US election race hots up ahead of first vote in Iowa
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REPUBLICAN and Democratic hopefuls in the US presidential election crisscrossed the Midwestern state of iowa in a frenzied weekend prelude before voters have their first say in the race to the White House.
Iowa offers only a small contingent of the delegates who will determine the nominees at each party’s national convention in July. But today’s caucuses will provide a test of whether the crowds turning out at rallies for real estate mogul Donald Trump and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will turn into actual votes.
They should help trim the Republican field and provide momentum ahead of the Hampshire primary on February 9.
In the last major preference poll before the caucuses, Trump had the support of 28 percent of likely caucus-goers, with Texas Senator Ted Cruz at 23 percent and Florida Senator Marco Rubio at 15 percent.
The iowa Poll — of 602 likely Republican caucus-goers and 602 likely Democratic caucus-goers — published by The Des Moines Register and Bloomberg News, also gave Hillary Clinton 45 percent support to Sanders’ 42 percent.
Trump, the showman of the Republican race, made a dramatic entrance on Saturday to a Dubuque rally as his jet flew low over a hangar half-filled by the waiting crowd and music played from the movie “air Force One.” There was more drama inside, as a group of protesters interrupted him and Trump joined the crowd in chanting “USa” to drown out the discord.
Cruz directed much of his fire at Rubio, sharply challenging his rival’s conservative credentials on the airwaves. One ad said darkly of Rubio: “Tax hikes. amnesty. The Republican Obama.”
“The desperation kicks in,” Rubio said in response to Cruz. “From my experience, when people start attacking you it’s because you’re doing something right.”
Seeking to lower expectations, Rubio’s senior strategist Todd Harris said the goal in is to “finish a strong third.”
Rubio is hoping to emerge as the favorite within the establishment wing of the party heading into new Hampshire, where he is trying to fend off challenges from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Ohio Governor John Kasich.
With the Democratic contest a likely toss-up, Sanders told a Manchester rally that the outcome depended on how many Iowans invest the time and energy to make it to caucus sites.
“We will win the caucus on Monday night if there is a large voter turnout. We will lose the caucus on Monday night if there is a low voter turnout.”
Clinton has worked assiduously to avoid a repeat of 2008, when then-illinois Senator Barack Obama scored a surprise win in iowa. She finished third in the caucuses and her days as the prohibitive favorite for the nomination faded.
She faced the prospect of escalating political heat from revelations on Friday that the private e-mail server she used when she was Obama’s first secretary of state contained top-secret messages that should have remained within proper, secured channels.
Sanders earlier declared the e-mail flap a non-issue in his mind, but he has raised the issue of the large speaking fees and campaign donations that Clinton has received from large corporations.
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