Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden rallied here a day before the Iowa caucuses to urge supporters to turn out for him on Monday, saying the next president will inherit a mess and there isn’t going to be time to get them up to speed.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden rallied here a day before the Iowa caucuses to urge supporters to turn out for him on Monday, saying the next president will inherit a mess and there isn’t going to be time to get them up to speed.
“The next president is going to inherit a country divided and a world in disarray,” Mr. Biden said, speaking to a crowd of about 1,100 at a middle school in Des Moines.
There’s “no time for on-the-job training,” Mr. Biden said, saying the country needs a president who is ready on “day one.”
Mr. Biden is under pressure to have a strong performance in Iowa, as moderate Democrats are grappling with how to deal with Sen. Bernard Sanders’ rise in the polls.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry, one of the former vice president’s top surrogates, was overheard on a phone call at a Des Moines hotel on Sunday musing about a potential 2020 bid of his own and expressing concerns about Mr. Sanders, according to NBC News.
Mr. Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, said later he was “absolutely not” running for president and that he was explaining to a friend who “watches too much cable” why he wouldn’t jump in.
Mr. Biden ended up giving him a shout-out at the Sunday event, saying Mr. Kerry “should have been president.”
Mr. Biden has defended his contention that Republicans might be more willing to compromise after President Trump leaves office, amid criticism from some Democrats that such a view is naive.
“We have to be able to pull Democrats, Republicans, and independents together,” Mr. Biden said, saying he refuses to believe that the other side is the “enemy.”
Mr. Biden and Mr. Sanders were tied for first place in a CBS poll on Iowa released on Sunday, though the Vermont senator has consistently held solid leads in New Hampshire, which votes on Feb. 11 and where Mr. Sanders cruised to victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Outside the event beforehand, a man and woman drove around the parking lot on a tractor adorned with Trump gear.
“Four more years!” the man shouted.
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