Field is wide open for Thursday's Iowa caucuses

DES MOINES -- On their last full day of campaigning before Iowa voters kick off the presidential nominating process Thursday night, Republican and Democratic candidates made last-minute appeals in person and on television.

The three top Democratic contenders — Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama — all bought time to air extended final television commercials on Iowa's Wednesday evening news programs. Edwards planned to make campaign stops through the night during a 36-hour barnstorming marathon.

Among the leading Republican candidates, Mitt Romney staged a fly-around of the state. His chief rival here, Mike Huckabee, left for a national TV appearance on NBC's TonightShow. John McCain returned to Iowa late in the day for some last-minute campaigning he hoped would secure him a place among the top three finishers, ahead of Fred Thompson, who also barnstormed the state.

Election observers predict unusually high turnouts for today's caucuses. "I think you'll see records on both sides," said Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro.

Jim McCormick, chairman of the political science department at Iowa State University, predicts that as many as 150,000 Democrats and 90,000 Republicans could turn out for the evening precinct meetings where Iowans cast their votes. He based his prediction on a poll he did in November.

The previous records were 122,000 for Democrats in 2004 and 115,000 for Republicans in 1980.

Doors open at nearly 1,800 precincts statewide at 6:30 p.m. CT. The National Weather Service in Des Moines predicts partly cloudy skies and temperatures falling through the 20s, but no precipitation.

Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, who is neutral in this year's race, called it "the most interesting I have ever seen" because, after a year of campaigning, "there is no clear front-runner."

Ken Mehlman, the former national Republican Party chairman, said the GOP field is similarly unsettled: "This is going to be the most wide-open, unconventional and exciting election we have seen in a decade."

Some Iowans seem ready for the campaign to end. Bob Wiedmann, a retired Indianola contractor, hopes whoever wins the presidency will pass a law barring political phone solicitations.

"I have had, I swear, 200 phone calls," he said.

Some candidates ended their Iowa campaigns with whirlwind tours. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson scheduled seven final "job interviews" in small towns such as Muscatine, Decorah and Storm Lake. The Democrat hopes to stay close to his party's three front-runners.

Four major-party candidates were not in Iowa Wednesday: Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Duncan Hunter and Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel. A fifth, Republican Ron Paul, made a brief trip but focused on New Hampshire, which will vote Tuesday. Here's a look at the final day in Iowa: