THE LEDE

It’s almost time to start counting the votes! Or, at least, the quasi-democratic equivalent that is the Iowa caucus.

Party Unity?

Here’s a glimmer of hope for the Democratic Party, from Nidhi: “I would vote for my dead cat over Trump,” said Sandy Stanley, 71, at a Biden campaign stop in Muscatine, Iowa. Stanley said she doesn’t like Sanders but wouldn’t hesitate to vote for him if he does become the nominee. “I think he’s too divisive and I’m afraid he wouldn't win over a lot of independents and moderate Republicans, so I'm hoping he doesn't get it. But Trump, anyone but Trump.”

While it's hard to imagine regular people having more reasons to dislike their party institutions, Ruby has found one: On the eve of the caucuses, a group of DNC officials quietly approved a generous exit package for chair Tom Perez and two of his deputies. Other members of the DNC leadership were stunned — and furious. (Perez and the deputies now say they won’t take the money.) “I think it is completely short-sighted and really stupid,” one senior official said.

READ RECEIPTS

J.D. Scholten

I texted this week with J.D. Scholten, the Democrat running for Congress in Western Iowa against Rep. Steve King, a Republican who was stripped of his House committee spots last year after defending white supremacists. We talked about the caucuses, the district, and my own professional news. Stay tuned for more!

BEN SMITH: Hey JD - it's Ben Smith, the editor in chief of BezzFeed. Henry Gomez passed on your number. I've been doing a series of text message interviews about the presidential campaign -- with a bunch of candidates, as well as with Iowa folks like Troy Price. Wondered if I could rope you in tomorrow? J.D. SCHOLTEN: That sounds great. BEN SMITH: Awesome! What time would be good?

J.D. SCHOLTEN: How long will it be? BEN SMITH: Say 10 or 15 minutes, you can do it in transit or something if you want. J.D. SCHOLTEN: Very cool. How about 3:30 tomorrow? BEN SMITH: Central time right? J.D. SCHOLTEN: Correct.

J.D. SCHOLTEN: Congrats! IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Tweet from @dylanbyers reading, Scoop: BuzzFeed editor to exit and join New York Times as media columnist. BEN SMITH: Still here tomorrow though!! Thank you for doing this! To begin with, can you send over a selfie and tell me what you're up to today?

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Selfie of J.D. Scholten in the snow. J.D. SCHOLTEN: Just got out of doing a podcast... We've been running in and out of meetings all day. There's this thing called the Iowa Caucus on Monday.

BEN SMITH: So you are like the only major Iowa Democrat who hasn't endorsed. Are the campaigns calling you constantly?? J.D. SCHOLTEN:I'm sure there are others. During the podcast we just did, Senator Warren called. I've been blessed to work with several of the candidates on the rural policies and to do events with them. I'll be caucusing but I am not planning to make it public. My focus has been on our campaign here in IA04 and to push the need for antitrust in agriculture.

BEN SMITH: Can you really keep your caucus choice secret? Isn't it a public process? J.D. SCHOLTEN: If folks really want to come to where I'll be caucusing they can see whom I am supporting. BEN SMITH: *two side eye emojis* How do you think Iowans are going to make their mind up over the coming week? What are you hearing?

J.D. SCHOLTEN: It's very fluid. Last week at the Story County soup supper, I asked folks to raise their hand if they're still undecided and about half the crowd raised their hand. Keep in mind it was -25 wind chill outside and there were still a couple of hundred people in the church basement. It's going to come down to how well organized campaigns are and how well they train their precinct captains.

BEN SMITH: Now your district is best known as the home of white supremacist congressman Steve King. Are coastal journalists like me wrong to assume his racism of part of his appeal to voters? J.D. SCHOLTEN: Just because of his racist comments doesn't mean the district is racist. People really only see who he is and that's why he has 4 primary challengers. BEN SMITH: Do you think the perception that America is totally polarized, and pulling apart at the seams, is overstated? Do you feel that in Western Iowa?

J.D. SCHOLTEN: People are politically polarized but what I noticed last cycle and now is that we have more in common than we don't. If you meet people where they're at, we can find that commonality. That allowed us to get 25,000 more votes than there are Dems in IA04 in 2018.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Tweet from @laneymg reading, Just to sot it's clear - I have/would never give permission for use of my son's photo to promote any agenda of this vile man or that disgusting party--- retweeting a tweet of a Facebook post from Steve King using the Success Kid meme

BEN SMITH: And finally: What did you make of this week's meme controversy? J.D. SCHOLTEN: Having worked in intellectual property, you need to get permission first... King's problems is that he thinks Democrats are the enemy. We're all Iowans and Americans. It's disgraceful. BEN SMITH: Thanks for taking the time. J.D. SCHOLTEN: Thank you!

ON THE TRAIL WITH BUZZFEED NEWS

From Miriam: Donald Trump is flooding Iowa this week because he needs to be the center of attention.

Bernie’s Iowa supporters are absolutely falling for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nidhi reports.

Ruby reports from Iowa that Bernie’s supporters are warning of a backlash and to stay positive no matter what.

Molly reports that Elizabeth Warren is on a mission to kill anxiety about her campaign

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