Des Moines Register poll: Trump and Clinton hold narrow leads

Trump hammered away at the Texas senator with his usual list of attacks, slamming Cruz for failing to properly disclose loans for his Senate race from Goldman Sachs and Citibank, and questioning his eligibility to be president. “You’re from Iowa! Are you afraid of the snow?”

The process of picking a USA president begins Monday night in Iowa – where, for the 11th time since 1976, both major national parties will hold their first nomination contest. One ad said darkly of Rubio: “Tax hikes”.

“I have great endorsements”, Trump said, adding that “many, many more are coming”.

Iowa offers only a small contingent of the delegates who will determine the nominees, but the game of expectations counts for far more than the electoral math in the state.

British bookmakers now have the Republican Trump as the favorite to win in Iowa, while Clinton is the favorite among Democratic candidates. “Amnesty. The Republican Obama”.

“Ted Cruz is a total liar”, Trump said about the ad. “I am so against ObamaCare. If somebody has no money and they’re lying in the middle of the street and they’re dying, I’m going to take care of that person”. “I think the race will narrow after a couple states”, he said. News reports have also suggested he has an organizational edge, with one New York Times story describing the Trump team as amateurish. The mailer refers to a “voting violation” and grades the recipient’s voting history and that of several neighbors, citing public records.

Rubio reiterated his contention that Cruz is the front runner, addressing Cruz’s claim that Rubio is the “Republican Obama” with a laugh, saying that “it’s kind of strange” that the Cruz campaign has hit him with “last-minute, desperation” attacks that are “disingenuous”.

The last-minute scramble comes on the same day that campaigns will file campaign financial disclosures showing how much they’ve raised this month.

The final poll before the Iowa caucuses shows former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leading Vermont Sen.

On the Republican side in the latest Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll released on Saturday evening, Trump came in with 28 per cent support, up six per cent from early January. For results among the sample of likely Republican primary voters, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.8 percentage points, it is 5.3 for results among likely Democratic voters.

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta responded that there is “nothing worse than a debate about debates” and said the Sanders campaign’s demands had been met.

Cruz brushed off the fuss.

“If you would’ve told me a year ago that two days out from the Iowa caucuses we would be neck and neck – effectively tied – for first place in the state of Iowa, I would’ve been thrilled”, he said.

Bauer reported from Ames, Iowa.