Republican presidential candidate John McCain is making his final swing through the state before the January 3rd Iowa Caucuses. The rest of McCain’s campaign time will be dedicated to New Hampshire.

During a stop in Council Bluffs tonight, McCain stressed the importance of competing in the early state contests."Since 1980 the candidate (in) either party that has won two of the first three — the Iowa Caucuses, New Hampshire Primary and the South Carolina Primary — has been the nominee of the party and/or president of the United States, so I think you realize how important it is," McCain said.

Mike Huckabee, another GOP presidential hopeful, began his Wednesday with a hunting expedition near Osceola and he bagged a pheasant. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama campaigned in the northern half of Iowa, while rival Hillary Clinton plowed through the southern half.

A new Clinton ad airing here begins with the words "a nation at war" on the screen and competitor John Edwards’ campaign has accused Clinton of playing the fear card. During an interview with Radio Iowa, Clinton responded.

"The fact is we have to end the war in Iraq and we have to do a better job in trying to deal with terrorism in Afghanistan and around the world. That is a reality and the next president will find that problem waiting on his or her desk," Clinton said. "I don’t think it does caucus-goers any service to avoid what is one of the major issues that we confront."

Clinton started her campaign day at a rally in Mount Pleasant with former President Bill Clinton playing odds-maker when he spoke to the crowd. "Everything that I know convinces me that if you caucus for her and if she is the Democratic nominee, I believe she will win the election and win by a handsome margin," Bill Clinton said.

Tomorrow, ten presidential candidates will be in Iowa.