Clinton

The businessman-turned-populist stumped in Iowa a day earlier, appealing to white, blue-collar workers who have helped push him into the lead in the Hawkeye State, where the latest

Iowa has long been an essential staging post on the path to the White House.

Barack Obama’s primary win in Iowa in 2008 propelled him to a thumping presidential victory that year and in 2012 that all but secured his re-election.

But Clinton has seen a decade-long Democratic advantage reversed.

Her swing there coincides with the launch Thursday of non-postal early voting, which both campaigns see as a potentially critical opportunity for voters to cast ballots in person over the next several weeks ahead of Election Day.

“In 2012, more than four in 10 voters cast their ballots early in Iowa, allowing the Obama campaign to know the outcome of that state days before election day,” said a Clinton campaign aide.

Locking down votes now could help the campaign tailor time and resources as the election enters the

“Early [voting] is a critical component of our organizing effort in all the battleground states,” the Clinton aide added. “In Nevada and North Carolina, more than half of the state’s voters cast their ballot early.” USA Today rejects Trump In a break from tradition, USAToday took sides Friday in the upcoming presidential election, warning readers to “resist the siren song of a dangerous demagogue” and reject Republican Donald Trump.

The national newspaper, one of the most widely circulated in the United States, has never before taken a stance on a presidential race in its 34-year history, but its editorial board spoke out this time on the battle between Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.