As the first battle of U.S. presidential nomination contest is only hours away, major candidates from both Democrats and Republican parties are trying everything on Thursday to get voters to turn out and vote for them.
The candidates are fighting over a small pool of voters in Iowa. About 120,000 to 150,000 people are expected to vote in the Democratic caucuses, while 80,000 to 90,000 are likely to participate in the GOP contest. That is a small chuck out of the nearly 3 million Iowans.
So it could take relatively few people to give a candidate an edge -- and that's where the final push for votes comes into play.
For example, Senator from New York Hillary Clinton are banking on more elder women -- her traditional supporters -- to show up while Senator from Illinois Barrack Obama hope more young people who generally favor him to cast their ballots.
According to campaign officials, the Clinton campaign has 5,000drivers to help voters turn out. It also bought more than 600 snow-shovels and delivered salt to field offices to clear driveways and precinct sidewalks, said Teresa Vilmain, Clinton's Iowa state director.
Obama's campaign is offering rides and organizing pizza parties.
The race in Iowa is still too close to call. Clinton and Obama are locked in a three-way race with former North Carolina Senator John Edwards.
In the Republican race, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney also diverge over how to muster voters.
Romney, 60, has blanketed the state with television advertising, while Huckabee, 52, is relying on supporters to roundup friends and neighbors.
Two of the leading Republican candidates, Arizona Senator John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, have largely bypassed Iowa in favor of New Hampshire's primary next week and larger states that will vote on Feb. 5.
Source: Xinhua
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