Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is heading into the crucial Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses with surprising strength, drawing big crowds at campaign events and leading national front-runner Hillary Clinton in the latest poll to come out of the Hawkeye State.

Forty-nine percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers plan to back the Vermont senator, according to the latest Quinnipiac University survey released on Jan. 27. That means the socialist lawmaker and the former secretary of state, who garnered 45 percent support, are still statistically tied.

Pollster: 'Deja vu' for Hillary Clinton

Quinnipiac polling director Peter Brown noted that the scenario is particularly troublesome for Clinton because her 2008 Iowa loss to then-Sen. Barack Obama is often seen as the beginning of the end of her first presidential bid.

"Is this deja vu all over again? Who would have thunk it when the campaign began? Secretary Hillary Clinton struggling to keep up with Sen. Bernie Sanders in the final week before the Iowa caucus," Brown noted. "It must make her think of eight years ago when her failure in Iowa cost her the presidency."

Sanders: 'My God, what a turnout'

Sanders has a particular advantage over Clinton when it comes to voters between the ages of 18 and 44, where the Vermont senator leads the former first lady by 26 percentage points; Clinton, however, has the edge among voters above 45.

His popularity among youngsters may also have contributed to the massive attendance at Sanders' rallies, and the lawmaker once again drew more than 20,000 people when he made two campaign stops in Minnesota on Jan. 26, the Washington Post noted.

"My God, what a turnout," the Vermont senator remarked, admitting that his main focus was on the neighboring state. "We were in Iowa this morning," his spokesman Michael Briggs, said. "We're going back to Iowa tomorrow. We'll be in Iowa the rest of the week up until the caucuses. Iowa is clearly the priority."

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