For Democrats, the contest had historic overtones: a battle between a first-term senator, Obama, trying to become the nation's first black president, and a former first lady, Clinton, seeking to become the first woman to occupy the Oval Office.

From the start, Obama and Clinton drew huge crowds as they laid out decidedly different appeals. Clinton presented herself as the candidate of experience; Obama presented himself as the candidate of change.

This is Edwards' second bid for the presidency. In 2004, he placed second in Iowa. Although he, too, drew big crowds, he frequently found himself crowded out by the fight between . Clinton and Edwards as he presented an increasingly hard-edged, populist message.

The Democratic caucus results do not reflect the actual percentage of people who expressed a preference for a particular candidate. Rather, they are the percentage of delegates allocated to each of the candidates based on a complex formula; the Democratic Party does not release the actual number of Democrats who caucus for each candidate.

The Republican results reflect a direct count of the preferences expressed by those who participated in the Republican caucuses.

Mirroring the unusual rush of the nominating calendar — the primary in New Hampshire is a mere five days away — the major candidates planned to pack up as soon as the caucus results were known and fly to New Hampshire to be on the ground for early-morning rallies, television appearances and campaign stops. Clinton's campaign plane was scheduled to leave Iowa at midnight.

The one exception was Giuliani, who largely skipped the Iowa caucuses; he started the day in New Hampshire and spent the rest of it in Florida.

A wide-open race in both parties sparked a record turnout Thursday in Iowa's caucuses, far exceeding previous contests.

Projections showed a turnout of 220,588 for Democrats, compared to 124,000 who participated in 2004. Most projections had estimated turnout would be about 150,000.

Turnout was also up on the Republican side, where projections showed about 114,000 people taking part.

The last contested Republican caucuses in 2000 drew 87,666 in caucuses won by then-Gov. George W. Bush.

The voting on Thursday ended what was one of the most intense years of politicking in the history of the Iowa caucuses. Television advertisements for all the major candidates were aired right up until the time Iowans were leaving their homes — or being picked up — for the start of the caucuses.

As the day moved on, the candidates and some spouses — like Bill Clinton — were doing interviews with Iowa television and radio stations. The campaigns, meanwhile, began executing the most sophisticated voter turnout operations ever seen in Iowa as campaign workers began calling people who had been identified as supporters to make certain they would show up to make their preferences known.

The inducements included free rides to caucus sites, baby-sitting and food. In a development that both Obama and Clinton had hoped for, the day was snow-free and the single-digit temperatures from earlier in the week were gone. The theory was that supporters of Edwards were experienced caucus-goers who were used to dealing with bad weather; Obama had sought to expand the universe of caucus-goers by appealing to young voters, while Clinton was looking for first-time caucus-goers among younger women and women over 65.

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Contributing: Amy Lorentzen, Associated Press