POWER RANKINGS: Here's who has the best chance at being our next president
In less than a week, the first votes of the 2016 presidential primary will be cast in the Iowa caucuses.
Heading into the final Republican debate Thursday night before the caucuses, insurgents from both parties have made their mark on the already extensive primary process.
On the Republican side, businessman Donald Trump finds himself in perhaps his strongest position yet, leading all national polls and most surveys of the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.
This comes from a candidate who was largely expected to wane as the summer, let alone fall, let alone winter, went on.
In the Democratic primary, meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has surged of late. He is poised for potential upsets of the front-runner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in the first two voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Clinton still holds a sizable, if shrinking, lead in national polls.
So with the voting about to begin, here's another look at who has the best chance of making it to the White House to succeed President Barack Obama.
Our rankings are based on the Real Clear Politics averages of national polls and those in the first-voting states of New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina. We also factor in candidates' fund-raising prowess and their momentum (or lack thereof) over the past few weeks.
Here's a look at where all the candidates stand.
(All poll results as of Tuesday.)
See where the candidates stand in the rankings:
And to the polls: Here's a look at where the candidates stand in their respective parties in a combined average of national, New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina polls.
