Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz, locked in a tight race in Iowa with billionaire Donald Trump just two days before the state's crucial U.S. presidential nominating contest, urged a packed house of supporters to give him the first victory of the 2016 campaign.
Ten Republicans and three Democrats were campaigning in Iowa for their parties' nominations but much of the focus was on the fight between Cruz and Trump.
“This is your time,” Cruz told a crowd of about 1,000 at a hotel ballroom. "This is the time for the men and women of Iowa to make a decision. We are inches away.”
On Monday, Iowans will gather in homes, gymnasiums, libraries, taverns and even grain elevators for caucuses to select their favorite for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. When they are finished, the race will take on a new dynamic and several candidates are expected to drop out altogether.
Polls suggest that either Cruz, who is making a furious last-minute swing through as many counties and small towns as he can, or Trump, who was holding several large-scale rallies across Iowa this weekend, will prevail among the Republicans.
Trump used stagecraft and blasted Cruz to enliven a crowd in Dubuque as he barnstormed through eastern Iowa. At the airport, Trump's plane, with his name emblazoned on the side, did a fly-by near the hangar where he was to soon speak. The plane landed, and he emerged from his plane to speak to a crowd of about 400, small by Trump standards.
Trump urged people to caucus. "This is now crunch time," he said. "This is what it's all about."
While at his event in Ames, Cruz refrained from attacking Trump but the New York developer was not so circumspect. He continued to suggest that Cruz may not be legally qualified to be president because he was born in Canada.
"How the hell can you run for president?" Trump said. "Ted has a big problem."
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders remain engaged in a fierce battle, both in Iowa and elsewhere.
The two, along with former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, agreed in principle to add four debates to their calendars, Clinton's campaign said. The first will be next week in New Hampshire, contingent on approval by the Democratic National Committee.
The Clinton campaign also called for a debate in Flint, Michigan, to highlight the city's water-contamination crisis.
Clinton made a stop as well in Ames, where she spoke to a crowd of more than 1,100 at Iowa State University. She was introduced by former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly. In 2011, Giffords was critically injured when she was shot during an assassination attempt near Tucson, Arizona. In her remarks, Clinton praised gun-control measures recently taken by President Barack Obama.
“None of it will stick if it’s not a voting issue, and as you go to caucus Monday night, please think about this,” Clinton said.
Sanders, speaking at a college in Waverly, stuck to his familiar theme of reducing economic inequality and praised his fund-raising.
"I am proud to tell you that we have received almost 3 million individual contributions, more than any other candidate in history," he said, while criticizing Clinton, without naming her, for relying more heavily on wealthier donors.
The New York Times editorial board Saturday weighed on the campaign, endorsing Clinton for the Democratic nomination and Republican John Kasich for the Republicans. The Times called Clinton one of the most "deeply qualified presidential candidates in modern history."
Kasich, the governor of Ohio who is trailing badly in national polls, was the only candidate in the crowded Republican field the board said it was able to stomach. "Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race," the board wrote.
The moderate Kasich will not be a factor in Iowa, where social and religious conservatives hold sway at the caucuses. Those voters seem to have largely cohered around the fiery Cruz, whose stump speech carries a distinct anti-establishment tone. Conservative commentator Glenn Beck introduced Cruz at the Ames rally.
Cruz is trying to bounce back from what many observers considered to be a rocky performance in Thursday’s debate. With Trump boycotting the event over a disagreement with sponsor Fox News Channel, much of scrutiny fell on Cruz, who, among other things, tussled with moderators and sniped repeatedly at another rival, Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
Rubio also has much to gain from Monday’s caucuses. A finish in the top tier could give him needed momentum going into the next nominating contest, the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 10.
His campaign announced that it would air 30-minute town halls featuring Rubio in television markets all across the state over the weekend.
REUTERS
YEMI
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