Iowa Poll: Most likely caucus goers wish several or most candidates would drop out

Nearly three quarters of likely Iowa caucusgoers think at least some 2020 presidential candidates in the crowded Democratic field should drop out, according to a new Des Moines Register poll released this weekend.

The survey found only 18 percent of likely caucus voters say they like considering all of the candidates, whereas 47 percent said several of the candidates should quit and 27 percent said most should.

{mosads}Juliane Welsh of Dubuque said that while she’s following the race closely, she still finds it difficult to keep track of the candidates and that the majority withdrawing from the race would be for the best.

“They just have to drop out so we can get more informed and put our attention to the ones that actually have a chance,” she told the Register.

Grant Woodard, a former party political operative who practices law in Des Moines, said long-shot candidates remaining in the race was “selfish” at a certain point.

“I think that once you hit around Labor Day, if you don’t have a real field organization developing in Iowa or in any of these other states, if you’re just in it to be on cable television and go to events, you’ve got to pull the plug,” Woodard told the newspaper. “It’s a distraction. It’s a disservice to the party. It’s a disservice to what we’re ultimately about, which is to beat Donald Trump.”

Of the more than 20 candidates in the field, only five poll at more than 2 percent: former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Kamala Harris. Two candidates, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Miramar, Fla. Mayor Wayne Messam, were not named by any respondents as their first or second choice.

The poll was conducted June 2-5 by Selzer & Co. among 433 like caucus voters, and has a 4.7-point margin of error.