Candidates court Iowa audiences

Associated Press

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa

Donald Trump is so confident about the loyalty of his supporters that he predicted Saturday they would stick with him even if he shot someone.

The Republican presidential front-runner bashed conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s support of rival Ted Cruz and welcomed a figure from the GOP establishment, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, in rallies nine days before the Iowa caucuses open voting in the 2016 campaign.

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” Trump told an enthusiastic audience at a Christian school, Dordt College. “It’s like incredible.”

Beck campaigned for Ted Cruz and held little back in going after Trump. “The time for silliness and reality show tactics has passed,” Beck charged at a Cruz rally. He warned that a Trump victory in the Feb. 1 caucuses could have lasting consequences: “If Donald Trump wins, it’s going to be a snowball to hell.”

Trump demonstrated the extent to which some in the Republican establishment have begun to accept a potential Trump nomination when Grassley introduced him at a later event in Pella.

Grassley did not offer an endorsement, but his presence underscored Trump’s enduring positions at the top of the polls as voting approaches. Alex Conant, speaking for Marco Rubio’s campaign, was quick to note, however, that Grassley will introduce Rubio at an Iowa rally in a week.

Meanwhile, in Clinton, Iowa, Hillary Clinton dialed back some of her biting attacks on Bernie Sanders on Saturday, refocusing on Republicans and her own experience in the Obama administration as she launched her closing argument to voters in Iowa. Her Democratic rival blamed “Wall Street money” for fueling the hits he’s been taking from her.

Clinton also sought to flex her organizational strength with important Democratic groups, holding a raucous rally with labor leaders and union workers who have endorsed her candidacy.

Clinton and Sanders shadowed each other across eastern Iowa on Saturday, conducting events in the same areas within hours of each other.