Sanders Campaign Press Release - Bernie Rocks Iowa City

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A blast-the-rafters concert and rally for nearly 5,000 fired-up Bernie Sanders backers capped a day of campaigning across Iowa on Saturday with just 48 hours to go before Iowa's first-in-the-nation precinct caucuses kick off the process of picking a Democratic Party presidential nominee.

The concert – Sanders biggest crowd ever in Iowa – featured Vampire Weekend, Foster the People and other musical acts. Before, Sanders spoke to the University of Iowa audience about income and wealth inequality, the planetary crisis of global warming, making public colleges and universities tuition-free and other issues.

A new poll released on Saturday by The Des Moines Register and Bloomberg Politics showed Sanders' come-from-nowhere candidacy had turned into a too-close-to call contest with Hillary Clinton, once the pundits' presumptive nominee. The poll showed Clinton and Sanders in a virtual tie, a far cry from her 41-point lead when Sanders began his campaign eight months ago.

Earlier Saturday, Sanders said his record was being distorted by Clinton's campaign. Speaking to a group of supporters in Charles City, Iowa, Sanders said he was disappointed in "a lot of inaccurate statements regarding what I believe."

"The new poll results reflect the remarkable grassroots excitement and energy that are the driving force behind Bernie's campaign to fix a rigged economy and the corrupt campaign finance system that props it up," said Robert Becker, Sanders' Iowa campaign state director.

A Clinton television ad insinuated, for example, that Sanders somehow had attacked Planned Parenthood when, in fact, he has a "100 percent lifetime voting record for Planned Parenthood." He also said Clinton had tried to falsely brand him as a friend of the National Rifle Association when, in fact, he has a D-minus grade from the NRA. "So don't tell me that I'm defending or protecting the gun lobby," he said.

"Those are inaccuracies, and we can do better than that. Secretary Clinton and I have differences of opinion. Let's debate those differences of opinion, but let's not go around distorting a record that I am very proud of."

Watch Sen. Sanders sing along to "This Land is Your Land":