Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in Las Vegas on Dec. 15.(Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)
WASHINGTON<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— With just a week left until the Iowa Caucus, "outsider" presidential candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders appeared to be building momentum<span style="color: Red;">*</span>over<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"establishment"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>candidates and former New York City<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mayor Michael Bloomberg hinted he might<span style="color: Red;">*</span>enter<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the race as an independent.
The influential Des Moines Register<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Saturday night<span style="color: Red;">*</span>endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Democratic nomination<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the Republican race, rejecting Trump<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and Sanders in favor of Rubio's <span style="color: Red;">*</span>"optimism" and Clinton's experience. But Sanders held a narrow lead over<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clinton in a CBS<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Iowa poll released Sunday. In<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a new Fox News poll, Trump held a sizable lead over Cruz with Rubio in third place; Cruz had held the lead<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in the same poll three weeks ago. The CBS poll showed the same top three for the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Republicans.
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The poll results gave new weight to a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>New York Times report<span style="color: Red;">*</span>over the weekend<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that Bloomberg has instructed his advisers to draw up plans for a potential presidential bid and will make a decision by early<span style="color: Red;">*</span>March. Bloomberg would offer himself as a moderate alternative if it appears likely that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Trump or Cruz will win the GOP nomination and Sanders will become<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the Democratic nominee, the Times<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reported.
Clinton said Sunday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that won't be necessary because she will ultimately win the Democratic nomination. Even if Sanders wins Iowa and New Hampshire — where he is ahead in polls<span style="color: Red;">*</span>—<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clinton's campaign believes she has the advantage in other early primary states such as South Carolina and Nevada, where her strong support among African American and Latino voters could help her prevail.
"The way I read what he (Bloomberg) said is if I didn’t get the nomination, he might consider it,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Clinton said on NBC’s Meet the Press.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Well, I’m going to relieve him of that and get the nomination so he doesn’t have to (run)."
The candidates are continuing to converge on Iowa between now and the Feb. 1 caucus day. Candidates from both parties have scheduled a total of nearly 100 campaign appearances in the state over the next week,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>according to a list compiled by the Des Moines Register. Republicans will also hold another debate Thursday in Des Moines, hosted by Fox News.
Sanders, a Democratic Socialist who often rails against the wealth and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>power of the top 1%,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said he would welcome the prospect of facing two billionaires if Trump wins the GOP nomination and Bloomberg enters the race.
"I think the American people do not want to see our nation move toward an oligarchy, where billionaires control the political process," Sanders said on Meet the Press. "I think we’ll win that election."
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While Trump and Cruz battle it out for the conservative<span style="color: Red;">*</span>wing of the GOP, Rubio was working to position himself as a more mainstream alternative.
"We feel very positive about the momentum that's gaining as we get closer to the caucuses," Rubio told Fox News Sunday, touting his endorsements from Iowa newspapers. "And as you know from prior experience, caucus-goers in Iowa, many make up their mind on the day of the caucus or the days leading up to it. So we feel we are gaining momentum at just the right time."
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush said he believes that Republicans will ultimately see that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Trump would be "a disaster" for the party despite the public perception of Trump's strength.
"It's not strong to denigrate women, it's not strong to insult Hispanics...and God forbid it's not strong to disparage the disabled," Bush said on CNN.
Trump, meanwhile,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>repeated charges that Cruz, is too unlikable to win. Cruz is unpopular with his fellow GOP senators for his frequent attacks on his own party members.
"I am a conservative, but I get along with people," Trump said Sunday on Meet the Press. "Ted cannot get along with people. He's a nasty person."
Cruz, in an interview with George<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Stephanopoulos that aired Sunday on ABC's This Week, said he is only disliked in Washington.
"I've said many, many times, the biggest divide we’ve got in this country politically, it’s not between Democrats and Republicans, it's between career politicians and Washington in both parties and the American people," Cruz said.
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