DES MOINES, Iowa — After a pause for Christmas, presidential contenders today resume their blitz across Iowa, scraping and scuffling in contests that have grown tighter and more unpredictable as the first balloting of 2008 nears.
On the Democratic side, three candidates — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and John Edwards, former senator from North Carolina — are running neck-and-neck-and-neck, with the rest of the field fighting to squeeze past one of them to finish third.
Among Republicans, former governors Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts are battling for first place, while the race for third is a toss-up among several contenders.
The closeness of the caucus contests here increases the import of these final days — and any verbal misstep, breakthrough TV ads or crystallizing moment on the campaign trail — in what already have been exceptionally fluid races.
Iowans will vote Jan. 3.
“We’ve never had anything like this,” said David Nagle, a former congressman and past chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, who has been tracking the caucuses since they gained national attention in 1972. “If you can find a three-headed coin, flip it. That’s about the best projection I can give you.”
While the approach of Christmas had kept the candidates on relatively good behavior — especially in their warm-and-fuzzy TV spots — few expected their reluctance to attack to last all the way into the new year.
“It’s probably going to be harder for them to restrain themselves,” said Peverill Squire, who teaches political science at the University of Iowa. “They’ll be trying to draw more comparisons and contrasts among themselves.”
The onslaught in Iowa reflects its centrality to the presidential contest, despite the efforts of politicians in more populous places to cut the state down to size by moving their contests up to January and early February.
