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Cleveland Daily Banner—Monday, January 4, 2016—3
People to watch in the monthlong sprint to Iowa’s caucuses
WASHINGTON
(AP)
—
Beginning in February, voters
will finally get the chance to pare
down an unwieldy field of
Republican presidential candidates and a smaller group of
Democratic hopefuls, led by
Hillary Clinton.
But it’s not just the candidates
who matter in the early contests.
They have aides and stand-ins,
and a collection of others without
bold-faced names but who are
difference-makers in the 2016
contests.
A look at a few worth watching
in the four-week sprint to the
Iowa caucuses, set for Feb. 1.
—TRUMP’S VOTERS
New York billionaire Donald
Trump has attracted thousands
of people to his rallies and drawn
millions of viewers to the
Republican debates, where he
has stung rivals with one-liners
and baffled the professional
political class with his staying
power.
But telling a pollster you’re for
Trump is one thing. Showing up
to caucus for him is something
else. Winning in Iowa demands
an extensive organization spanning dozens of rural communities. Trump loves talking about
his lead in polls, but a loss in
Iowa could affect that support.
If Trump falters against Texas
Sen. Ted Cruz, who has built an
advantage in Iowa, will those won
over in 2015 by Trump’s celebrity and unvarnished approach
back him in New Hampshire?
Will they shift to someone else?
Pass up voting all together?
—CHUCK LAUDNER AND PETE
D’ALLESANDRO
Getting those Trump voters to
caucus night is the job of
Laudner, who has been guiding
Trump’s Iowa organization. A
former executive director of the
Republican Party of Iowa and a
confidante of Iowa Rep. Steve
King, one of the state’s leading
conservatives,
he
steered
Pennsylvania
Sen.
Rick
Santorum to a surprise victory in
the caucuses in 2012.
D’Allesandro is a veteran
Democratic strategist who is
directing Bernie Sanders’ Iowa
team, hoping to upset front-runner Clinton. D’Allesandro, a former campaign aide to ex-Iowa
Gov. Chet Culver, has worked for
Sanders for months, trying to
harness the Vermont senator’s
strength in college towns and liberal enclaves into a caucus victory.
—BILL CLINTON
The former president plans to
hold his first solo campaign
events in New Hampshire on
Monday, returning to the state
that nurtured his first White
House race in 1992. He’s long
been the party’s go-to surrogate
and will be again as he tries to
help his wife become the first
woman elected to the White
House.
Trump is try