By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : US presidential hopefuls are making one last dash to woo voters in Iowa with pollsters predicting close races in the first nominating contests of both the Republican and Democratic parties in the western state Thursday.
While pollsters generally suggested a dead heat in the first caucuses – meetings of party supporters – Des Moines Register, the state capital’s leading daily, showed Barack Obama was leading the Democrats and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee the Republicans.
Other polls suggested Obama, hoping to be the first black president, running neck and neck with former first lady Hillary Clinton at 28 percent, with 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards close behind in a statistical tie at 26 percent.
Huckabee, a Baptist preacher, led former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney by two points, with senator John McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, a distant third.
The Democratic caucus begins at 6:30 p.m. local time (6:00 a.m. IST Friday), with Republicans starting 30 minutes later. At stake are the pledges of the state’s 57 delegates on the Democratic side and 40 on the Republican side who get to choose their party nominees at national conventions Aug 25 and Sep 1 respectively.
Leading candidates bought time on Iowa television stations to offer closing messages to voters Wednesday night, and dashed back and forth across the state to ask supporters to attend the caucuses in large numbers. They also offered meals, transportation, baby sitters and snow shovels to clear the way.
Clinton, hoping to make history as the first woman president, released a two-minute taped message asking the caucus goers to ponder: “Who is ready to be president and ready to start solving the big challenges we face on day one?”
“If you stand with me for one night, I will stand up for you every day as your president,” she promised.
Continuing his campaign theme, Obama spoke of the “need to turn the page and create a new chapter in American history”. And he was the one who could bring the most dramatic change by creating a coalition of Democrats, independents and Republicans looking for a new direction in Washington, Obama said.
But painting himself as the real agent of change, Edwards has inched closer to his two party rivals.
The two leading Republican candidates, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, planned events around Iowa, while McCain returned to the state from New Hampshire, where the first primary is due five days later, for one last push. His stock too is rising in polls in both states.
In a Web ad, he attacked Romney for suggesting that if the job of president required foreign policy experience, Americans could get someone from the State Department.
“These are serious times. America needs a president who is serious about foreign policy. John McCain is the one man prepared to lead America in a time of crisis,” the ad said.
Romney countered: “If you want a leader, and a person who’s led in critical times and in critical ways, I think I fit the bill.”
Huckabee has raised eyebrows about his ability to deal with foreign affairs by suggesting after the murder of former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto that the US build a wall along its borders with Mexico to prevent illegal Pakistanis coming in.
After pulling out an ad attacking rival Romney, he returned to combat mode by referring to his opponent’s professed change of heart on abortion rights. His own views on an issue did not change depending on polls or where he was running, said Huckabee.
“You want someone who is authentic, you want someone who is consistent, you want someone who can lead,” he added.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Republican frontrunner, has seen his poll numbers decline nationally and in the states in recent weeks. He has not focussed on Iowa to concentrate on larger states voting later.
A win in Iowa or New Hampshire does not ensure final victory, but it gives a candidate momentum in the primary season ending with the final one in South Dakota June 3.