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DES MOINES After Iowas Democratic caucuses melted down into a long night of technology glitches and error-riddled results, Laura Hubka, the chairwoman of the Howard County Democrats, got up the next morning and faced the aftermath at the grocery store.

The Democrats she met in the aisles of her local Fareway were edgy: How had it gone so wrong? And, more important, what did this mean for November?

Aside from hoping to beat President Trump in a state he captured from Democrats in 2016, Iowa Democrats are trying to hold on to two newly won congressional seats and unseat a Republican senator. And now conservatives were crowing: If Iowas Democrats could not even run their own first-in-the-nation caucus, what shot did they have at their bigger election-year goals?

Its not been an easy week, Ms. Hubka said. Im just kind of tired.

A week after the caucus fiasco, the hangover lives on. Iowa Democratic Party leaders are still mired in questions about their leadership and the accuracy of the caucus results as the campaigns of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., asked for reviews of dozens of precincts.

In an instantly symbolic moment on Monday, Troy Price, the state Democratic chairman, was speaking at a news conference in Des Moines when the partys logo fell off his lectern and clunked to the floor.

Until last week, Democrats were hopeful about their recovering fortunes in Iowa, which has been a bellwether in the last three presidential elections. In 2018, they won two of the states four congressional seats from Republicans.

But in a state where Democrats say they are also fairly accustomed to disappointing election nights, some said last weeks debacle would not dampen their enthusiasm this fall. They were motivated to vote by far more urgent issues, such as protecting their Medicaid coverage, struggling crop prices and the toll of the administrations trade war on farmers.

Ill still vote, said Becci West, who manages a pizzeria in Marshalltown and has a 13-month-old daughter. She was one of the last mothers to deliver her baby before the local hospital shut down its obstetrics ward. Health care is important to me.

Four years ago, Ms. West said, she voted Libertarian when Marshall County swung by 18 points into Mr. Trumps column. Two years after that, in the midterms, the county was part of a Democratic surge that unseated a two-term Republican congressman and elected Abby Finkenauer, a Democrat who stressed her rural roots and familys union ties. Now, like so many counties spreading east from Des Moines to the Mississippi River, it is a jump ball.

Democrats across Iowa said they worried the caucus turmoil would amplify the problems of a disappointing turnout. The caucuses were attended by 176,000 people, about 3 percent more than those who showed up in 2016, and far less than the 300,000 some campaigns had prepared for.

In some rural precincts, volunteers were distressed that only 15 or 20 people showed up to school gyms and civic-center basements where twice that many had come in past years.

I do fear that people who came on Monday will never caucus again, said Debra Zupke, who volunteered to run her tiny precinct caucus in Scott County, in eastern Iowa. Who tried to become involved and were turned off by what happened. But I do think there is a good core of people who are energized.

In Marshalltown, Kristal Acevedo De Bogue, 30, caucused for the first time last Monday, supporting Mr. Sanders, who won the county. Afterward, she said she grew increasingly suspicious of the entire process as she tracked the halting release of results that have been revised and corrected and re-examined again and again.

It did make me a little leery of the whole thing, Ms. Acevedo said. I dont have a lot of confidence in the results.

In West Des Moines, Judy Zobel was ready to dump the caucuses she helped to run.

I feel so unengaged now, she said.

She said she received no training in how to use the faulty results-reporting app, and then gave up trying to phone in her precincts results to a jammed-up hotline. She ended up driving them over to a local Democratic collection point.

I think the best thing in the world is just to do away with the caucuses, she said. Take a vote and have a paper backup.

But several rural Democrats said they were troubled by the idea of moving the first contest of the presidential primaries out of Iowa.

Yes, they acknowledged, the caucuses can feel like an anachronism: complicated, time-consuming, exclusionary to anyone who cannot afford child care or a missed shift.

But they said losing a monthslong parade of candidates who stream through tiny towns to talk farm-country issues could be a death blow for rural Democrats, who are still struggling to convert anti-Trump sentiment into local election wins in places where the president remains popular.

Several Democrats said they were frustrated by the partys response up and down the line and impatient for an independent investigation to explain the cascading problems. One county chairman has called on the state and national leaders to resign.

In Tama County, Dave Degner, a truck driver and county Democratic chairman running for State Senate, was less concerned about any long-term damage when the country seemed to have such a short-term memory.

Were living in an era where therell be another scandal, another tweet, something thats going to have everybody wound up, he said. And the caucuses? Just another blip in the news cycle that nobodys going to remember.

