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 The Democratic presidential front-runner, whose campaign ran off
the rails in Iowa in 2008 against Barack Obama, was dealt another
setback on Monday in the Midwestern state that begins the 2016 race
for the presidency.
The former secretary of state, Clinton, 68, was pushed to a virtual
tie with Sanders, a 74-year-old U.S. senator from Vermont.
Next up is New Hampshire, which holds its primary on Feb. 9. Sanders
has been leading in opinion polls there and has an advantage because
it neighbors his home state. A Clinton loss would start to set off
alarm bells with her supporters.
"She has had every possible structural and organizational advantage
and Sanders fought her to a draw," said Dan Schnur, director of the
Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern
California.
"This is almost a moment by moment rerun of 2008," Schnur said. "The
difference is her competition is not as tough this time."
 Clinton insisted at her post-caucus rally that she was the candidate
who could unify her party and prevail against a Republican
challenger in the Nov. 8 election but the sense of disappointment
was palpable.
Her subdued, six-minute speech contrasted with the ebullient tone of
Sanders’ 16-minute speech.
PLANS SCRAPPED
With no clear victory to announce, Clinton's campaign scrapped a
plan to have her daughter Chelsea and her husband, former President
Bill Clinton, introduce her. They stood alongside her instead, with
Bill Clinton wearing his campaign logo badge upside-down.
Aides removed the TelePrompter at the last minute, supporters at the
Drake University rally told Reuters, in a further indication of
last-minute changes in plans.
While the race in Iowa had tightened in recent weeks, her aides had
appeared to draw some confidence from a Des Moines
Register/Bloomberg politics poll over the weekend that showed
Clinton with a three-percentage-point lead over Sanders among likely
caucus-goers.
Into the early hours of Tuesday morning, Clinton and Sanders
remained separated by less than a single percentage point. The race
was so tight that several precincts were forced to decide whether
Clinton or Sanders got the winning votes - and one more delegate -
by a coin toss, following the state Democratic Party's advice.
The MSNBC television network finally called the race for Clinton at
nearly 3 a.m. CST (0900 GMT), and Clinton's Iowa state director Matt
Paul issued a statement declaring victory with "no uncertainty."
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Opinion polls show Clinton still faces an enthusiasm gap with
Sanders and her Republican rivals, whose race attracted a record
turnout in Iowa. Voters have persistent doubts about her honesty and
trustworthiness after months of controversy over her use of a
private email server for government work while secretary of state.
Sanders, who launched his campaign nine months ago with a small,
sparsely attended news conference on Capitol Hill, has excited
liberal activists with an anti-establishment message that calls for
eradicating income inequality, breaking up the big banks and
providing free college tuition.
A POPULAR MOVEMENT
Iowa was a good state to test that message, given the heavy liberal
bent of the Democratic activists who dominate the caucus process.
Entrance polls of Iowa caucus-goers showed 68 percent described
themselves as very or somewhat liberal.
Fundraising figures reported on Sunday by Sanders underscored the
extent to which his campaign has grown into a popular movement.
Clinton has raised more than Sanders - her campaign brought in $109
million last year compared to his $73.5 million. But 75 percent of
his haul came from donations of $200 or less, in contrast to only 18
percent of Clinton's, and far more of Clinton's donors have hit the
$2,700 donation limit.
Still, Sanders faces significant challenges when the Democratic
nominating contest moves to the more diverse states of Nevada and
South Carolina before expanding to 11 states on March 1, "Super
Tuesday," including seven in the South where Clinton's advantage
with African-American voters could begin to pay off.
"Iowa was built for Bernie Sanders," said Democratic strategist Joe
Trippi, who nevertheless said the strong showing by Sanders means
"this race goes on longer than Clinton wanted it to."
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen in Washington; Editing by
Caren Bohan and Howard Goller)
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