Iowa countdown: Candidates make their final pleas

It’s one day until the Iowa caucuses. And as a storm of candidates makes its final sweep across Iowa, a literal storm holds potential to hamper the caucuses' turnout.

Wintry weather may hit Iowa by Monday evening just as Iowans head out to caucus. That could be a problem for Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders — outsider candidates who need high voter turnout.

Here's what's happening as the candidates spend their final hours in Iowa:

Trump feeling pretty confident: “We’re going to win”

"We're going to win, we're going to win," Trump told a crowd in a middle school gym in Council Bluffs Sunday. "We're leading everywhere."

Asked what he might be looking for in a running mate, Trump said it was too early to be making those decisions. But he added, "There are some great people out there.”

Clinton keeps it practical in final plea

Still in a tight race with Sanders, Hillary Clinton has sought to portray him as an unrealistic idealist and herself as more grounded.

“I don’t want to over promise and under deliver,” Clinton said in Council Bluffs. “I’d rather under promise and over deliver."

Trump and Cruz trade blows on Sunday shows

Oh, it got real:

"Here's a guy with all of these senators. Not one endorsement of Cruz, because he's a nasty guy. Nobody likes him," Trump told ABC's This Week.

And Cruz, on CNN’s State of the Union: "(Trump’s) position on health care is the same as Bernie Sanders'. They both support socialized medicine, expanding Obamacare to put the government in charge of our health care.”

Read all the spats here.

Sanders is a hit with young people, but will they show up?

Here's a nice summary of Sanders' concern: “I’d love to be supportive of him,” said Brandon Holdgrafer, a student in the college town of Ames. “I can’t, I have class.”

“Even if Sanders can get young voters to show up, their support might be too concentrated in counties like Story. Democratic candidates win in Iowa by collecting delegates in every county instead of by running up the popular vote,” our own Heidi Przybyla reports.

Clinton and Trump take slim leads in the only poll that matters

The Iowa Poll, from the Des Moines Register, is a near sacred institution in politics. It’s conducted by Ann Selzer, “the best pollster in politics,” and has regularly predicted contests in the state with uncanny accuracy.

Here's what the poll found, as published in Sunday's Register:

“Clinton is the top pick for 45% of likely Democratic caucusgoers, with Sanders at 42%, the Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll shows.

“Clinton's support is up 3 percentage points from earlier this month, and Sanders' is 2 percentage points higher.”

And for the Republicans:

“Donald Trump has muscled ahead in Iowa, regaining his lead on the brink of the first votes being cast in the 2016 presidential race.

“Trump stands at 28%, while rival Ted Cruz has slid to 23%. But there’s still a strong case for Cruz in this race — he’s more popular and respected than Trump …”

Cruz, now behind, ‘thrilled’ with the poll’s results

"If you had told me a year ago that two days out from the Iowa caucuses we would be neck and neck, effectively tied for first place in the state of Iowa, I would have been thrilled," Cruz told the Register in Sioux City on Saturday.

Stay positive, Ted.

Our Iowa preview: Is Donald Trump for real?

That’s what Paste BN's Susan Page asks, along with three more key questions as we look ahead to Monday.

If Trump draws enough first-time caucusgoers to outweigh Cruz’s superior ground organization, he could win, Page says. And Trump has a bigger lead in New Hampshire than he does in Iowa.

Will Democrats turn left?

“Clinton leads among Democrats who have attended the caucuses before; Sanders leads among those who haven't but say they will this time. Like Trump on the Republican side, Sanders is depending on turning out new voters.”

Are dynasties like the Bushes and Clintons dead?

“Voters seem to be in a mood for outsiders, and it's hard for dynasty candidates to claim that mantle. Some Iowans express weariness with candidates whose family foibles have become all too familiar.”

Will Iowa pick the eventual president?

" 'You haven’t had a winner in 16 years,’ Trump told a crowd in Dubuque on Saturday. ‘What are you doing?’

“That is a string they could break, he tells them: by voting for him.”

Who’s still in Iowa Monday?

Most, but not all, of the candidates will make their last pleas to Iowans. (We miss you, Jeb.) And many, including Clinton, Sanders, Marco Rubio and Santorum, will host caucus results watch parties across Des Moines.

See all the details at the Register’s candidate tracker.

Follow Josh Hafner on Twitter:  @joshhafner