Michael Wines contributed reporting.

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Can Iowas Democrats Rebound From the Caucus Fiasco? - The New York Times

NASHUA, N.H. - Bernie Sanders may have established himself as the standard-bearer for the Democratic Partys leftist wing with his strong showing in Iowa and New Hampshire, but for moderates looking to rally around a candidate to fend him off, the picture just got even murkier.

Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, seemed well positioned to be the early favorite of the partys moderates after his narrow win in Iowas first-in-the-nation caucuses - until a surge by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar largely split the moderate vote between them in New Hampshire.

And while former Vice President Joe Biden lagged badly in both Iowa and New Hampshire, as the only moderate with substantial backing from African-American and Latino voters, he has vowed to fight on until Nevada and South Carolina, both with significant non-white populations, render their verdicts.

The three are also bracing for the entry of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is skipping the early contests but has built an unprecedented self-funded campaign machine to compete in expensive states such as California and Texas, which vote in March.

The outcomes of the first two nominating contests suggest that the battle for the Democratic nomination to beat Republican President Donald Trump in November could go on for weeks or even months, and who ends up the champion of the partys moderates is shaping up to be key.

At the end of Tuesday nights primary, the votes amassed by Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Biden - a combined total of 53% with 91% of precincts reporting - easily outpaced the votes received by Sanders and his fellow liberal, Senator Elizabeth Warren, who together won 35% in a possible sign that voters still prefer a centrist candidate who could appeal to a broader electorate, including independents and Republicans.

Sanders is still a ways from taking much of a lead in delegates, said David Hopkins, an expert on presidential politics at Boston College.

If the other candidates do well enough that no one is forced out of the race, we sort of move on.

Iowa and New Hampshire award just 65 out of the 3,979 pledged delegates who will help select a Democratic nominee.

While Sanders, a senator from neighboring Vermont, got less than 30% of the vote in New Hampshire on Tuesday compared to the 60% he won in 2016 in a two-way race with Hillary Clinton there was no denying that his slim victory gave him the opportunity to build momentum.

Much of the Democratic mainstream worries that the unapologetically liberal Sanders would lose a match-up with Trump.

There is some panic that is really starting to settle in with establishment Democrats with the idea of Bernie Sanders being at the top of the ticket, said Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist who worked for the Clinton campaign in 2016. The chatter I hear is higher than ever on that.

Sanders supporters, like Democratic Congressman Mark Pocan from Wisconsin, the co-chair of Congressional Progressive Caucus, believe the party will rally behind Sanders if he keeps winning and proves that his message is connecting with voters.

I think everyone understands that hes got a message that is appealing to a lot of people, said Pocan, who joined Sanders on the campaign trail in Iowa.

The next two nominating states have diverse electorates and could provide a different verdict from Iowa and New Hampshire where whites account for more than 90% of the population.

Sanders, who has focused on turning out voters of color, young voters and irregular voters, has a strong chance to win Nevada, with its large Latino population, while Biden is still hoping to call upon South Carolinas African Americans to resuscitate his campaign.

While a new national poll this week from Quinnipiac University showed Biden support among black Democrats sliding from 51% to 27%, thats still ahead of 22% for Bloomberg and 19% for Sanders.

Up til now we havent heard from the most committed constituency in the Democratic Party, the African-American constituency. 99.9%. Thats the percentage of African-American voters who have not yet had the chance to vote yet in America, Biden said in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday night.

When you hear all these pundits and experts on TV talk about the race, tell them, it aint over, its just getting started, he argued after his disappointing fifth-place finish in New Hampshire.

Both Buttigieg and Klobuchar face challenges over the African-American vote. Neither has shown inroads with black voters, with Buttigieg especially hampered by criticism of his tenure as mayor of South Bend, largely over his management of the police department and his economic development priorities.

While Bloomberg saw a surge in black voter support according to the Quinnipiac poll, a newly released audio of him defending the controversial stop-and-frisk program used by police during his time as New York mayor could threaten his newly found support. [L1N2AB1CX]

Money may end up being the determining factor. Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Biden were all scheduled to hold fundraisers in the coming days. Of the three, Buttigieg has consistently raked in the most cash, although Klobuchars campaign said on Tuesday it was making a new seven-figure TV ad buy in Nevada.

None of them will be able to compete with the financial might of Bloomberg, who has already spent more than $250 million on his campaign.

