jenna: we turn now live to des moines where we have abc9 senior political correspondent tim seaman at the caucus media center in downtown des moines. tim what's it looking like in our state's capitol ? jenna, des moines is all hustle and bustle tonight, as 1600 news crews are all preparing to gather as much infomation as possible from precincts where i got the opportunity to muir about who really needs "i think our political

and they'll tell you ted cruz needs the win here in iowa to carry the momentum he has seen in the last few weeks, donald trump could use a win here just to show he has some staying power beyond the enthusiam and the excitement that he's been able to sort of drum up , the big test for him is to turn that enthusiasm to turn out you know for the caucuses, the first time caucus goers so that's the republican side. it'll be very interesting to see where senator marco rubio lands too tonight, he's able to come in third place or second place it would be huge for him. for the democrat side i think bernie sanders really

iowa most people accept that heget the win in new hampshire it's right next store to vermont but i think he needs the iowa win to fuel him beyond new hampshire as they head to the south. secretary clinton would love a win here in iowa i don't think she wants a repeat of eight years ago but i think he needs it more. jenna: jenna:

candidates looking to gains support tonight donald trump, ted cruz, maro rubio are leading the pack. trump and cruz are maintaining 10 point leads at the head of the pack trailed by rubio who's in third with about 15-percent. ben carson, the dozen repbulican candidates are rounded out by mike huckabee, jeb bush and rand paul amongst several others. jenna: caucus goers are converging now at their respecitve precincts. let's take a look now in sioux city where we have abc9's political reporter deborah souverain at east high school, where the largest group of republicans caucus goers are gathering, deborah? deborah: deborah: jenna, doors opened about 15 minutes ago...and as you can see...voters are beginning to trickle in.. but this is just a small fraction of the number of people who expected to caucus here at east high school

but to give us an idea of what gop caucus goers can just a fourth of the candidates the grand old party is former secretary of state hillary clinton and vermont senator bernie sanders have exchanged leads in the polls in the past month. with former maryland governor martin o'malley trailing, pooling a high of 4 per-cent through several polls. jenna: the democrats are gathering as well tonight west middle are gathering as well tonight west middle school is one of several precincts in sioux city.... it will also be the largest gathering. we go live now to abc9's lukas voss. lukas there's a little bit of a difference in the process between

and the dems, could you tell us more? lukas:: jenna, indeed ... it's a little bit more complicated than with the republicans ... i am here with tim bottaro ...with the woodbury county dems ... just what does that process look like ? bottaro: so lukas, the way the caucus on the democrat's side works is a bit different to say the least, bottaro: democrats will gather at their precincts, and form groups amongst themselves in support of which candidates they feel represents

however there is a catch if one of the candidates cannot pool 15 % of the room, they will be deemed not viable and must realign with another group in support of a different candidate or they precints may be a school or a local church, but for some, they're getting a more personal, intimite experience . we go now to abc9's bria bell with that story. bria: jenna, east high is jenna, east high is preparing for a gop caucus. people are already showing up to get registered and although most voters will be caucusing at a public venue like here at east high, some are doing it the old fashion way and are hosting one at home. "well how come you're having it at your house? and i

like to have the people come and do it here," says bromander. home is where the heart is...and well, so are the iowa caucuses. at least for adelene bromander who has hosted a few moving in during the "i moved up here in 1997 and i've had 3 bromander. likes to be involved she expects to have attendance, but the her in-home caucus served. have a meat tray, and and desserts. that's what our plan is," caucusing at a neighbor's home is commonplace as and other public places are typically locations, but at adelene's home. the overall process remains the same. "some people might need to register and they can do that as a republican, and some people if they are a democrat can change and register too. and then we things that have to be done. then we take a ballot, a bromander. good crowd and have a good time...yes, that's the bromander. bria: there are a total

caucuses occuring in the state of iowa tonight. the gop has 2, including adelene bromander's home, while the democratic party has three private locations. i'm going to toss back you in studio, reporting live at east high in sioux city, bria bell abc 9 news. jenna thanks bria, we are joined now by one of our political panalists this evening to break down the action of the night. with me is jeff taylor, professor of political science at dordt college in sioux center. jeff holds a p-h-d in political science and has also been one of iowa's delegates for the republican party at the national convention in the past.

