Candidates make final push in Iowa

DES MOINES -- Presidential hopefuls offered their last appeals to Iowa voters Thursday but dodged outright predictions of victory as the campaigns shifted to getting supporters to turn out in the snow and freezing weather for tonight's crucial caucuses.

"I feel good, but it depends on who comes out, who decides to actually put on their coats, warm up their cars and go to the caucuses," said Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Republican Mitt Romney, who was once the clear front-runner in polls before the rise of former governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, said he'd settle for second place in Iowa's intense, but complicated, caucus process.

"I'd like to win them," Romney said of the early contests in Iowa and next week in New Hampshire. "But if I don't win, coming in second in these states is a strong statement."

As for Iowa, he said: "I think at this stage it's too close to call."

"Anything is possible at this point," said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

"We feel good about what we've done, but this is the beginning and not the end," he said.

Former senator Fred Thompson, of Tennessee, denied reports that he was considering dropping out of the GOP race after Iowa.

"At the end of the evening, things are going to look different to all of us," he told Tim Russert on MSNBC. Some may get shellacked, some may get a strong wind to our back. I expect a strong win. We'll see."

Former senator John Edwards, D-N.C., capped a 36-hour marathon campaign swing with a rally with rocker John Mellencamp. The grueling schedule turned Edwards' voice hoarse.

"I spent 20 years in courtrooms" fighting big companies, he told an Iowa City crowd. "You cannot 'nice' these people to death," Edwards said, obviously jabbing at Clinton and Obama's greater willingness to negotiate for change. "They will stomp all over you."

The caucuses, which can last as long as two hours, begin at 7 p.m. local time (8 p.m. ET), when supporters gather in 1,781 precinct halls to speak up for their candidate.

In the complex process, candidates must draw at least 15% of support of caucus-goers. One reason the outcome is hard to predict is because the supporters for candidates who fail to reach the threshold can then throw their backing to other candidates.

Altogether, 120,000 to 150,000 people are expected to come to the Democratic caucuses and 80,000 to 90,000 to the GOP meetings.

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."

Huckabee, asked by Tonight show host Jay Leno about recent rough exchanges between he and Romney, said, "Oh, it's politics."

"I mean, that's what politics is about," Huckabee said Wednesday night. "I tell people that, if you can't stand the sight of your own blood, don't run for anything, just buy a ticket and watch it from the stands. Because this is a full contact sport. No doubt about it."

Election observers predict unusually high turnouts.

"I think you'll see records on both sides," said Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro.

The record turnout for Democrat was 122,000 in 2004 and 115,000 for Republicans in 1980.

With the formal campaigning winding down in Iowa, organizations for the candidates were geared up to provide snow shovels, baby-sitters and meals to try to lure people to the caucuses.

Weather was not expected to be a major factor, as forecasts called for clear weather with temperatures in the teens to low 20s. There was no hint of icy weather, which might be the only weather factor that could keep potential caucus-goers at home.

Obama recommended long johns as he sent people door to door. Clinton, in her historic run to become the first female president, served bagels, fruit and coffee to Des Moines volunteers Wednesday.

The New York senator said of the biting cold, "I know if you're here from Iowa to help me, this is like, nothing."

Clinton, Obama, and Romney spoke on morning TV programs — CBS' The Early Show, NBC's Today Show and ABC's Good Morning America.

On Wednesday, the last full day of campaigning, Romney staged a fly-around of the state while Huckabee, left for his appearance on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

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 former senator Fred Thompson, of Tennessee, who also barnstormed the state.

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 full day in Iowa:

'You will have a vision'

CORALVILLE — Obama asked a revved-up crowd his campaign pegged at 1,500 for a show of hands of those who had never been to a caucus. More than a third of the attendees raised their hands.

"They don't think you're going to show up. Are you going to prove them wrong?" he challenged and was met with a roar of "Yes."

Polls show Obama could win the Iowa caucuses tonight if first-timers and independents show up. In a hotel ballroom hung with "Change we can believe in" banners, he made a passionate appeal for his candidacy and against his chief rivals. About two dozen TV cameras recorded the event.

"My job is to be so persuasive here today that a light bulb will go off over your head," he said to laughter. "A beacon of light will shine. You will have a vision, and you will say, 'I have to vote for Barack Obama.' "

•Jill Lawrence, Susan Page

More important than football

MASON CITY — The sign outside the Chicago Dawg restaurant in Mason City features two cartoon canines. One's got a hot dog and a mug of beer. The other prefers shrimp and wine.

For Huckabee, an ordained Baptist preacher, it might have seemed an inappropriate symbol, but his has been an unorthodox campaign from the start, full of trademark quips.

There was no shortage of those Wednesday. Huckabee urged about 150 mostly older people to attend tonight's caucuses, even at the risk of offending Kansas and Virginia Tech football fans. "The Orange Bowl is going to be boring," he said. "You don't want to watch that."

Huckabee also protested negative ads run against him by opponents who spent millions "to tell you guys what a bum I am. … I brought my wife. She can tell you that for free."

•David Jackson

Grip of the iron fist

IOWA CITY — More than 28 hours into a non-stop, 36-hour bus tour, Edwards was losing his voice but not the hard-edged message that has put him in contention for tonight's caucuses.

"They have an iron-fisted grip on your democracy, just as sure as I'm standing here, and nothing will change until we break that grip," he said, referring to corporate interests that he says block progress on health care, global warming and fair trade. That brought cheers from hundreds of supporters jammed into a coffee shop near the University of Iowa, the 13th of 16 stops.

The former North Carolina senator said he's the most electable of the Democrats — and the only one from the South.

Noting that the last two Democrats elected president were Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Jimmy Carter of Georgia, he drawled, "They both talked like this."

•Susan Page, Jill Lawrence

'Call your friends'

CEDAR RAPIDS — Ever the businessman, Romney hop scotched the state for one final sales job.

About 60 people went to a chilly airplane hangar in Cedar Rapids to hear Romney extol his experiences in business and as Olympics CEO and governor of mostly Democratic Massachusetts.

Romney's fly-around included stops in Bettendorf and Mason City before a final rally in West Des Moines that drew hundreds of people to the Hy-Vee Conference Center. At each stop, he repeated his mantra that elections are "about tomorrow."

His biggest pitch to supporters: Be sure to vote, and get others out there with you. "Call your friends," Romney said. "Get 'em out to the caucuses and make that difference. People are going to be listening to what Iowa has to say."

•David Jackson

It's not ancient history

INDIANOLA — Clinton uncorked the star power: Her warm-up act here, where it was 4 degrees as she pulled into town, was the acting couple Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen.

Clinton spoke to about 300 people without notes for nearly an hour about her determination to expand health care coverage, reduce the cost of college education, improve alternative energy sources and end the war in Iraq.

She told the crowd that the Methodist church where they were gathered reminded her of the one she attended as a child in Illinois, which she considered "a great sign." Without mentioning Obama by name, she chided him for mocking her references to her previous work as first lady.

"When I talk about the '90s, one of my opponents says, 'There she goes again, talking about the past,' " Clinton said. "It's not like I'm talking about ancient Rome."

•Kathy Kiely