elections

The Republican presidential candidates meet in Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday night for their final debate before the Iowa caucuses. Donald Trump will not be there, amid a feud with debate host Fox News.

NPR's Audie Cornish talks to Tim Hsia, an Army veteran and co-founder of Service 2 School, who says the candidates are using veterans for political gain without substantively addressing the issues.

If elected, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would be the oldest president ever. His campaign has released a physician's letter that says the 74-year-old is "in very good health."

Television debates have been a mainstay in presidential campaigns since 1976. Now, the GOP presidential front-runner is taking a big gamble just days before the Iowa caucuses.

There are policy differences between the two leading Democratic presidential candidates, but those differences are small compared to the gap in style and tone.

Donald Trump's stormy relationship with the Fox News Channel took a new turn with The Donald's announcement that he won't participate in the network's GOP debate on Thursday.

President Obama had what the White House described as an "informal" meeting with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. It comes on the heels of Obama lavishing praise on Sanders' opponent Hillary Clinton.

Drama, conflict and uncertainty about how it will all end. That's the state of the presidential race, five days before the first votes are cast in Iowa.

Calling a meeting with the president "constructive and productive," Sen. Bernie Sanders said the two also talked about foreign and domestic policy and "a little bit of politics."

New York Times political reporter Trip Gabriel has spent the past year in Iowa, covering the political operations, speeches and rallies leading up to the first vote of the presidential campaign.

GOP front-runner Donald Trump, upset over his treatment by Fox News and by top anchor Megyn Kelly, is boycotting the final debate ahead of the Iowa caucuses.

Critics say Iowa and New Hampshire are too old, too white and too small to have so much power in the presidential nominating process. There are lots of other ideas, but tradition is hard to change.