First votes cast in Iowa in Republican race

JUDGMENT day dawned for Republican contenders vying to take on Barack Obama in November’s presidential election, with a pivotal vote in Iowa set to dramatically reduce the field of contenders.

The mostly rural heartland state’s caucus early this morning was the first formal vote of the race for the White House against the backdrop of a sour, job-hungry US economy that weighs heavily on Obama’s bid for a second term.

Polls showed the race in Iowa turning into a three-man contest among front-runner Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, who was quickly gaining ground with voters in the state.

Romney focused his last minute attacks on the Democratic president, amid polls suggesting good chances of a win.

“President Obama failed because he’d never been a leader anywhere. He never led in the state Senate. He never led in the US Senate. Never led an enterprise of any kind,” Romney said. “His lack of experience is not just a lack of experience in foreign policy, it’s a lack of experience as a leader.”

For the 64-year old former Massachusetts governor and millionaire venture capitalist, the Iowa vote offers a chance to set in motion a series of early primary victories that could see him nab the nomination with relative ease.

“We’re going to win this thing,” Romney told a rally.

But that was not certain. He was virtually tied in the polls with Texas representative Paul, a small-government libertarian who has found fertile ground in Iowa for his states’ rights, anti-war message.

Former Pennsylvania senator Santorum was also gaining ground on both men, playing heavily on his conservative Christian, anti-abortion record with like-minded Republican voters in Iowa.

Romney may withstand the challenges because Republicans see him as the candidate most likely to defeat Obama. The president is vulnerable because of the struggling economy and continuing high unemployment.

Republican voters in Iowa gathered at 8pm eastern (1am Irish time) for sessions that lasted two hours. In the living rooms of private homes, school auditoriums and libraries, they heard from the candidates’ local representatives for a final sales pitch before they wrote down the name of their favourite on blank pieces of paper handed out to each caucus-goer.

But with nearly half of Iowa voters saying they were still making up their minds, Romney had only a narrow lead over Ron Paul.

“This is what the vote is about: Are we sick and tired of the expansion of government?” Paul told a rowdy crowd packed into a hotel ballroom in Des Moines on Monday, calling his rivals agents of the “status quo”.

Paul, 76, a small-government champion opposed to foreign aid and military interventions overseas, accused the other candidates of supporting a foreign policy of “mischief around the world and policing around the world”.

Santorum pleaded with Iowans not to “settle” for Romney, and “to pick the more conservative of the candidates” as he, too, attacked Obama for “failing this country”.

He also fought back tears at a stop in Newton, Iowa, where he was asked about a 1996 family tragedy when the Santorums had a premature baby boy who died just hours after birth.

“Rick Santorum is a real conservative, I feel like I know his values,” said Richard Puhl, 45, a Des Moines computer programmer who brought his children to see Santorum at a pizza restaurant in Boone.

What about Romney versus Obama? Puhl didn’t hesitate: “Romney. But I’d prefer not to have that choice.”

Paul’s unorthodox libertarian views have earned him a devout following, but he is seen as uncompetitive in other states, while Santorum, 53, faces an uphill fight to match Romney’s massive national organisation.

Opinion polls had been crueller to former House speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas governor Rick Perry and representative Michele Bachmann, who said on Sunday she hoped for a “miracle” in the caucuses.

All of the candidates planned a frenetic last campaign dash, mindful that the winning margin in 2008 was 10,000 votes out of just 120,000 cast — a fraction of Iowa’s two million registered voters.

Unpredictable Iowa — where unemployment is well below the national average — is also an unreliable predictor of presidential fortunes: senator John McCain, the eventual nominee in 2008, came fourth that year; Mike Huckabee won the caucuses in 2008. But the Iowa vote tends to whittle down the field before other states take over.

A victory in Iowa can lift a sagging campaign or give a top contender an air of inevitability, bringing fund-raising dollars, endorsements and voter support that can shape the rest of the state-by-state nominating battle.

The Iowa caucuses have been the first vote of the presidential nominating cycle since 1972.