U.S. & World

DES MOINES, Iowa (CBS News) ― Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards fought for first Thursday in Iowa's presidential caucuses, a multimillion-dollar exercise in grass-roots democracy and the initial, critical test in the campaign for the party's 2008 nomination. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee vied for the Republican victory.

Iowans were summoned to the evening caucuses in biting cold but generally clear skies. It was for them to untangle a knotted race too close to call on either side, with three Democrats and two Republicans seemingly in contention for victory and a larger field hoping for bragging rights - or survival.

The candidates' challenge in the opening contest of the 2008 election was twofold: to get supporters out to the meetings and to win over the large numbers of voters who were stubbornly refusing to make up their minds until the very end, a quarter of caucus-goers by one recent estimate.

"No one can say with any amount of certainty just who is going to come out of tonight's caucuses as winners and losers," writes CBSNews.com senior political editor Vaughn Ververs.

Iowans render their judgments in meetings at 1,781 precincts from Adel to Zingle, in schools, firehouses and community centers where the candidates themselves could not follow. Caucuses begin at 7 p.m. local time (8 p.m. EST).

In the hours before decision time, most candidates filled their Thursday calendar with still more speeches and events to give their final say.

Huckabee took his case to a crowd of about 175 at a Burlington, Iowa, casino - only about half of whom were committed to him, judging by a show of hands.

Reprising his theme as a common man in a field of elites, he told the crowd he reminds people of the guy they work with, not the guy who laid them off. He dismissed the idea it takes millions of dollars to win, drawing an unspoken but unmistakable contrast with the wealthy Romney as well as other big spenders.

"It's about believing in a cause," the former Arkansas governor said. "It's about believing in some core values, some convictions about what makes this country strong, and what can keep it strong and make it even stronger."

Huckabee's socially conservative views and populist approach have propelled him to the front of the pack in Iowa, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes. But to get his message out to a national audience, he really needs the positive publicity a win here would provide because he does not have the resources to finance a major ground game or television ads.

"Huckabee a month ago would have been the shock of the year but he's been ahead for a month and right now a win for him is what people expect," CBS News senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield

On the Democratic side, Edwards switched from his familiar jeans and blazer to a dark suit and blue tie as he made his last pitch to middle-class Iowans worried about health insurance, drug costs and other pocketbook issues. Rallies in Des Moines, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids on Thursday were capping his push in a state he has repeatedly visited for the past four years.

"Our campaign to stand up for the middle class and stop corporate greed is unstoppable," the Democrat told about 200 cheering steelworkers in a brief morning stop in Des Moines. Polls suggested he was in an improbably tight race with Clinton and Obama.

"We need you to make calls, talk to your friends," Edwards told 100 people in Iowa City, jettisoning his anti-corporate stump speech in favor of an appeal to spur turnout. And above all, he said, "Don't be late."

All that excitement means nothing if they don't actually go to the caucus, reports said. "A Mitt Romney loss puts him in New Hampshire against a resurgent John McCain, and a loss back to back means he would have lost to two people who spent less than his catering. Romney has spent a fortune. That's a real bad scenario Romney has to avoid." CBS News correspondent Chip Reid, so the campaign had more than a thousand people out today.

Candidates hedged their Iowa bets, declaring "anything is possible," "it's too close to call" and all now depended on getting the people who've been cheering their words to come out to vote and arm-twist neighbors to do the same.

Romney most explicitly ramped back expectations, at least for public consumption, saying he'd settle for second in the opening contest of the 2008 election season as well as in the New Hampshire primary only five days after Iowa.

Clinton, in a historic effort to become the first female president, said: "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."

Obama echoed the sentiment. "Anything is possible at this point," he said. "We've put a lot into Iowa and our efforts here. We feel good about what we've done, but this is the beginning and not the end." Candidates spoke on the morning talk shows.

The Obama campaign believes the more undecideds and first-timers turnout tonight, the better for Obama, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.

CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reports that a high level source in the Clinton campaign tell CBS News explains the contest between Clinton and Obama like this: People voting for a president will choose Hillary, but people voting for a feeling will choose Obama.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joe Biden of Delaware and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio also contested the state for the Democrats.

For Republicans, Arizona Sen. John McCain, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson were also on the ballot, although their aides made no claim they were in the running for a first-place finish. So, too, Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who largely abandoned the state in the campaign's final days.

Win or lose, there was little time for rest. New Hampshire's first-in-the nation primary is set for next Tuesday, and the campaign quickly accelerates into a rush of contests culminating in more than two dozen on Feb. 5.

With President Bush constitutionally barred from seeking re-election, both parties had wide-open, costly campaigns.

Iowa sends 45 delegates to the Democratic National Convention next summer in Denver and 37 to the GOP gathering in St. Paul, Minn. But that was hardly the reason the crowded field of presidential hopefuls devoted weeks of campaigning, built muscular campaign organizations and spent millions of dollars on television advertising in the state.

For three decades, Iowa's caucuses have drawn presidential hopefuls eager to make a strong first impression, and this year was no different.

Obama, Clinton and Edwards spent at least $19 million on television advertising among them, and all three capped their campaigns with statewide broadcasts on Wednesday. Romney told supporters in a final daylong swing around the state he had been in 68 of 99 counties since he began his quest for the White House, had spent 55 days in Iowa and spoken before 248 separate audiences.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)