Hopkins said the looming presence of Bloomberg already has contributed to a feeling that the Democratic race is unsettled and could remain so even up to the nominating convention in July.

Its completely unique to this year, he said. It raises the prospect of no one getting the majority of delegates.

Reporting by James Oliphant in Nashua, New Hampshire, Editing by Soyoung Kim and Sonya Hepinstall

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New Hampshire result clogs up moderate lane for Democrats - Reuters

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) Democratic presidential front-runners Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg beat back a barrage of attacks during a debate as rivals raised persistent questions about their ideology and experience, hoping to sow doubts about their ability to defeat President Donald Trump.

Reeling from a weak finish in this weeks Iowa caucuses, former Vice President Joe Biden was a chief aggressor throughout Friday night. He questioned Sanders status as a democratic socialist and said Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, doesnt have the background to lead in a complicated world. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who is struggling to break into the top tier, voiced similar criticisms.

But Sanders and Buttigieg, who are essentially tied in Iowa, largely brushed off the broadsides.

Donald Trump lies all the time, Sanders said in response to suggestions that Trump would use his self-described identity as a democratic socialist to brand him and all Democrats as radical.

Buttigieg sought to turn skepticism of his resume into a positive, portraying himself as a fresh face from outside Washington with experience in dealing with real-life problems and ready to lead a weary nation in a new direction.

Im interested in the style of the politics we need to put forward to actually finally turn the page, Buttigieg said. He added a jab at Biden: I freely admit that if youre looking for the person with the most years of Washington establishment experience under their belt, youve got your candidate, and of course its not me.

Friday marked the eighth and perhaps most consequential debate in the Democratic Partys yearlong quest for a presidential nominee. The prime-time affair came just four days after Iowas chaotic caucuses -- and four days before New Hampshires primary -- with several candidates facing pointed questions about their political survival. While several candidates had strong moments, it was unclear the event would change the trajectory of the campaign.

Biden was especially explicit about the state of his candidacy during the opening moments, predicting he would take a hit in New Hampshire next week before the contest moves into more diverse states where he hopes to perform better.

He faced criticism on stage as someone too steeped in the ways of Washington to represent the change many Democratic voters say they are seeking. He responded by once again aligning himself with former President Barack Obama.

The politics of the past I think were not all that bad, Biden said. I dont know what about the past about Barack Obama and Joe Biden was so bad.

But Biden had to defend his long record as the candidates sparred over the decision nearly two decades ago to send U.S. troops to Iraq.

Biden acknowledged anew that his vote in favor of the war authorization as a senator was a mistake, while Sanders said his Senate vote against deploying troops was proof of his judgment on national security issues. Buttigieg, who was in college at the time and later served in Afghanistan, said he would have opposed the war, too.

While the debate was heated at times, there were moments of unity with candidates aware that Democratic primary voters have little desire to see an all-out intraparty brawl. When a moderator asked Klobuchar to respond to Hillary Clintons comments that no one likes Sanders, Biden walked over and gave him a hug. Klobuchar, meanwhile, joked that Sanders is just fine and noted times when they had worked together on policy.

A somber Biden was appreciative when Buttigieg defended him and his son, Hunter Biden, against attacks from Trump in the impeachment inquiry.

And while Biden challenged Sanders embrace of a version of socialism, most of his rivals seemed willing to overlook that political identity. When the moderator asked whether any of the candidates would have a problem with a democratic socialist as their partys presidential nominee, only Klobuchar raised her hand.

Warren avoided any direct criticism of her rivals and repeatedly pivoted to her core anti-corruption message. As Biden, Sanders and Klobuchar fought about the best way forward on health care, Warren did not engage, instead speaking broadly about the need to lower prescription drug costs.

Billionaire activist Tom Steyer and New York entrepreneur Andrew Yang, meanwhile, were fighting to prove they belong in the conversation.

Traditionally, the knives come out during this phase in the presidential primary process.

It was the pre-New Hampshire debate four years ago on the Republican side when then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie devastated Florida Sen. Marco Rubios presidential ambitions with a well-timed take-down. Rubio never recovered, making it easier for Donald Trump to emerge as his partys presidential nominee.

The stakes were particularly high for Biden, who has played front-runner in virtually every one of the previous seven debates but left Iowa in a distant fourth place. While reporting problems have blunted the impact of the Iowa contest, Bidens weakness rattled supporters who encouraged him to take an aggressive tack Friday night.

Klobuchar made a passionate pitch to moderate-minded voters unhappy with Biden and Buttigieg.

