Michael Bloomberg launched a new ad touting his ties to former President Barack Obama.

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) is endorsing former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for president, the Providence Journal reports.

Sean Trende: “We shouldn’t mince words here: Biden had an awful night. Yes, Iowa is a heavily white state, and it is a caucus rather than a primary, so it didn’t play to his strengths. Nevertheless, Biden is a former vice president to a very popular ex-president. He has universal name recognition and the implicit backing of large swaths of the Democratic establishment.”

“Yes, he can still recover in South Carolina, although that is looking much less probable than it did Monday morning. If his African-American support remains solid, he will perform well in the South. But his weakness among Northern whites is a red flag for states where he will need to win — and where he can’t rely on African-American support to push him over the top. If he’s coming in fourth place in Iowa, delegate-rich states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio are likely to be challenging for him as well.”

“Looming over all of this is the question of money. All of the candidates spent heavily on Iowa, and Biden needs to replenish his coffers. Will donors stick with him through New Hampshire? Almost certainly. But how many underperformances can he turn in before they abandon him?”

Wall Street Journal: “In a sign of Mr. Bloomberg’s growing strength, he staged a rally in Philadelphia—about a mile from Mr. Biden’s campaign headquarters—that drew more than 2,000 people.”

The Boston Globe’s editorial board withheld its presidential endorsement and instead called for the end of the first-in-the-nation presidential votes in Iowa and New Hampshire.

A new Boston Globe/WBZ-TV/Suffolk University poll in New Hampshire shows Bernie Sanders leading the Democratic field with 24%, followed by Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg both tied at 15%, and Elizabeth Warren at 13%.

A new Emerson tracking poll finds Sanders leading with 32%, followed by Buttigieg at 17%, Biden at 13%, Warren at 11% and Klobuchar at 11%.

In an upset, the AP has called the Maryland 7th congressional district special primary for former Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) over the widow of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Maya Rockeymoore Cummings.

“Joe Biden’s third presidential bid enters a critical stretch after a disappointing finish in the Iowa caucuses sent the former vice president on to New Hampshire with a skittish donor base, low cash reserves and the looming threat of billionaire rival Michael Bloomberg and his unlimited personal wealth,” the AP reports.

“That leaves some establishment Democrats, including some Biden supporters, questioning his contention that he’ll reclaim clear front-runner status in the race against President Trump once the primary fight moves beyond overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire to more racially diverse electorates. And it’s a reminder of how Biden’s previous presidential campaigns never advanced beyond Iowa.”

“A group of prominent South Carolina Republicans is preparing to launch a wide-scale effort this week to encourage GOP voters to vote for Sen. Bernie Sanders in the February 29 Democratic primary,” the Charleston Post and Courier reports.

“The Republican plan to meddle in the Democratic race, emerging just weeks before the ‘First in the South’ primary, has two goals: Boost the candidate who the Republicans believe presents the weakest general election threat to President Trump and pressure Democrats to support closing state primaries in the future.”