Democrats would hold a presidential debate next week in New Hampshire before the state’s first-in-the-nation primary and three more in the spring under a tentative deal reached Saturday between the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns.
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Donald Trump has widened his lead over Texas Senator Ted Cruz in Iowa, according to the final Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll before the state’s selection caucuses Monday night (Thailand time). A candidate has to have 15 percent of those present to be “viable”, which has focused interest on the possible second choices of supporters of former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is polling at about 3 percent.
A majority of conservative likely voters say they support either Trump or Cruz, while the same two candidates combine for less than 30% of moderate or liberal primary voters.
The results came as the Republican presidential candidates criss-crossed Iowa in hopes of turning out supporters and persuading undecided voters to caucus for them.
Iowa offers only a small contingent of the delegates who will determine the nominees, but the game of expectations can count for far more than the electoral math in the state. Democrats had just over 124,000 in 2004, but in 2008, the efforts of Barack Obama – as well the rest of a competitive field – helped almost double that number, with almost 240,000 showing up. The caucuses are about who turns out in gyms, classrooms and assembly halls on what is usually a cold winter night in Iowa.
And he doesn’t think Trump or Cruz will stand up to voters’ scrutiny as the campaign continues.
Mr Sanders, like Mr Trump an outsider in his party’s race, stressed that turnout was vital for him if he is to beat Mrs Clinton in Iowa.
The higher the turnout, the better the outcomes could be for businessman Donald Trump on the Republican side and Vermont Sen.
Appearing with evangelist Jerry Falwell Jr.at a Davenport, Iowa, town hall event, Trump said he was happier that he was connecting with evangelicals than he was leading the new poll.
“Well, you tell them that you understand something very profound”, Sanders said, “and that is if you are not fighting for your rights, who’s going to fight for you?”
Rubio countered on CNN that Cruz is “always looking to take whatever position it takes to win votes or raise money”.
Despite his rank in the polls, Sen.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Florida Senator Marco Rubio each have 10 percent of support, followed by Ohio Governor John Kasich who takes only 8 percent.
“People are really enthusiastic, and if people come out to vote, I think you’re going to look at one of the biggest political upsets in the modern history of our country”, Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, told CNN’s “State of the Union”.
Clinton agreed the race in Iowa was “close and competitive”.
“My opponent yesterday announced that she had received some $45 million from her Super PAC”, Sanders said.
On the Republican side, Trump said “I don’t have to win” in Iowa, before adding that he believes he has “a good chance” of victory.
The Sanders campaign raised nearly $33.6m in the fourth quarter of 2015, it said, with 70% coming from contributions of $200 or less. “I don’t know what the impact is”.
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“Both Trump and Marco are attacking me”.
