In an unpredictable presidential race filled with surprises, the Iowa caucuses signal the opening bell of round one in the race for the White House.

However people feel about Donald Trump, there's no denying his blunt talk has energized Campaign 2016, putting a charge under new and old voters.Iowa, with its strong evangelical base, has long been placed in the column of the most conservative candidates, but Trump is the wild card stirring the pot there and leading in many other states.Two groups expected to play a decisive role in the election and who the candidates will fiercely go after are veterans and the under-35 generation known as millennials.Military and veterans' issues have already impacted this campaign. No one can today predict where the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton's unsecured emails will end up.But while that ongoing investigation will continue to dog her campaign, she is still being plagued by the unanswered questions surrounding the Benghazi attacks, which occurred while she was secretary of state.While the Clinton campaign would like the public to move on from the events of Sept. 11, 2012, in Libya, the film "13 Hours," based on the book of the same name, continues to perpetuate the story.The movie makes no references to Washington officials, but even their omission in the film due to inaction reflects negatively on the administration, including Hillary Clinton.What the movie does show is the incredible courage and heroism of the trained "secret soldiers" who were guarding our diplomatic compound.When a situation descends into chaos like it did in Benghazi, these warriors, many with SEAL training, are at their finest. The movie "13 Hours" should be on the required viewing list of every person in federal government.Trump has made strengthening the military, reforming the VA and caring for veterans the center of his campaign. Last Thursday, the billionaire decided to spurn the final GOP debate to host an event for veterans' causes. That bold decision alone, which raised $6 million, managed to "trump" those on the debate stage and thus dominated many of the news cycles.As for the millennials, the U.S. Census Bureau reports they now number 75.3 million and rank second only to baby boomers as the largest living generation.One of the twists of the Democratic race is how surprisingly well Sen. Bernie Sanders is polling with this segment, especially among millennial women.According to an online Ipsos survey, the economy is the leading issue with millennials, including concerns about jobs, the minimum wage and paid leave.College affordability and student debt rank second, followed closely by foreign policy and terrorism, health care and guns.Past polling has shown that most people believe the classic American dream is in trouble, but a USA Today/Rock the Vote poll found millennials are generally upbeat. Fifty-seven percent say they are optimistic about the future of the country while 34 percent are pessimistic.Two answers from recent polling of millennials shows the candidates that they are a serious segment of the voting population. First, a majority of them believe their vote could decide an election and secondly, six in 10 say they are likely to vote in November.By JIM ZBICK |

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