Campaign '08

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ― Republican and Democratic presidential candidates rolled out upbeat television ads and packed their schedules with multiple campaign events on the first day of 2008 — and one of the last before Iowa's caucuses.

With fresh polls showing both races in a dead heat, candidates made last-minute appeals Tuesday, mindful that little else was left to do at this late hour but encourage supporters to caucus for them Thursday.

"I want you to go with a commitment, in essence a fervent spirit, that says I will not only go no matter what the weather, I will take people with me to vote for Mike Huckabee," the Republican implored a crowd of about 200 in Sergeant Bluff on the conservative western side of the state.

Huckabee and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, are fighting for first on the Republican side. Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois are in a close fight for the lead as former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina gives them both strong chase.

Two polls showed dead-heat races, the outcome of both extraordinarily unpredictable.

A CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll had Clinton at 33 percent, with Obama at 31 and Edwards at 22. Among Republicans, Romney had 31 percent to Huckabee's 28 percent. A Des Moines Register poll showed Obama with the support of 32 percent of those surveyed, compared to 25 percent for Clinton and 24 percent for Edwards. Huckabee had the backing of 32 percent of those surveyed, and Romney had 26 percent.

Seizing on the results of the Des Moines Register poll, an enthusiastic Obama family fired up supporters from a stage set up in the capital city's Roosevelt High School gymnasium. Brimming with confidence, Michelle Obama talked about "when Barack is the next president of the United States" and her husband referred to her as "the next first lady of the United States."

A couple dozen hands went up when Obama asked the crowd of hundreds who hadn't decided yet who they will support. "We've still got some live ones in here," Obama said, and his goal was to win each one.

"We stand on the brink of doing something very, very special here in Iowa," Obama said.

Clinton's campaign emphasized the CNN poll that showed her ahead and picked apart the methodology of the other survey. Working hard to grab the momentum, she even joked about the extremes to which she would go to win support.

"If you want to look inside my mouth to figure out whether you want to vote for me, that's fine, too. Whatever it takes," Clinton said in Ames, recalling a campaign appearance among farmers and ranchers in an arena that normally is the site of cattle auctions.

Voter outreach and media exposure were the primary goals.

Clinton was campaigning across the state with events in four far-flung Iowa cities. Her 88-year-old mother, Dorothy Rodham, and daughter, Chelsea, traveled with her as she worked to solidify her already strong support among female voters. Her husband, former President Clinton, held separate events.

Urging voters to attend caucuses, Clinton and Obama were set to air longer-than-usual, two-minute ads during the evening news on Iowa stations Wednesday. Edwards bought a full-page ad in the Des Moines Register featuring a testimonial from a worker laid off from an Iowa Maytag plant who also will appear in a one-minute TV ad for the candidate.

Huckabee chose another — more unconventional — route to make headlines. He was flying from Iowa to Los Angeles to appear with Jay Leno on NBC's "Tonight Show." The talk show host returns to the air Wednesday without striking writers.

In a sign of battles beyond Iowa, John McCain opened a new line of criticism against Romney in a new Web video that could eventually end up on TV. "Mitt Romney says the next president doesn't need foreign policy experience," it says.

Romney, for his part, began airing a new ad that shifts away from his criticism of his rivals and urges voters to "vote for tomorrow."

In Johnston, Iowa, Romney got supporters off their couches on New Year's Day by combining football and politics at a series of house parties.

As people waited at the second "House Party Huddle" of the day, kids ran around bashing one another with large, red Styrofoam mitts that read "Mitt '08." The adults milled around on the first floor and jockeyed for space with the more than three dozen journalists who also packed into the home, where writing on one wall in the kitchen read, "Christ is the center of our home, a guest at every meal and a silent listener to every conversation."

"He made it, he made it. He's coming, he coming," shouted one little girl as Romney walked through the door.

When Romney got a look at the room packed with people and began shaking hands he joked, "Can we fit a few more people, what do you think?"

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)