Democrats in Iowa will cast the first votes in the 2004 presidential race on Monday, with polls showing Senator John Kerry holding a slight lead in a tight four-way dash to the finish.
Kerry, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, Representative Richard Gephardt and Senator John Edwards are all within striking distance of victory in what could be the closest race in the history of Iowa's caucuses, the first step in finding a Democratic challenger for US President George W. Bush in November.
PHOTO: REUTERS
At least 100,000 Democrats are expected to brave sub-freezing temperatures on Monday night to attend one of nearly 2,000 local precinct caucuses around the state and publicly declare their support for a candidate.
The latest Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby tracking poll showed Kerry clinging to a slight lead over Dean, Gephardt and Edwards, with about one-tenth of likely caucus-goers saying they are still undecided.
A loss for Dean, the front runner who scored a series of big endorsements in recent weeks, would open the door for other candidates and turn what was shaping up to be a quick Dean victory into a dogfight.
A win for Kerry would be a huge boost to what had been a struggling campaign. But Gephardt, the one-time leader in Iowa polls, has the most to lose. His campaign could be over with a loss in Iowa.
Kerry and Edwards surged as voters took a fresh look at the candidates after the holidays, evaluating which one had the best chance to beat Bush in November and responding negatively to an exchange of harsh attack ads by Dean and Gephardt.
Turnout will be crucial on Monday, and Dean and Gephardt have built voter mobilization efforts unrivaled in the state's history, with Kerry not far behind, according to local Democrats.
All four campaigns sent thousands of volunteers into neighborhoods across Iowa to hunt for voters and get them to the caucuses. Dean has more than 3,000 out-of-state volunteers knocking on doors, while Gephardt's army of union members has more than 4,000 people on the street.
The nature of the caucuses, in which participants gather in public to declare their support, places a premium on campaigns that find and track the most committed caucus-goers.
Most of the candidates will spend the morning and afternoon rallying their workers and looking to sway a few undecided voters before descending on Des Moines to wait for results.
Dean took a detour Sunday to visit former US President Jimmy Carter in Plains, Georgia. Carter offered words of praise for Dean's opposition to the Iraq war, but kept his promise not to endorse anyone in the Democratic race.
On his return to Iowa, Dean was joined on the campaign trail for the first time by his wife, Judy Dean, who has remained in Vermont to run her medical practice and care for their teenage son in high school.
Clark picked up the endorsement on Sunday of former Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, who rode his opposition to the Vietnam War to the 1972 Democratic nomination but was blown out in the general election by Richard Nixon.
Clark has admitted voting for Nixon.
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