Democratic presidential candidates head back to Iowa for last-minute campaigning
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Democratic senators running for president are attempting to cram about two weeks of campaigning into one weekend in Iowa ahead of Monday’s caucuses.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts are trying to make up for lost time this weekend after the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump kept them in Washington the week before the Iowa caucuses.
Klobuchar made her first stop Saturday morning in Bettendorf, Iowa, before visiting Sioux City and Cedar Falls. She’ll round out the day with a get-out-the-vote rally in Des Moines.
Despite spending time away from Iowa during the impeachment trial, Klobuchar says she’s optimistic about her chances on Monday.
"I had planned to be here all week in Iowa. As you know I’ve already done all 99 counties," Klobuchar said. "I think you all know how important this hearing was, and even if some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle aren’t going to consider it important, we know how important it is to our democracy."
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Sanders is also feeling good about his chances after rising to the top of several polls in the past week.
He campaigned Saturday with Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, just outside Des Moines at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.
Sanders said winning Iowa hinges on voter turnout.
"If the voter turnout is high, if people throughout this state are prepared to come out — not just to defeat Trump but to transform this country — if working people and young people and all people who believe in justice, economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice, if they come out in large numbers, we’re going to win this caucus," Sanders said.
Lesser-known candidates are also crisscrossing the state, including billionaire Tom Steyer, who says he still has a chance to win the nomination.
"If you pay attention I am the person who is moving up, and I believe I represent the bulk of the Democratic Party and the bulk of Americans," Steyer said. "I’m a progressive, but I’m someone with a business background."
A final poll from the Des Moines Register will not be released as planned. The newspaper said a respondent raised an issue with the way the survey was administered, which could have compromised the results of the poll.