Biden calls poor Iowa performance a 'gut punch'

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Joe Biden, once the clear front-runner in the Democratic primary field, was forced to face the fact his campaign fell short in the wake of the first presidential nominating contest.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOE BIDEN, SAYING:

“I am not going to sugarcoat it: We took a gut punch in Iowa. The whole process took a gut punch. But look, this isn't the first time in my life I've been knocked down.”

With most Iowa precincts reporting, Biden was behind South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

But Biden on Wednesday (February 5) vowed to go on fighting.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOE BIDEN, SAYING:

“There are an awful lot of folks out there who are, wrote off this campaign. But I tell you what, they’ve been trying to do that from the moment I entered the race. Well, I’ve got news for them. I’m not going anywhere.”

It was just one contest, and one marred by technical glitches.

But the results so far suggest that Biden occupies a more precarious position in the primary than previously thought.

The 77-year-old entered the Democratic race as a heavyweight with decades of Senate experience and eight years as vice president alongside a highly-popular commander-in-chief.

But he saw his name scandalized amid impeachment hearings in Washington, where Republicans - including the president - repeatedly made unfounded claims that Biden had corruptly protected his son's business interests in Ukraine.

It's unclear how much that swayed voters in Iowa.

But Biden was bested there by a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, a small-town mayor, and a junior senator with one-fifth his experience.

Speaking in Somersworth, New Hampshire on Wednesday, Biden took aim at both Buttigieg and Sanders.

He said if Sanders won the nomination, every Democrat would have to carry the label "socialist."

And Biden accused Buttigieg of being insufficiently supportive of the Obama administration's legacy.

New Hampshire holds its primary next week.