Im not a political newcomer with no record, but I have a record of fighting for people, she said. I know you and Ill fight for you.

The seven-person field highlighted the evolution of the Democrats 2020 nomination fight, which began with more than two dozen candidates and has been effectively whittled down to a handful of top-tier contenders.

There are clear dividing lines based on ideology, age and gender. But just one of the candidates on stage, Yang, was an ethnic minority.

Campaigning in one of the whitest states in the nation, Steyer repeatedly highlighted his support for reparations for African-Americans to make up for the impacts of slavery. His steady focus on race Friday was a reminder that hes invested heavily in South Carolina, where black voters are expected to play a deciding role and are central to Bidens strategy for success in later states.

Mike Bloomberg was not onstage Friday night, but the New York billionaire was referenced repeatedly as the candidates took turns bashing the the rich.

The former New York City mayor is bypassing New Hampshire, among the four states that vote this month, in favor of the delegate-rich states that hold primary contests in March and beyond. While no one has ever won the nomination with such a strategy, Bloomberg has caught the attention of establishment-minded Democrats concerned about Bidens viability and Buttigiegs thin resume.

Bloomberg is also poised to spend $1 billion on his presidential ambitions.

I dont think anyone ought to be able to buy their way into the nomination or be president of the United States, Warren said in one of her few aggressive moments. I dont think any billionaire ought to be able to do it and I dont think people who suck up to billionaires in order to fund their campaigns ought to do it.

___

Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, Ground Game.

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Front-runners Buttigieg and Sanders beat back debate attacks - The Associated Press

Political parties dont seem to agree on much these days, but at least 100 members split among Democrats and Republicans do share one common belief Social Security is in dire need of help and they want Congress to do something about it.

The trust funds that support Social Securitys activities are expected to run out of money by 2035, and if that were to happen, beneficiaries would receive about 80% of what theyre owed. Medicare is in even more imminent danger the Medicare Hospital Insurance fund, which supports inpatient care, is expected to be exhausted in 2026.

The Bipartisan Policy Center and the National Academy of Social Insurance released a letter on Tuesday, with 100 signatures from both political parties, addressing this issue, and one way to go about fixing it.

In the letter, Republicans and Democrats call on Congress to act on pending nominations for the public trustee roles for the boards of Social Security and Medicare, which have been vacant since 2015. These roles are supposed to be filled by two people, one Democrat and one Republican, who will work with the boards of Social Security and Medicare to provide guidance for these programs from an independent, nongovernmental perspective.

See: This word describes Social Security but not everyone agrees

The roles were first established in 1983, and their vacancies are violating the intent of federal law and depriving Congress and the public of key objective insights into the health of the [Social Security and Medicare] Trust Funds, the letter says. The last two public trustees terms expired in 2015 under the Obama administration, and Congress has not prioritized filling the positions since, the Bipartisan Policy Center said.

President Trump nominated James Lockhart III, a Republican and a former chief operating officer of the Social Security Administration, and William Dauster, a Democrat and economist who worked on Senate and White House staffs between 1986 and 2017. It is imperative that the vacancies are filled expeditiously to ensure the proper monitoring and safeguarding of the funds that help provide a secure financial foundation for millions of Americans, the letter says. The Senate must confirm the presidents nominations before they can proceed with a four-year term.

Letter signatories include former members of the Trump, Obama, George W. Bush and Clinton administrations, as well as former members of Congress and former Congressional Budget Office directors.

The fact that its signed by prominent folks from both sides of the aisle 100 former public officials equally split saying its urgent to be acted on speaks volumes about the need to get this done even in the midst of a very partisan environment, said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Legislators and other policy experts have suggested options for fixing the programs funding issues. Some suggest increasing taxes, while others recommend delaying the full retirement age or raising the cap on payroll taxes imposed on high earners. The Democrats have been more vocal about their proposals for Social Security, but still, even during a volatile presidential candidacy campaign trail, Social Security is rarely discussed on the debate stage.

Also see: What would Americans do if faced with a change to Social Security?

Congress has never let Social Security and Medicare fail, experts said, but action should be taken sooner than the anticipated dates of exhaustion for Medicare and Social Security, Akabas said. We really need to work well in advance of that date, Akabas said. Because at that point, a 20% gap of what is taken in and paid out and closing that overnight is next to impossible.

Appointing the public trustee nominees wouldnt necessarily expedite a solution for fixing the current trajectories of these programs, but they would provide an objective viewpoint, and signal to Americans that the programs are being evaluated fairly for their best interests, Akabas said.

