The race for the White House is about to begin in earnest. Sure, campaign season may have begun this past summer for most of the current U.S. presidential candidates. But on February 1, enthusiastic Iowans will vote in the Iowa caucuses – the first poll for each candidate that actually counts. The week leading up to the caucus has been a busy one . The candidates took part in town hall meetings, debates and charity events in an effort to persuade the remaining undecided Iowans to vote for them. The people of Iowa have a huge impact on choosing our next president. Think back to the 2008 campaign, where President Obama burst out of the pack following the Iowa caucus, on his way to a White House bid.
As far as debates go, the Republican Party had the last word before the February 1 caucus. However, they were without front-runner Donald Trump, who held an event of his own just down the road. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio attacked Ted Cruz (currently second place behind Trump in the polls) on immigration. Meanwhile Cruz, who found himself on the defensive for a large portion of the night, felt the debate questions unfairly gave his rivals opportunities to attack him on his stances.
Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders hopes to mobilize enough support to surge ahead of his chief rival Hillary Clinton on February 1. Think back to the 2008 campaign when record numbers of Iowans rushed to the polls, many voting for current President Barack Obama. Sanders may need similar support to win the caucus in Iowa. He himself said the 2008 Obama campaign would most likely stay in the history books. In Iowa, Sanders hopes that he can mobilize support from populations that do not typically frequent the polls.
Ratings battle aside, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump raised about $6 million for veterans on the night of January 28 while the Republican debate was going on. The proceeds will go to 22 different organizations committed to honoring the service of veterans. Trump donated $1 million of the raised money himself. Citing the scarce supply of large cash contributions in the nonprofit world, many organizations said they would take the money – they were less reluctant about showing support for Trump’s campaign or his politics.
How do you think the Iowa caucus will impact the rest of the 2016 presidential race? Leave a comment below!
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Sam Bojarski is an associate at WordWrite Communications. He can be reached at sam.bojarski@wordwritepr.com.
