With Two Days to Iowa, Both Races are Toss-Ups

<div style="text-align: center"><img src="/files/u2/bilde.jpeg" title="graph" alt="graph" height="174" hspace="2" vspace="2" width="125" /></div>Two days from now, Iowans will go to fire houses, living rooms and schools to cast the first votes in the 2008 race for president. The Des Moines Register released its last poll in what has been an extraordinary campaign season. And, guess what? The contests, Democrat and Republican, are essentially dead heats. (There's a story on the <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080101/NEWS09/301010014/1001/NEWS" target="_blank">Republican poll</a> and one on the <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080101/NEWS09/301010015/1001/NEWS" target="_blank">Democratic poll</a> .)<br /><br />The Register's stories have more than horse race numbers. For example, thirty percent of those polled in the Democratic primary say religion is very or fairly important. For Republicans, it's 46 percent. Huckabee has strongest support from rural residents and women. Democrat John Edwards scores best among rural residents and men.<br /><br />The graph of the Republican contest does show a resurgence by Mitt Romney (as well as flameouts by Fred Thompson and Rudy Guiliani). On the D side, Edwards is gaining.