The Final Four Days: Candidates Jockeying for Position in Iowa

Dec. 30, 2007 — -- Presidential hopefuls are putting in their final pushes before the Iowa caucuses, which are four days away. The last-ditch efforts come at a time when the three Democratic frontrunners are at each others' heels.

Polls have Hillary Clinton at 29 percent, while Barack Obama and John Edwards sit at 26 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

"The younger you are the more likely you are to support Obama," said Democratic strategist Robert Shrum. "The older you are the more likely you are to support Hillary Clinton. And of course, John Edwards is sitting there with very solid support in Iowa. ... I think any one of those three could probably win."

For Clinton, the inevitability of her campaign's candidacy has faded and the former first lady realizes she may not come in first in Iowa.

"This is a great contest. We don't have any heir apparent in the Democratic party," Clinton said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. "I'm out there fighting for every single caucus-goer. I'm out making my case to everybody that I can reach. I think this is what elections are supposed to be about."

Meanwhile, Edwards and Obama find themselves fighting for the same voters. Edwards even has begun to sound more like his opponent.

"My view is: It's the job of the president of the United States to unify and galvanize the American people, not to divide them," he said.

And on Saturday, Edwards tried to one-up Obama with a pledge.

"When I am president of United States, no corporate lobbyists and no one who has lobbied for a foreign government will be working in my White House," he said.

Obama's campaign has attempted to lure Edwards' supporters, who may be more likely to shift than Clinton's. Obama claims he is the only Democrat who could beat a Republican.

"I'm the only Democrat who does it. John Edwards doesn't do it," Obama said. "Part of the problem John would have in the general election is the issues that he's taking out now are not the issues or the things that he said four years ago."

The Republicans

On the Republican side of the battle, it seems two former governors are jockeying for first place in the Hawkeye State. The once-dark horse Mike Huckabee has the momentum, and it's given him a lead in with polls with 37 percent. His closest rival, Mitt Romney, has 23 percent.

Romney has run three separate negative campaign advertisements against Huckabee on crime, immigration and foreign policy.

Huckabee has been firing back all weekend long.

"He's making up things not about just our records, but making up things about his own in terms of things he saw," Huckabee said in an Iowa campaign speech. "I don't know, maybe you have another word for it. The only word I know in Arkansas, we kind of kept it simple there: We called it dishonest."

As the top two in the state battle it out, other high-profile candidates find themselves behind in the polls.

John McCain comes in third place with 11 percent in Iowa polls. The national Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani visited Iowa last week, but has spent limited time in the state, where he is in a four-way tie for third place.

It seems Giuliani's campaign largely has given up on winning in Iowa and his new television ad is not airing there.

Some argue he has spent his time on larger states like California and Florida, but Giuliani said his campaigning has been proportionate.

"Spending time in the states that were going to vote in late January and early February not to the exclusion of the other states -- but a proportionate amount of time in those states -- was the best way to have ourselves in a position to win anywhere from 15 to 20 of the primaries rather than just three or four," Giuliani said.

Polls have him tied with Ron Paul and Fred Thompson.

Like Giuliani, McCain also is not in Iowa, but rather focusing on New Hampshire.

"I have the background, the capability, the concern to do this and I am doing it for the right reasons, but I am not particularly interested in running for president," Thompson said. "But I think I'd make a good president."