Just before appearing in Duluth, MN on Tuesday, Sanders appeared to be lowering expectations for his Iowa performance.
"If I lose Iowa by two votes and end up with virtually the same number of delegates, is that a must-lose situation? Is that a tragedy? No," Sanders said aboard a charter flight en route to Duluth, Minnesota, where he spoke at a rally with 6,000 supporters. "We are running a campaign that will take us to the convention and I'm very proud of the kinds of enormous gains we have made."
Sanders has said previously that he could win Iowa but his comments suggested an attempt to lower expectations in the final week before the caucuses. Asked if the Iowa contest is a must-win, he responded: "That's mythology."
FiveThirtyEight continues to point to a Clinton win in Iowa. Today’s likelihood (polls-plus forecast) is that she has a 79% chance of prevailing on Monday.
Sanders also talked about Obama’s non-endorsement endorsement of Hillary Clinton:
He [Sanders] also dismissed speculation that President Barack Obama might be tipping the scales in favor of Clinton after the president praised his former secretary of state in a Politico interview. Sanders said Obama was "very generous to me." He said both Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are trying to be "objective and letting the people decide."
And this
The White House said later that Sanders would meet informally with Obama in the Oval Office on Wednesday and "there will be no formal agenda."
Considering that Iowa and New Hampshire are, demographically speaking, Sanders’ best shots, it is difficult to see how much he can advance if he fails to win Iowa. But, he is apparently preparing for a long slog. He certainly has a right to that. But it would seem, he is trying to manage expectations and prepare for the fact that he will, in fact, lose Iowa.
Update
This from FiveThirtyEight is worth a read — Sanders’ organization in Iowa is lacking, and it may cost him votes.
And the New York Times has also chimed in, outlining severe challenges for Sanders in Iowa. Of specific interest in the Times article is the fact that polls in Iowa conducted from voter rolls consistently show a Clinton lead. Polls of voters at large (i.e. without verifying if they are actually registered) tend to favor Sanders.