Everybody who wants to be the 45th president of the United States spent the last day before the Iowa caucuses in a metaphorical maelstrom of grass-roots campaigning as polls showed close contests in both parties.
But as the first contest of the 2016 presidential campaign nears, it was a literal storm that could loom even larger over the Hawkeye State: Wintry weather that could hit parts of Iowa just as voters show up to caucus at 7 p.m. Monday. "Enough snow and a wintry mix will occur to make roads slippery in the southern third of Iowa as people are heading home from the caucuses," said Alex Sosnowski, an AccuWeather meteorologist.
The anti-establishment candidates — Donald Trump for Republicans and Bernie Sanders for Democrats — are relying on high turnout to give their insurgent campaigns credibility and momentum going into next week's first primary election in New Hampshire.
Trump, a real estate mogul and reality television star facing his first-ever election day, exuded confidence at a rally Sunday — even talking about the criteria for a vice president. "We're going to win, we're going to win," Trump told an enthusiastic crowd at a Council Bluffs middle school. "We're leading everywhere."
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, said he's depending on energizing the coalition that propelled Sen. Barack Obama to victory in Iowa eight years ago. "I think we have a real shot to win this, if there is a large voter turnout. And it's not just young people. It is working-class people, it is middle-class people who are sick and tired of status-quo politics," he said on NBC's Meet the Press.
When they weren't rallying supporters in school gymnasiums, college campuses, diners and churches, candidates were exchanging blows in televised interviews. Trump called his chief rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, "a total liar" and a "nasty guy." Cruz compared Trump to the self-described "Democratic socialist" Sanders, saying they both favor socialized medicine.
On the Democratic side, former secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended herself against the 11th-hour revelation Friday that 22 emails couldn't be released because they were classified — giving new life to a controversy over her use of an unsecured personal server to keep her e-mails off the State Department system.
Clinton argued that years of GOP attacks have only made her stronger. "I feel vetted. I feel ready. I feel strong and I think I'm the best person to be the nominee and to defeat whoever they nominate in November," she told ABC's This Week.
The last Des Moines Register poll before the caucuses showed races in both parties to be tantalizingly close.
The top three Republican candidates are Trump (28%), Cruz (23%) and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (15%). But caucus goers, more so than primary voters, often shift their allegiances as they size up the relative support of the candidates, and Rubio leads in "second preference" voters, with 20%.
Among Democrats, Clinton maintains a lead over Sanders, 45% to 42%. That's within the poll's 4% margin of error.
Iowa's caucuses form an idiosyncratic election system in which neighbors in each political party meet to debate and select their preferences for president.
The rules for Democrats require a candidate to be meet a minimum threshold of support before their votes can be counted, marking a key test for long-shot Democratic candidate Martin O’Malley, now polling at 3%. The former Maryland governor urged his supporters to “hold strong” on caucus night at a canvass launch event in Johnston, Iowa, saying Iowans had a history of “surprising the pollsters and surprising the pundits."
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush began his final full day campaigning in Iowa quietly and reflectively, taking in Mass at the Cathedral of St. Raphael in Dubuque. He was expected to leave Iowa Monday for New Hampshire.
Contributing: David Jackson in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Heidi M. Przybyla in Ames, Iowa; Jason Noble in Dubuque, Iowa, Cooper Allen in Johnston, Iowa.
Source : USA Today
But as the first contest of the 2016 presidential campaign nears, it was a literal storm that could loom even larger over the Hawkeye State: Wintry weather that could hit parts of Iowa just as voters show up to caucus at 7 p.m. Monday. "Enough snow and a wintry mix will occur to make roads slippery in the southern third of Iowa as people are heading home from the caucuses," said Alex Sosnowski, an AccuWeather meteorologist.
The anti-establishment candidates — Donald Trump for Republicans and Bernie Sanders for Democrats — are relying on high turnout to give their insurgent campaigns credibility and momentum going into next week's first primary election in New Hampshire.
Trump, a real estate mogul and reality television star facing his first-ever election day, exuded confidence at a rally Sunday — even talking about the criteria for a vice president. "We're going to win, we're going to win," Trump told an enthusiastic crowd at a Council Bluffs middle school. "We're leading everywhere."
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, said he's depending on energizing the coalition that propelled Sen. Barack Obama to victory in Iowa eight years ago. "I think we have a real shot to win this, if there is a large voter turnout. And it's not just young people. It is working-class people, it is middle-class people who are sick and tired of status-quo politics," he said on NBC's Meet the Press.
When they weren't rallying supporters in school gymnasiums, college campuses, diners and churches, candidates were exchanging blows in televised interviews. Trump called his chief rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, "a total liar" and a "nasty guy." Cruz compared Trump to the self-described "Democratic socialist" Sanders, saying they both favor socialized medicine.
On the Democratic side, former secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended herself against the 11th-hour revelation Friday that 22 emails couldn't be released because they were classified — giving new life to a controversy over her use of an unsecured personal server to keep her e-mails off the State Department system.
Clinton argued that years of GOP attacks have only made her stronger. "I feel vetted. I feel ready. I feel strong and I think I'm the best person to be the nominee and to defeat whoever they nominate in November," she told ABC's This Week.
The last Des Moines Register poll before the caucuses showed races in both parties to be tantalizingly close.
The top three Republican candidates are Trump (28%), Cruz (23%) and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (15%). But caucus goers, more so than primary voters, often shift their allegiances as they size up the relative support of the candidates, and Rubio leads in "second preference" voters, with 20%.
Among Democrats, Clinton maintains a lead over Sanders, 45% to 42%. That's within the poll's 4% margin of error.
Iowa's caucuses form an idiosyncratic election system in which neighbors in each political party meet to debate and select their preferences for president.
The rules for Democrats require a candidate to be meet a minimum threshold of support before their votes can be counted, marking a key test for long-shot Democratic candidate Martin O’Malley, now polling at 3%. The former Maryland governor urged his supporters to “hold strong” on caucus night at a canvass launch event in Johnston, Iowa, saying Iowans had a history of “surprising the pollsters and surprising the pundits."
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush began his final full day campaigning in Iowa quietly and reflectively, taking in Mass at the Cathedral of St. Raphael in Dubuque. He was expected to leave Iowa Monday for New Hampshire.
Contributing: David Jackson in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Heidi M. Przybyla in Ames, Iowa; Jason Noble in Dubuque, Iowa, Cooper Allen in Johnston, Iowa.
Source : USA Today
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