Boost for flagging Elizabeth Warren campaign as she wins backing of influential Des Moines Register
With the Iowa caucus a week away Elizabeth Warren's flagging presidential bid has received a significant boost after she received the endorsement of the influential Des Moines Register.
According to political pollster, Nate Silver, the local paper's backing can boost a candidate's support in Iowa by as much as three points.
Given the volatility of the polls, the Massachusetts senator hopes the paper's backing will be pivotal in the first of the Democrat races especially with one poll suggesting as many as 40 per cent of voters are still undecided.
Ms Warren has been one of four front-runners in Iowa along with fellow left-wing senator, Bernie Sanders, former vice-president Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana who has been the campaign's surprise package
The latest poll of likely caucus participants has not been encouraging for Ms Warren who, with the backing of 15 per-cent of Democrats, languishes in fourth place.
She has fallen victim to a surge in support for Bernie Sanders, who, with the backing of 25 per cent of respondents, has a seven-point lead over Mr Buttigieg.
Ms Warren also finds herself in fourth place and nine points behind Mr Sanders in New Hampshire, which votes a week after Iowa.
Endorsing Ms Warren, the Des Moines Register's editorial board said: "With Warren, the Oval Office will be occupied by someone who has made rebuilding the middle class her life's work."
However, the paper inserted a caveat, warning it could not back her call for massive tax rises on the wealthy or sweeping changes to US company law.
The Iowa campaign has been complicated by the impeachment hearings which have forced Ms Warren, along with Mr Sanders, Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar and Michael Bennet of Colorado, to remain in Washington rather than meeting voters.
As the impeachment hearings enter the second week, Republican strategists hope they can bolster Donald Trump's case persuading three politically vulnerable Democratic Senators to break ranks and back the president.
Doug Jones, who captured the Republican stronghold of Alabama in a special election, will face voters in November in a state which strongly supported Mr Trump in 2016.
He has said he is undecided on how he will vote on impeachment.
Kyrsten Sinema, a moderate from Arizona, is also seen as a potential rebel against impeachment.
Joe Manchin, who represents the Trump-backing state of West Virginia, is seen as the more likely defector, praised the president's defence team following last week's Senate hearings.