to talk about was the embarrassment for the iowa g-o-p in 2012... when the party had to recant the original winner. here's how it happened. mitt romney was declared the winner by 8 votes. but 16 days later, the iowa g-o-p declared rick santorum the victor by 34 votes. the republican party said they hadn't gotten results from eight precints. jenna: caucus goers are results from eight precints.

converging now at their caucus goers are converging now at their respecitve precincts. let's take a look now in sioux city where we have abc9's political reporter deborah souverain at east high school, where the largest group of republicans caucus goers are gathering, deborah? deborah: deborah: jenna, doors opened about 15 minutes ago...and as you can see...voters are beginning to trickle in.. but this is just a small fraction of the number of people who expected to caucus here at east high school

idea of what gop expect ...we're joined by tom mitchell...the woodbury county republican party . tom thanks for joining us... now tom, republicans...cauc us a little differently than can you briefly tells us what voters can expect here tonight? caucus if you're democrat or minutes ago here and tom tells minute decisions made here tonight.. now the caucus will officially begin at 7 p-m... so if you plan on

precinct. we'll be here all night...following the caucus here at east high...until the results are called. so for now, i'm sending back to you jenna.. reporting from east high school, deborah souverain abc 9 news coming up more in depth political coverage as iowa voices their opinions tonight. we'll have the latest. after the break... (fred)

and tomorrow and into tomorrow night. a blizzard warning means that a winter storm will produce low

that whiteout conditions are likely. do not travel during the warning times. if you must travel in an emergency, take a survival kit. if you get stranded, stay with your vehicle.the port neal welding company skycam hd shows cloudy skies from the ho chunk centre in downtown sioux city. but the satellite and radar shows the storm moving our way. the stormcast hd shows that the storm will arrive in siouxland after 10 pm tonight. so travel to and from caucuses should not be a

and blowing snow will be seen tomorrow morning. the snow will continue during the afternoon. the snow will continue into the evening, finally ending wednesday morning. but strong winds and blowing snow will remain into wednesday. there could be some flurries wednesday evening. 9-12" of snow are expected in a strip from norfolk to wayne to sioux city to cherokee to spencer. on either side of that red band of heavy snow, 6-9" can be expected. tonight, the snow will start in the late evening, and the snow and wind will pick up after midnight. the low will be 29. tomorrow, look for heavy snow

and drifting snow. the high will be 31 with gusts to 40 miles per hour. the 7-day shows highs in the 20s and 30s and generally quiet weather after tomorrow's storm. jenna/fred a quick weather related note sioux city metro area schools have already cancelled school for tomorrow and public transit has also been suspended as well. still to come... we take a look at the science behind how campaigns are reaching out to potential voters. more on the battle of the brands when we return.

presidential

got to speak with several experts today about what kind of thought process needs to go into making a campaign logo jess: that's right jenna, it's not about just slapping a name on a board, it's all about what colors represent what, how symbols are percerived and what demographics candidates are tryingt o reach. i spoke to the graphic design coordinator at briar cliff university as well as the assistant professor of graphic design at the college about how this design process gets broken down in creating any kind logo,...especially ones as important as the candidate's " " trying to get voter's attention, it's hard to differentiate where campaign play. with color, font, symbolism and look to snag a and make their name the rest...all in hopes of getting according to assistant professor briar cliff university, there are candidates need to effective logo... demographic...and "it has to be what's going to

shannon beller. these two keys aspects...a candidate may lose more than election as a whole. "a new american centurny and yet still missing alsaska and hawaii. so symbolizing but still alyssa utech when breaking down the factors in a logo, experts say the logo has to be more than catchyt has to be versatile in multiple media platforms as well... "if there's something out there that people can take a aspin-off of and actually remember that, that's the selling point of any beller. looking at all the candidate logos, experts voted hillary's logo as most effective due to its versatility...and voted least effective was dr. carson's due to overcrowding. "so once again, just using visuals, people have to be very cognicent on how it's going to be perceived," says beller it's going to be perceived," says beller

sioux city, jess plue , abc9 news continuing our caucus coverage, we'll take a look at how one undecided voters is picking her candidate this electoral cycle.

looking to get more voters to mark an 'x' by their names come some a bulk of people undecided as to voting for, more, " " jenna/tim/chris/fred: (fred) 9-12" of snow are

jenna/tim/chris/fred: (fred) 9-12" of snow are