Democrats make final pitch to voters

Check back for updates from the New Hampshire campaign trail today before Tuesday’s primary:

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that he remains “confident” in his campaign despite the fourth-place finish in Iowa he described last week as a “gut punch” and polls showing him in fourth or fifth place in New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday’s primary.

“You’re always behind the eight ball when you’re running in New Hampshire if you have two people from the neighboring states,” Biden said on “CBS THis Morning,” referring to Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. “But I feel good about what we’re doing up here.”

Biden also downplayed the importance of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary because they don’t reflect the racial makeup of the wider nation.

“I view the beginning of this campaign being the first two caucuses and first two primaries. Nothing’s going to happen until we get down to a place, and around the country, where there’s much more diversity,” Biden said. He argued that no Democrat has won the nomination without “overwhelming support from the Latino community and the African-American community.”