Biden seeks momentum from Iowa vote

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., may be in the back of the pack in the home stretch of the Iowa caucuses but he vowed a sprint to the finish.

Biden told Politico.com this week that a stronger-than-expected finish in the Jan. 3 vote could energize his campaign nationwide even if he fails to beat front-runners Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

"Then (the media) will cover me and I will finally get to the front page of The New York Times, as reluctant as they are to do that," Biden explained, predicting that a soft showing in Iowa could doom former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., the top challenger to the two favorites.

Politico.com said Biden was pinning his optimism on an apparently effective in-person campaign that sways voters to his bandwagon. He said that while Clinton and Obama play to larger crowds, people seem to connect with him more readily.