Good Monday morning. I'm Anna Palmer and welcome to your Politico Playbook audio briefing. Stay tuned after the show for a message from Amazon. And I'm Jake Sherman. Here's what elected Democrats think but won't say out loud. If you're in single digits in the polls after this many debates, this many months in the public view and this many cable hits later, you're not going to be the nominee and you should get out of the race. Don't complain about the process, but rather acknowledge the reality that people, the ones that

are polled, don't think you should be the nominee.

The New York Times is reporting that strategists from several campaigns believe Bernie Sanders

has the advantage in today's contest.

While the Post notes that both Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg are touting their ability to win voters

in Republican-leaning districts as a way to push their broader general election appeal,

while Sanders' closing argument focused on opposition to Trump. The knives are certainly coming

out for Bernie, Mark Caputo, and Laura Barone Lopez report that Sanders once likened to poor

whites to blacks under apartheid.

Natasha Carey was in Des Moines where she reports John Kerry unloaded.

After NBC reported he was overheard talking about a potential 2020 bid,

and there was a possibility Bernie Sanders would take down the Democratic Party.

Carrie, a Biden surrogate, strongly pushed back,

putting out a statement that he's absolutely not running for president, and he report otherwise is categorically false.

Des Moines Register, meanwhile, has this headline up. Pete Buttigieg asks likely caucus goers,

are you ready to make history one more time? Savannah Guthrie interviewed Joe Biden Sunday night

in Iowa and will air this morning on NBC's Today Show.

Meanwhile, Tim Alberta says Democrats won't play in Iowa in the general election.

And we've got some news. Ben Howard, deputy assistant to the president for legislative affairs,

a deputy director of legislative affairs at the White House, is joining the Dubristeing group as Vice President. He served as the top liaison between the White House and the House for both

Republicans and Democrats and played a key role in the passage of USMCA. Howard also served in

several senior roles on Capitol Hill, including working for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

...