White House hopefuls brace for Iowa vote with Sanders surging

After seven debates, countless rallies and an impeachment effort to remove the US president, Iowa holds the first in a series of votes across the nation Monday to decide the Democratic challenger for the White House - led by a surging Bernie Sanders.

The 78-year-old standard-bearer for the progressive wing has snatched the momentum - and shaken the party establishment - in a series of recent opinion polls casting him as the favorite. Despite the historically diverse field of men and women of color and young candidates with little Washington exposure, the main challenge comes from the Democratic old guard - former vice president and fellow septugenarian Joe Biden.

"If the voter turnout is high, if people get involved who do not usually get involved... if young people, if working-class people come on out, not only can we win, I think we can win big," Sanders, the junior senator for Vermont, said at a weekend campaign event in Iowa.

In a typical election year, the state absorbs the country's full political attention. But exactly nine months from Election Day, this presidential cycle has been anything but normal.