Cedar Rapids, Iowa — Senator Bernie Sanders came out swinging Saturday night after the release of the much-anticipated final Des Moines Register before Monday’s Iowa caucuses, arguing at a raucous Cedar Rapids rally that the Hawkeye State remains “virtually tied” as he and Hillary Clinton enter the home stretch.

“I think any objective observer — somebody who’s not partisan on either side — will come to the clear conclusion that the campaign, right now, that has the energy, that has the momentum, that is bringing working people and young people in, is our campaign!” Sanders crowed to thunderous applause at a rally here.

But tonight’s poll, widely respected as the most accurate predictor of the Iowa caucuses, tells a slightly different story. Though the two Democratic candidates remain locked in an ultra-tight battle to the finish, the Sanders surge seen earlier this month appears to have stagnated. The Vermont senator earns 43 percent support among likely Democratic caucus-goers, 2 points behind Clinton’s 45 percent. The result lies within the poll’s four point margin-of-error, giving Clinton a razor-thin lead at best.

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There’s more mixed news for both candidates buried deeper in the poll. 83 percent of Clinton supporters say they are decisively behind her, compared to just 69 percent of Sanders supporterswho say the same. But 51 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers say Sanders “cares about people like you,” compared to just 37 percent for Clinton.

#share#Rania Beatrice, Sanders’s communications director for Iowa, plays down the significance of Clinton’s slim lead, noting every poll over the last few weeks has shown the candidates neck-and-neck. “Now we’re in the home stretch, and we just have to turn out as many people as possible,” she says in an interview. “Because at the end of the day, a poll’s a poll.”

Perhaps cognizant of just how close the race has become, Sanders pulled no punches against Clinton, telling the crowd of 1,200 that she “brag[s] about raising tens of millions of dollars for her Super PAC,” saying he’s “disappointed by the tone of her campaign,” and blasting her willingness to accept donations from Wall Street.

#related#Sanders was also careful to tout his political viability in a general-election matchup, seeking to blunt the Clinton’s campaign’s line that he is too extreme to win against a Republican. He pointed to national and state polls showing him beating Donald Trump by substantially larger margins than Clinton.

“On February 1, the state of Iowa is poised to play a historical role,” Sanders concluded. “And that is to lead this nation to a political revolution, to get millions of people involved, to transform America, to make this country the great nation that you and I know it has the potential to be!”

— Brendan Bordelon is a political reporter for National Review.