The letter comes one day after the Trump administration unveiled its budget proposal for fiscal year 2021, which would trim funding for Medicare, Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income, as well as other programs for older Americans.

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Democrats and Republicans agree on this: Social Security and Medicare need help and soon - MarketWatch

Seattle traffic is not fun. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

Washington Democrats are no longer hiding their disdain for drivers. They have removed congestion relief from their list of transportation goals. That leaves you stuck in Washington traffic. And the lawmakers behind the bills are sending mixed messages.

House Bill 2688 and companion Senate Bill 6398 highlight seven identical transportation goals as the state moves forward on various projects. Ditching the goal of economic vitality as the lead, the bills promise more accessibility to improve affordable access to the places and goods Washington residents, organizations, and businesses need to live, work, study, play and pray.

In place of offering Washington traffic relief, the bills aim to enhance the quality of life through transportation investments that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, water pollution, and toxins, promote energy conservation, and protect lands and waterways.

In their world, drivers no longer get a pass to pollute the environment. Instead, Democrats aim to accommodate pollution-free transportation and multimodal transportation projects. That means theyll keep you stuck in Washington traffic, until you give up your gas-powered car.

While lofty, the goals are unattainable in the near-to-distant future and wholly ignore the needs of millions of Washington drivers.

Instead of continuing to build our roads where individual members come up with projects because theres a congestion in their district, what we need to be doing is we need to be looking at this more holistically, House Bill sponsor Rep. Sharon Shewmake (D-Bellingham) testified to the committee (I first saw this issue reported by Mike Lindblom in the Times).

There has long-been this claim, primarily by Democrats, that you cant build your way out of congestion. This position is, of course, generally incorrect.

Rantz: WSDOT alters algorithm to worsen traffic, collect much higher tolls

Weve actively seen, for example, projects to specifically address congestion. But under this new framework, projects like the I-5 JBLM Area Improvements wouldnt be approached. The I-405 Renton-to-Bellevue widening project definitely wouldnt go anywhere since its expressly designed to reduce congestion.

Do voters want to abandon these types of projects? Surely not.

While reviewing another story for my radio show, I came across a quote by State Senator Marko Liias (D-Lynnwood). He addressed a possible cut in funding to Sound Transit.

When I talk to my constituents, they dont want to be stuck in traffic, Liias said. They want light rail to come to us, but they also want their cars to be valued fairly.

Its clear that this quote accurately represents his constituents. But why, then, is he cosponsoring the bill that kills congestion as a goal for transportation projects?I asked Liias about the legislation via Twitter. It appears he didnt realize the language what it omits and adds is identical.

Perhaps whats lost in this discussion is what we mean by congestion relief. Is this all about changed basic definitions to needlessly confuse a simple issue?

I think of accessibility as embracing the concept of congestion relief and mobility, but thinking about from a people-centered viewpoint, Liias tweeted. Congestion relief is really about making sure people can spend more time with their families, not stuck in traffic.

In a way, his comments dont really mean anything. It just gives off the impression of meaning something. All transportation projects are people-centered because its people who are driving, busing, or light-railing it to their destinations.

But he seems to be walking back his reasonable car-centered approach he held in the previous quote. It went from appreciating car owners to shifting his goal to simply making sure people can spend more time out of traffic.

That doesnt sound like an argument to help drivers, but an argument to expand light rail or buses. And while the arguments have been that it ends up helping traffic congestion get better, it doesnt. It helps congestion problems from worsening, and only to an extent.

It feels like Democrats will tell you they care about congestion relief when a constituent might corner them with a specific question. But when it comes to the underlying framework in developing transportation projects, they ditch congestion relief goals all together. Why is that?

I trust Liias when he tells me that he can address our concerns as they debate the two bills. But I dont think other Democrats want to do that.

The easiest way to say you care about addressing congestion relief is to say it. Right now, theyre choosing to delete it from their agenda. At the same time, agencies must evaluate proposals relative to the states transportation policy goals. That means, unless congestion relief is explicitly put back into one of the goals, drivers will get shafted.

The legislation makes room for a equity and environmental justice carve out for transportation policies. Surely helping drivers find Washington traffic relief can also fit. Unless, regardless of what Liias says, thats truly not part of their goals.

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to thepodcast here. Follow@JasonRantz on Twitter.

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Rantz: Democrats admit they want you stuck in Washington traffic - MyNorthwest.com