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         With Iowa Caucuses In Sight, Republicans Square Off In Debate

   by William Gallo

   With just under three weeks left until the start of the presidential
   primary nominating process, the top Republican presidential contenders
   are facing off in what is expected to be a contentious debate in the
   influential early primary state of South Carolina.

   Taking center stage at the nationally televised debate is billionaire
   real estate mogul Donald Trump, who continues to lead in almost all
   national polls. Close behind him in the polls are two senators: Ted
   Cruz from Texas and Marco Rubio from Florida.

   Some polls show Cruz leading Trump in the rural state of Iowa, where
   party members will vote at caucuses on February 1, kicking off the
   months-long series of state-by-state contests leading to the party's
   national convention in July to pick a nominee.

   Trump and Cruz, who both appeal to nontraditional voters upset at the
   GOP establishment, have in recent days traded a series of increasingly
   sharp attacks, and that pattern is expected to continue at Thursday's
   debate.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/with-iowa-in-sight-republicans-square
   -off-in-debate/3146974.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/with-iowa-in-sight-republicans-square-off-in-debate/3146974.html