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| - After a year of campaigning, countless rallies and an impeachment effort to remove the president, Americans hold the first vote in Iowa Monday in the race to see which Democrat faces President Donald Trump in November. Just hours before the caucus doors were due to open at 7:00 pm (0100 GMT Tuesday), Bernie Sanders appeared the candidate to beat, with recent Iowa opinion polls casting the 78-year-old standard-bearer for the party's progressive wing as the favorite. Despite a historically diverse field of men and women of color and young candidates with little Washington exposure, Sanders's main challenge comes from the Democratic establishment -- former vice president and fellow septuagenarian Joe Biden, a moderate making his third White House bid. "If the voter turnout is high, if people get involved who do not usually get involved... if young people, if working-class people come on out, not only can we win, I think we can win big," Sanders, a senator from Vermont, said at a weekend campaign event in Iowa. In a typical election year, the state absorbs the country's full political attention. But exactly nine months from Election Day, this presidential cycle -- and especially this week -- is anything but normal. Looming large is Trump's impeachment saga, which culminates on Wednesday with acquittal almost certain in the Republican-led Senate. Three senators -- Sanders, fellow leftist Elizabeth Warren and moderate Amy Klobuchar -- have faced the unprecedented scenario of spending much of the past two weeks tethered to Washington for the impeachment trial instead of on the campaign trail. Even as candidates sought to make 11th-hour impressions on undecided voters, the senators were obligated to return to Washington for the trial's closing arguments Monday. Trump is all but certain to be confirmed as the Republican nominee at the party's national convention August 24-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina. His two sons and other surrogates were nevertheless in Iowa Monday making his case to Republicans who are also holding caucuses. Iowa's vote will likely whittle the Democratic field of 11 remaining hopefuls further as it provides the first verifiable results in a contest culminating July 13-16 at the party's convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. An Emerson College poll of Democratic voters released Sunday shows Sanders with 28 percent support, seven points clear of Biden, the national frontrunner. South Bend, Indiana ex-mayor Pete Buttigieg and Warren are about four points behind Biden in poll averages. But in a sign that the race remains a toss-up, a last-minute survey by respected Democratic pollster David Binder showed Buttigieg holding a slim lead on 19 percent, followed by Sanders with 17 and Biden and Warren both at 15 percent. Second-tier hopefuls Klobuchar and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang look to outpace expectations and seize momentum heading into the next contest, in New Hampshire on February 11. Biden on Monday brought pizza to a field office in a strip mall near Des Moines to thank volunteers. "I'm feeling good about today," he said, before donning sunglasses indoors and addressed volunteers. Like many candidates, Biden spent the weekend crisscrossing Iowa in a final push to convince undecided voters he is best placed to accomplish Democrats' number one goal: defeating Trump. The president has not stood idly by. On Sunday he branded Biden "Sleepy Joe" and described Sanders as "a communist," previewing a likely line of attack were Sanders to win the nomination. Some 1,700 schools, libraries, churches and other venues will welcome Iowa's registered Democrats to participate in a quirky, sometimes chaotic American ritual. Unlike secret ballot voting, caucus-goers publicly declare their presidential choice by standing together with other supporters of a candidate. Candidates who reach 15 percent support earn delegates for the nomination race while supporters of candidates who fall short can shift to others. Turnout is critical, and candidates and their representatives will seek to persuade voters on issues including health care, taxes and ending Washington corruption. One key candidate who has opted not to contest Iowa is billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg, who entered the race in November but has surged into fourth place in RealClearPolitics' national polling average. The former New York mayor, who has spent more than $300 million on advertising, according to Advertising Analytics, is focused on running a national campaign with particular emphasis on states that vote on "Super Tuesday," March 3. mlm/ft
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