The Iowa Caucuses are less than 24 hours away and new poll results were released early Sunday morning as to who is leading the political pack as election season really heats up. The new poll sponsored by the Des Moines Register and Bloomberg, shows that the national frontrunners are what is expected. Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for President has again taken the lead in the Republican race with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) falling to second with Senator Marco Rubio (R, FL) in third. The poll shows that Trump stands at 28 percent, Cruz at 23 percent, and Rubio at percent.
On the democratic side, former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has a small lead over Senator Bernie Sanders, (I, VT) in this latest poll. The Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll shows, Clinton is the top pick for 45 percent of likely Democratic caucus goers, with Sanders at 42 percent. The new poll shows that Clinton’s numbers are up 3 percentage points from earlier this month and Senator Sanders gaining 2 more percentage point. Martin O’Malley’s support is below 5 percent.
The Iowa caucus can be a game changer for candidates who are only polling in single digits. The decisions will come from financial supporters, voters and the candidates themselves. The caucus takes place at start at 8 p.m. ET. at 1,681 precincts around Iowa. The delegates up for grabs are 30 bound GOP delegates, which are awarded proportionally though the actual delegates are selected at later conventions. Then there are 44 delegates up for grabs in the Democratic race plus an additional 8 super-delegates. Then those selected by the parties vary according to that party’s agreement.
J. Ann Selzer, the pollster for the Iowa Poll spoke about the poll and remarked, “The drill-down shows, if anything, stronger alignment with Cruz than Trump, except for the horse race.” Continuing Selzer, said of Trump, “Trump is leading with both the inner core of the caucus universe and the fringe — that’s what any candidate would want.” Selzer also stressed though that the electorate was still somewhat “fluid.” According to The Register, there could be a “cliffhanger” on Monday night as 45% of the likely voters said they could be persuaded to change their minds. Besides the top 3 vote getters in this poll, no other Republican candidate was close to breaking into double digits in the poll.
According to Business Weekly, “Selzer’s poll is widely respected in the political world. In a profile this week, the statistical news website FiveThirtyEight called Selzer “the best pollster in politics.” The Register noted that her poll is known as the “gold standard” due to its historical accuracy. A Politico profile last December further described her as “legendary.”
