Last-minute push in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa — Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards closed out a long, grueling Iowa caucus campaign Wednesday night with statewide television appeals, each seeking an early triumph in the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Leading Republicans exchanged routine unpleasantries on a final day of campaigning.

“You just don’t know what is going to happen,” said Mitt Romney, unwilling to forecast success over Republican rival Mike Huckabee in today’s first contest of the race for the White House.

“This country is ready for a leader who will bring us together,” Obama said in a two-minute commercial televised at the dinner hour. A first-term Illinois senator seeking to become the nation’s first black president, he added, “That’s the only way we’re going to win this election. And that’s how we’ll actually fix health care, make college affordable, become energy independent and end this war.”

Clinton, seeking to become America’s first female president, reached out with a campaign-closing commercial broadcast of her own. “If you stand with me for one night, I will stand up for you every day as your president,” she said. “I’ll work my heart out to bring the country we love the new beginning it needs and I will be ready to start on day one.”

Increasingly, the candidates looked beyond Iowa to the states that quickly follow. Republican Sen. John McCain spent most of the day in New Hampshire, which holds a primary Tuesday, and his campaign ordered television advertising in Michigan, with a primary one week later.

Late pre-caucus polls in Iowa generally pointed toward a close three-way finish among Democrats and an unpredictable two-man struggle for the Republicans. A quarter of likely caucus-goers reported they either had not made up their minds or could still change them.

That only added to the urgency of the campaigns, which stood ready with snow shovels and baby sitters — to make sure supporters were able to leave home for the caucuses — and delivered reminders to voters via Facebook and phone. Romney said his campaign made 12,000 calls on Sunday alone.

There were reports of campaign dirty tricks — anonymous phone calls to Romney supporters directing them to incorrect caucus locations, and a recorded message disparaging former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who hoped for a third-place finish to rescue his faltering candidacy.

Romney, more than his Republican rivals, needs a first-place finish in Iowa, where he has outspent his foes by a wide margin in hopes of making himself the man to beat for his party’s nomination. A win would allow him to turn back Huckabee’s surprising ascent in Iowa, and give him bragging rights as he pivots to confront McCain in New Hampshire.

Romney defended himself against a McCain ad challenging his readiness to manage national security issues. “Senator McCain is an honorable person, he’s been in the Senate for 25 years or more. And so people have a lot of talk there, a lot of suggestions about what other people ought to do, but I’ve actually been leading during that time.”

Huckabee, his ascent powered by evangelical Christian voters, told voters he was a consistent conservative — a not-so-gentle reminder that Romney once supported abortion rights and gun-control laws.

Presidential candidates

DEMOCRATS

n New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton

n Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd

n Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards

n Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel

n Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich

n Illinois Sen. Barack Obama

n New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson

n Delaware Sen. Joe Biden

REPUBLICANS

n Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani