Iowa race is 'neck and neck'

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Democratic presidential contest officially begins tonight in Iowa with polls showing an unexpected four-way tie and an unsettled electorate on the eve of the state's critical caucuses.

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who has seen his lead in statewide polls evaporate, was the only major candidate who dared to leave the state for part of Sunday. He flew to Plains, Ga., to attend church and Sunday school with former President Jimmy Carter. Carter stopped just shy of endorsing Dean, calling him "a friend and fellow Christian."

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who surged to the top of statewide poll released Sunday by The Des Moines Register and Reuters/MSNBC, campaigned from Waterloo to the Iowa State Fairgrounds here with Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy. "This is not the time for on-the-job training," Kerry said, a reference to Dean.

Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards also made a fevered round of rallies and last-minute TV interviews. "The name of the game in Iowa is who has the best ability to get the voters out," Gephardt said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Gephardt and Dean are acknowledged to have the best organizations and the most volunteers to do that. Campaign manager Joe Trippi said Dean's 2,000 youthful volunteers would knock on 200,000 doors Sunday — "every knock-able door" in the state.

But Kerry and Edwards have had the most momentum in recent days. The question for strategists here is whether their new supporters will brave Iowa's freezing winds and spend as long as several hours at their caucuses.

Nearly half of those who told the Register they supported a candidate said they still could be persuaded to change their minds.

The changing polls in Iowa have upended predictions of a decisive Dean-Gephardt race, followed by a showdown between Dean and retired Gen. Wesley Clark in New Hampshire in its Jan. 27 primary. Instead, Kerry's revival and Edwards' stronger-than-expected showing could signal a longer and more complicated contest for the nomination.

One other endorsement announced Sunday: George McGovern, who lost the presidential race in a landslide in 1972, backed Clark as "the best Democrat" in the race. Clark is skipping the Iowa contest in favor of New Hampshire.

In Plains, Carter praised Dean's early opposition to the war with Iraq and his "outspoken nature." Dean in turn called Carter, who is a beloved figure among Iowa Democrats, a "moral model" for the nation.