Biden seeks converts in uphill White House bid

By Thomas Ferraro

ALLISON, Iowa (Reuters) - In a Democratic race for the White House dominated by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Joe Biden is scrambling to survive by enlisting an army of backers, one at a time, for Iowa's first-in-the-nation nominating contest.

At each campaign event, the U.S. senator from Delaware picks up a few supporters -- a grandmother here, a country lawyer there -- but he has no illusions about the difficulties he faces.

"I'm not a superstar," Biden said. "People say they like me, people tell me they think I'd be a good president but that they just don't think I can win."

It's not an assessment he shares. Biden is aiming for an upset -- at least a third-place finish in Iowa on January 3. That would be a victory in a state where he recently was seen running a distant fifth place, and would be enough to propel him into New Hampshire for its January 8 primary.

If he doesn't place third, or at least a close fourth, Biden says he's out of the race. But he is confident.

"I haven't yet held an event where someone hasn't come up afterward to say, 'I signed a pledge card for Hillary, John (Edwards) or Obama or (New Mexico Gov. Bill) Richardson but I'm now for you,'" Biden told Reuters in an interview between campaign stops.

Biden snared Margaret Johnson, the white-haired grandmother, in Allison, Iowa, where he denounced Republican President George W. Bush as reckless and discussed his own plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, expand health care, upgrade education and move toward energy independence.

"I was for John Edwards but now I'm for you," Johnson told Biden.