratic race is unpredictable.
After saying he would defy a congressional subpoena if called to testify in the Senate trial, Biden recently reversed course, saying he would abide by "any subpoena that was sent to me."
Buttigieg told the Associated Press on Monday that he "would not have wanted to see" his own son serving on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while he was working on anti-corruption issues in the country.
Sanders gave a curt answer when asked Tuesday if he would allow his son to serve on a Ukrainian board like Hunter Biden. "I don't think that's what he has in mind," he said, prompting laughter from campaign volunteers.
Biden, who promises to work with Republicans in a post-Trump government, also found ways to distance himself from the rest of the field. He said Monday that he would be open to choosing a Republican to be his running mate, although he added that he "can't think of one now."
Sanders took a different view Tuesday. "I think it's fair to say that I will not have a Republican as a vice president on my ticket," he said. "I will have somebody who shares my views; I'm not aware of too many Republicans who do."