Trump or Cruz? Clinton or Sanders? Iowa hears last-minute pitches

Now Trump has the tedious task of transferring his support on paper to Monday’s Iowa caucuses, the first-in-the-nation contest that could determine the course of the presidential election.

The weather could also affect how soon the candidates can get out of Iowa for their next date with voters: New Hampshire.

Speaking about Trump’s and Sen.

Analysts expect between 170,000 and 200,000 people to participate in Monday’s GOP caucuses, far exceeding the record 122,000 who voted four years ago.

Trump plans to campaign in Arkansas on Wednesday.

“I think it’s pretty clear they’re grasping at straws”, Clinton said.

“If a bomb goes off, our wounded warriors, instead of losing their legs, their arms, worse, they’re okay”, Trump told the crowd.

Sanders tells CNN’s “State of the Union” that his campaign has gotten lots of people involved in politics who hadn’t been before. Trump, who recently referred to Second Corinthians as “two Corinthians”, is not going to waste anyone’s time explaining his conception of Christian duty, or talking about having a servant’s heart.

Trump seemed unusually nice, for a change.

Seeking to tamp down expectations, Cruz said Sunday that he’s just pleased to be in the mix for first place. “They understand me better than anybody”, said Trump.

Todd Harris, Marco Rubio’s senior strategist, told The Daily Telegraph: “I think Ted Cruz will win Iowa”.

Still, there was an unmistakable sense of deflation in the room Monday night. I now have a fairly substantial lead in Iowa.

Bush, for example, started the year as a fundraising juggernaut.

Yet Trump’s advantages are just as significant as his challenges.

Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are at a virtual dead heat. The caucuses begins at 7 p.m. local time and generally involve a greater commitment from voters than traditional primaries. Democrats will gather at 1,100 locations and Republicans at almost 900 spots.

Iowa has decidedly mixed results in picking the parties’ eventual nominees.

At the caucus, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum – faded as the race stretched on.

What is it that is drawing these voters to Trump? When Ivanka notes that the ballot is secret, it sounds like a secret that she and the viewer might share, though the point may be to alleviate any worries Trump supporters have about explaining their votes to the neighbors.

They want to hear his greatest hits – “Build a Wall!”, “Help the Veterans!”, “Make America Great Again!” – he’s more than happy to oblige. And what the candidates are competing for aren’t votes, but support, as determined by a formula that takes past statewide and congressional district voting into account.