Thousands of Iowans are gathering tonight in caucuses that serve as the kick-off for the 2008 presidential nominating season. The candidates, for the most part, have been keeping hectic schedules the past few days that are outpaced only by the frenzied activities of their staff and core supporters.
 
There have been rallies.  There have been town hall meetings.  There have been shake and howdy sessions at venues big and small.  Tonight, Iowans will have the floor in 3562 precinct meetings around the state — half of them for Republicans, half for Democrats.  The outcome will be known quickly from the Republican meetings, as participants cast a straw poll ballot.  Democrats have a system of calculation and even a little intrigue in their caucusing, meaning it could be some time before results are known. The first time John Edwards sat down for an interview with Radio Iowa was back in March of 2002.  Today, Edwards called in from the campaign trail.
 
“It has definitely been a long road, but I’ll say this.  I know the people of Iowa.  I know the Caucus-goers in Iowa.  They know me and they trust me and they trust Elizabeth and I think they’re going to turn out for me tonight,” Edwards said.
 
Several candidates called Radio Iowa today with a last-minute temperature reading on the race.  Democrat Barack Obama was first to ring into the newsroom just before 7:30 this morning.  “
 
“The truth is I feel pretty good except for my voice,” Obama said.  “I think my voice called a time out…My hands are feeling fine and I’ll just smile a lot and shake hands.”
 
Obama nursed his vocal cords with a concoction that included lemon and ginger. “It puts a pucker on my face, but the team insists that it’s going to do some good.”
 
As for Obama’s “read” on things:  “We feel great. We’ve done everything that we could. Our organization is unbelievable. They’ve been working around the clock. We’ve identified a whole lot of supporters out in Iowa, it’s just a matter of getting them out to caucus. I think that, you know, the people in Iowa have taken this process so seriously. They’ve been so engaged. They’ve given everybody a fair hearing. They’ve really earned the place that they have in this democracy as the first-in-the-nation caucus and I am expecting that we’re going to see a really big turnout today,” Obama said.  “They want to see the country pull together and solve problems like health care and they know that this is a chance to do it.”
 
Edwards, the next to ring into Radio Iowa, went on a 36-hour campaign marathon in the final hours, then held a concert last night featuring John Mellencamp that attracted a crowd of over three-thousand. “I don’t think anybody else had anything close in the last days,” Edwards said.  “So, we have a lot of energy and momentum and the thing is moving in our direction.  We’re very encouraged.”
 
The Clinton campaign had indicated Hillary Clinton would call into Radio Iowa today. She did not, but her husband called one of our affiliates this afternoon and our affiliate just shared the audio with us.
“Well, we’re full of expectation and we’re workin’ like crazy,” former President Bill Clinton told KICD newsman Mark Bruggom. “I think enough people have told us that they’re supporting Hillary that she could win tonight if we could get most of ’em out there. The real struggle now for all the campaigns that are in this is how to get their supporters to the Caucus and I think you know, up there where you are, it’s really important that everybody who’s listening to this interview who can go to Caucus do it because you, if you can go, you can caucus for the Iowans who can’t be there, the ones who have to work at night and can’t get off work.”
 
Republican Mitt Romney called in via cell phone from his moving “Mitt Mobile.”
 
“I feel very positive today,” Romney said. “We’ve been talking to our folks around the state and they are very encouraged.  They’re concerned that it’s so cold that a lot of the seniors that had been planning on going to caucus may find it difficult but maybe by the end of the day it’ll warm up enough and of course people are giving rides to caucus locations, so a half an hour is going to be a critical point where people get to have their voice heard, frankly, around the country and around the world.”
 
Romney offered this as his read on what the electorate wants in its politicians. “I think people are very concerned about Washington and they feel that Washington is just fundamentally broken  and they’re looking for somebody who has the experience and the values and the capability to finally get Washington to solve the problems that we have from illegal immigration to overspending and overtaxing to an energy policy that doesn’t get us independent yet, so we’ve got some work to do and they want to see change in Washington.”
 
Republican Fred Thompson called into the Radio Iowa newsroom, too. “Takin’ it to the people just like we did in Tennessee and I feel some of the things I felt when we ran there in terms of folks really responding to us as we get to know ’em and talk about what we believe and who we are and why we’re doing this,” Thompson said.  “I’m feelin’ good about it.”
 
He doesn’t buy into the idea Republicans — or Americans — are pessimistic.  “I think they’re concerned about the direction of the country. They ought to be, I mean I am. That’s the reason I’m running for president,” Thompson said.  “I think folks know that if we do the right thing, have the right kind of leadership that will be truthful to the American people in terms of the challenges we need to step up to, then we can do what we’ve done before throughout the history of this country and that is step up to what we need to do and get on with it and be united and strong like we’ve always been.”
 
John McCain made a last minute swing through the state — and Mike Huckabee returned after a stint on last night’s Tonight Show in Los Angeles.