Donald Trump won’t be addressing a caucus, but his children will be.
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First, I’m used to thinking through the Iowa Caucus by the caucus night threshold which forces a series of rounds of caucusing in which candidates not meeting a certain level of support in a specific caucus location must drop out and then have their supporters re-affiliate with another candidate.
A win could validate Trump’s aggressive campaign that has alarmed many in the Republican establishment, dwarfed the campaigns of many seasoned politicians and has been marked by controversies such as his calls for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and for a wall along the Mexican border.
Sikma said he was able to reach some Republican voters who don’t agree with everything Cruz stands for, but find they agree with him on more issues than they do with Trump. Ted Cruz, who was relying on a well-organized get-out-the-vote operation.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, is hoping for a late surge that could defy expectations and offer him momentum heading into next week’s New Hampshire primary.
For both parties, it takes a majority of delegates to the national convention to win the nomination. And right now, barring a major turn of events or early evening snow and ice, Quinnipiac University pollsters and other analysts are anticipating a strong turnout.
It ended with a massive rally in Des Moines of 2,600, one of her largest in the state, as Clinton made her closing pitch about her readiness for the job and ability to beat Republicans.
“We’re feeling really good”, Trump said Monday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.
As the Nation reported, the response is both factually inaccurate – many early voters waited in multi-hour long lines – and alarming. “I’m urging everybody to come out and caucus tonight to be part of this unique American process”.
The more people show up for the first votes of 2016, the more unpredictable the final result. They were the only three GOP candidates whose support was in the double digits, according to the HuffPost Pollster’s Iowa caucus poll aggregator.
Trump has surged atop national polls with his aggressive populism and packed rallies, while Cruz carved out support in Iowa with his fiery conservatism and methodical outreach.
“I left my husband and kids at home”, says Ms. Besh. “I’m feeling so energized!” Ted Cruz, R-Texas, shakes hands with a supporter at Iowa State Fairgrounds on Sunday in Des Moines, Iowa.
At last, it’s caucus day in Iowa.
“You are voting for your next president – the man who will work for you, who will work with you”, she said.
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Democrats are also bracing for a nervous night. Clinton fares best among older voters, while Sanders excels among the young. “When I talk about going after those companies, those businesses, those special interests, I have a much broader target list than my opponents”. Christina Besh of Chattanooga is taking vacation time from her job as a nurse at a Veterans’ Administration clinic to help Sanders. (Due to rounding, the sum of the averages exceeds 100.) Its polls-only forecast, which doesn’t use extra factors but weights the polls according to methodology and past accuracy, gives Clinton a 72 percent chance to win the primary, with Sanders at 28, well above her RealClearPolitics lead. Only about half had a positive impression of field-leader Trump, 65% had a positive take on Cruz, and less than half said they would enthusiastically back Trump should he become the party’s nominee. Cruz questioned Trump’s conservative authenticity on abortion and religious liberty and appeared alongside Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, who branded same-sex marriage “wicked” and “evil”.
