Iowa caucuses: Democrats make final pitch before first vote of US presidential race

Democratic presidential candidates fanned out across Iowa on this weekend for a frenzy of rallies and last-ditch speeches before the rural state kicks off the nominating process on Monday. Public opinion polls show a tight race for the right to take on Republican President Donald Trump in November. US Senator Bernie Sanders and former vice-president Joe Biden are in a dead heat for first place, with US Senator Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg close behind. The final campaigning before Monday’s caucuses took on extra urgency as Sanders, Warren and fellow senators have been stuck in Washington serving as jurors in Trump’s impeachment trial and are due to return by Monday morning for closing arguments. Senate leaders have scheduled a vote for Wednesday that appears virtually certain to end in Trump’s acquittal on the impeachment charges of abuse of power and contempt of Congress. Eight of the 11 Democrats still in the race were in Iowa on Saturday. A good result can propel a candidate to new victories in the states that follow, starting with tiny New Hampshire eight days later. A poor showing can signal the end. Sanders, at 78 the oldest Democratic candidate, has seen his candidacy buoyed by enthusiastic support among young voters. Steak Fry poll shock: Elizabeth Warren passes Joe Biden in Iowa, where she took 1,000 selfies His staff organised concerts at his weekend rallies with indie groups Bon Iver and Vampire Weekend, who also performed at his events four years ago. “We must defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of America” the Vermont senator told a crowd of several thousand in Cedar Rapids. “Monday night in Iowa it all begins” he said. Monday evening, at 7pm, the state’s more than 600,000 registered Democrats are invited to take part in caucuses at about 1,700 venues – schools, theatres, churches -to publicly express their choice by standing under one candidate’s banner. Just as in every presidential year, thousands of volunteers fanned out across the Midwestern farm state of just over three million inhabitants to try to convince neighbours or passers-by to vote for their favourite. At this late date, nearly one Iowa voter in two claimed to still be undecided. In a home in Iowa City that Warren supporters were using as a base, people streamed in and out, looking for more posters to put up on lamp posts or in yards, or for lists of doors that still needed to be knocked on. ‘No Malarkey!’: finger nibbling Joe Biden accuses Democrat rival Pete Buttigieg of stealing his health care plans “We are trying to get around the state as much as we can,” Warren told a rally of nearly 1,000 at a high school in Iowa City, adding that the Democratic Party’s job is “to come together to beat Donald Trump.” If one thing unifies the Democrats, it’s that desire to defeat Trump, state Democratic chairman Troy Price said. That is the number one argument being made by Biden, former vice-president to Barack Obama. “We need a president who is ready on Day One,” the 77-year-old political veteran has been saying throughout his campaign. Biden leads in nationwide surveys but trails Sanders in the latest Iowa polling. Iowans take their politics seriously. They take their role as first-in-the-nation voters to heart, and often, even in the smallest cities, have the chance to meet candidates in person. Their pick has a recent historical track record of going on to become the Democratic Party nominee. Like Biden, 38-year-old Buttigieg took advantage of the absence of rivals stuck in the Senate to lay on a heavy schedule of campaigning. A former consultant, army reservist and one-time mayor of a small Indiana city, “Mayor Pete” portrays his youth as a reason voters should prefer him over the greying Biden. As for Sanders, his politics are too divisive, Buttigieg implies. His is not the only new face to emerge during the campaign. From ‘Trump train’ to ‘Yang Gang’: the conservatives and swing voters who now back Andrew Yang Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang says he will “shock” the nation with his performance in Monday night’s caucuses. He says one reason will be his support from Republicans, who he claims back him because he’s focused on the same issues as Trump. Speaking at a rally at a downtown Des Moines hotel Saturday night, Yang told a packed ballroom that he’s laser-focused on solving the same problems that Trump pointed out – but has actual solutions that people will see and feel. Yang also referenced his signature campaign proposal, the universal basic income, which would give all American adults US$1,000 each month, as a contrast with the president. The businessman said that while Trump says he wants to drain the swamp, he wants to distribute the swamp. Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press