US primaries kick off today

Former US President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea step off stage as Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton arrives at a rally at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. — AP

Months into their White House campaigns, US presidential candidates on Sunday made a final frenzied push to persuade voters before Iowa kicks off the nomination process.

Democrat Hillary Clinton, fearful of a 2008 repeat when she was beaten to the punch in Iowa by an upstart Barack Obama, was leaving nothing to chance, stumping in the heartland this weekend as her main rival Senator Bernie Sanders did the same, seeking to deny her yet another shot at history.

Republican Donald Trump and his nearest rival Ted Cruz meanwhile made unmasked appeals to Iowa’s evangelical conservatives so important in the first-in-the-nation contest on Monday.

And long-shot hopefuls like Carly Fiorina made their pitch to voters too, reminding them that polls are notoriously unreliable in Iowa, where political upsets are commonplace.

The three Democrats and 12 Republicans aiming to be their party’s 2016 torchbearer are leaving it all on the field in Iowa, hosting several dozen events across this snow-swept heartland state as they gear up for Monday’s debut vote in the presidential marathon.

On the Republican side, it is billionaire Mr Trump at the fore, tearing up the traditional playbook and largely avoiding the retail politics that require candidates to put in days and weeks in Iowa.

But he made the requisite appeal to evangelicals, who comprised 57 per cent of caucus voters in 2012 and are expected to play a huge part in the February 1 vote.

Mr Trump posted a short video on Facebook, showing him holding up a Bible given to him by his mother.

“I want to thank the evangelicals. I will never let you down,” he said.

At a Saturday rally in Dubuque, he expressed his usual confidence — “If we win Iowa, we can run the table!” — while knocking Mr Cruz, repeating his concerns about the Texas senator being born in Canada and questioning his eligibility to be president.

Ms Clinton took the stage at Iowa State University in Ames with her daughter Chelsea, and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, a gun violence victim who has helped raise concerns about the issue.

“Hillary is tough,” Ms Giffords said by way of introduction. “In the White House, she will stand up to the gun lobby.”

Mr Trump and Ms Clinton have narrow leads over their respective opponents in Iowa, the final polls before the crucial Iowa caucus — released by the prestigious Des Moines Register newspaper in association with Bloomberg — showed.

While Mr Trump has a five-percentage-point lead over Mr Cruz, Ms Clinton has a three-point lead over Mr Sanders.

The New York Times on Saturday endorsed Ms Clinton for the Democratic nomination and Ohio governor John Kasich for the Republican one.

“Voters have the chance to choose one of the most broadly and deeply qualified presidential candidates in modern history,” the newspaper said of Ms Clinton.