It reigns like an air of nostalgia in Iowa. Not because the campaign for the democratic nomination is finished: the caucuses of this state of Midwest, which opens the long ball of the primary, are held on February 3. Rather, it is because four senators vying - Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Michael Bennet - are trapped in Washington to serve as jurors in the Donald Trump recall trial. It is indeed the upper house which organizes the procedure, the hearings of which started on Tuesday. And nobody knows exactly when they will stop.
The Republicans, majority in the Senate and therefore masters of time, want to go quickly and have drawn up a regulation to this effect. It is rumored in Washington that they hope to acquit the president, accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, before February 4. That day, the billionaire can then appear whitewashed before Congress for his last speech on the state of the Union before the presidential election.
Difficult for candidates to leave the Senate
Pending this hypothetical epilogue, senator candidates risk being confined to their seats eight hours a day, up to six days a week. However, the final stretch is crucial in a race where voters are this year very undecided: according to a recent poll, more than half of the democrats in Iowa are still not decided or could change their minds.
One of the primary favorites, Bernie Sanders, was planning to jump on a plane this Wednesday evening to hold a meeting in Iowa and return in time for Thursday's hearing. But if the debates stretch, as expected, until 9 p.m., his plan risks falling into the water.
Amy Klobuchar, she accelerated her planning to visit each of the 99 counties of Iowa. She has already warned her supporters: "Thank you for understanding that I will not be able to be there every day," she warned this weekend. Like her colleagues, the centrist senator assured that her constitutional duty prevailed over politics, even if it meant intervening via Skype in certain events.
Elizabeth Warren has more or less the same strategy and can count on Julian Castro. This former candidate, who supported him, assured that he would campaign for him on the ground, if necessary.
Biden's name highly cited at trial
The four senators stranded in Washington can however console themselves: the voters who take the trouble to go to caucuses are generally the most politicized and therefore interested in what is going on in Congress: they will have their eyes riveted on the television to follow the trial.
And the others? Joe Biden, the big favorite for the Democratic nomination in July, and Pete Buttigieg, the young moderate who goes up, are not senators. They will have plenty of time to plow the diners (restaurants) and churches of Iowa in the next ten days.
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Except that for Biden, the advantage remains limited. His name and that of his son Hunter are everywhere in the Ukrainian case, which has resulted in this morning the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. The latter accused him of having - when he was vice-president of the United States - dismissed a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the gas company where his son worked. Some Republicans even want Hunter Biden to be called to testify at the trial. Even unlikely, this scenario would be catastrophic for the Democrat.
