Donald Trump, Ted Cruz neck and neck in Iowa

In a further setback for Cruz, Trump was endorsed on Tuesday by Jerry Falwell Jr, the son of the late televangelist and one of the most prominent names in the evangelical community.

Donald Trump doubled down on rival Ted Cruz’s citizenship Monday night, again questioning whether the Canadian-born Texas senator is eligible for the presidency.

Well, I think Donald Trump’s smart enough to know and brilliant on his own brand knows as dominant a position he is in the gop race right now he’s as weak in a general election among the broad population and he’ll have to do some shifts as soon as he clinches the nomination and move forward and towards the center.

Trump told supporters in Muscatine, Iowa, that he is making an all-out effort in Iowa.

“I mean, hey, I lived in New York City and Manhattan all my life”, he said in the 17-year-old interview.

“If the events of the last two weeks haven’t moved the needle, one wonders what would change it in the next six days”, he said.

Less than a week before the Iowa caucuses on February 1, a new poll released Tuesday shows that the election there may come down to the wire between businessman Donald Trump and Texas Sen. No other candidate in the race polled more than seven percent, the poll found.

Trump knocked Cruz’s ad campaign during his New Hampshire rally, part of his increasing verbal assaults on Cruz. While he still might pull out a victory at the last minute, he is bucking the state’s Republican political establishment, which appears to be leaning towards Trump.

Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley is well back at 5 percent.

Sanders notes his support for expanding Social Security benefits as a key difference with rival Hillary Clinton. Cruz, with 19.3 percent, is followed by Rubio with 11 percent.

Trump has gained ground over the course of the campaign on the values issues that are often meaningful among Republican primary voters. If he wins Iowa he’s on a roll and I think the dominos start to fall. “Give me a break”, said Trump. At least some people like Obama.

Even as the candidates mounted their final push in Iowa, they were also a close watch on New Hampshire, where the more mainstream Republicans are hoping an impressive showing can elevate one of them as the alternative to Cruz or Trump. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in his state in 2008.

Jim Budde, who runs Cruz’s campaign in Iowa’s rural Jasper County, said he frequently encounters Iowans at the door anxious “right away” about Cruz’s ability to win in November.