IOWA CITY – The billionaire former reality TV star Donald Trump stood on stage at a fieldhouse here last week and launched into his swaggering message: "We have this incredible country, and it's run by incompetent people who don't know what they're doing," he said to a roar from 2,000 fans.
At a high school 120 miles away in West Des Moines, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton worked to ignite her Democratic supporters. "You could not have two more different visions of who we are as Americans," she told a crowd of cheering, sign-waving supporters. "And what the Republicans are advocating are failed policies."
For the first time in eight years, Iowa's pivotal presidential caucuses are a flat-out free-for-all with no incumbent to choose. Candidates from both parties have spent millions of dollars for an edge in the first test in an already wild election year. In both races, candidates with deep political resumes and their insurgent rivals are locked in a round-the-clock weekend frenzy before Monday's voting.
The latest polls show Trump opening up a lead over top Republican rivals, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida. On the Democratic side, a new poll shows Clinton with a slight lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Iowa can make or break political campaigns. Finishing strong allows candidates to build political and fundraising momentum as the focus shifts to New Hampshire, South Carolina and then Super Tuesday, a crucial day of caucuses and primaries in 15 states, including Minnesota.
For weeks here, the campaigns have pounded Iowans with mailings, e-mail messages, television ads, and newspaper ads all pleading for their support. They have even tried to curry favor with local football players and college wrestlers. They have endured cheers, been shouted down by hecklers and in one feverish moment during a rally, a man threw tomatoes at Trump.
If there are any undecided voters left, Ray Russell doesn't know who they are.
"I think everybody by this point ought to know" who they are supporting, said Russell, an Ankeny union retiree backing Clinton.