DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Three months after announcing his White House bid, Joe Biden remains atop early primary polling. He’s been buoyed by a long history with voters and a belief among many of them that his decades of experience best position him to defeat President Donald Trump. But Biden’s rivals remain confident that his frequent fumbles will eventually catch up to him.
Biden’s standing in the race is the subject of much debate within the Democratic Party. Advisers to other campaigns contend that polling at this stage is often fluid, reflecting little more than name recognition. Biden aides frequently note that Trump led polls throughout the summer of 2015 and never relinquished his lead. What is clear is that some of Biden’s rivals see an imperative to begin taking him on aggressively.