Concerts, Super Bowl watch parties cap Democrats' final Iowa push

Ahead of Monday night’s electoral event, which kicks off the state-by-state race to pick presidential nominees, the Democratic candidates were making their closing pitches around Iowa on Sunday.

Public opinion polls in Iowa show a close race among the top of the 11 contenders vying to challenge President Donald Trump in November.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden are nearly neck-in-neck for first place, with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg not far behind.

A confident Sanders, riding high in the polls in Iowa, drew some of the largest crowds over the weekend at rallies in Cedar Rapids that were informally dubbed “Bern-chella,” after the Coachella music festival, with Vampire Weekend playing the 78-year-old onto the stage.

Folk singer Bon Iver also came to perform in support of Sanders, and filmmaker Michael Moore served as a warm-up act at his Saturday night rally.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is skipping Iowa as part of his unorthodox bid for the White House, but he shelled out for a multi-million dollar campaign ad to run during the Super Bowl.

Trump’s campaign also purchased an ad for the big game.

Some of the Democratic candidates on Sunday said they would join Iowans at Super Bowl watch parties.

But at least the senators might not be able to stick around for the final score, as all three are due back in Washington Monday morning, for the closing arguments in Trump’s Senate impeachment trial.