The sprint to January 3rd is on, with seven of the candidates competing in Iowa’s Caucuses campaign in the state today . Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says the best decision he made about campaigning here was to deploy paid volunteers to 37 different Iowa communities early in 2007 to start meeting with Iowans. "That’s, I think, our ace in the hole," Obama says.

Democrat John Edwards argues he’s been through the Caucuses before and knows what to do down the homestretch. "I think all three of us — Clinton, Obama, me — are in a very tight race here and they’ve invested, and so have I, very heavily in this contest," Edwards said during a weekend appearance on Iowa Public Television. "I think what that means in practical terms is somebody’s going to come out of here with momentum."

Edwards, however, isn’t here today campaigning. He arrives in Iowa tomorrow. Bill and Hillary Clinton both will be campaigning in Iowa today, starting with an event in Mount Pleasant this afternoon that’ll feature former Governor Tom Vilsack and his wife, Christie.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee has gone pheasant hunting this morning in the Osceola area and John McCain plans to hold a town hall meeting in Council Bluffs this evening.