We're a few hours out from the results of the Iowa caucuses and the Clinton campaign appears to be making good use of the time. Our friend Ed Morrissey notes that push-polling calls have gone out to Iowans warning of the troubles voters will face from a John Edwards or Barack Obama nomination. Morrissey wonders if Clinton is behind the calls:
Let's see ... who would benefit from last-minute push-polling against John Edwards and Barack Obama? Whose campaign could get so desperate as to reach for a transparently negative approach in a state famous for disdaining such tactics? Which candidate sees the inevitability of the nomination vanishing like the fog of an Iowa morn?
Could it be ... Hillary Clinton?
Meanwhile, the Attorney General in New Hampshire is moving forward with the investigation into push-poll calls that went out around Thanksgiving "asking" voters if they had awareness of some aspects of the Mormon religion. Both Mitt Romney and John McCain filed complains with the state AG for violations of New Hampshire law's against push-polling. The AG has found the next-level cutout and wants witnesses who can show where it leads. They're looking for who hired Moore Information, the company that allegedly conducted the push-poll. Jim Geraghty over at NRO has a client list that's almost exclusively Republican, doing most of their work in the interior West. The only current presidential candidate on the list is Ron Paul, but that's certainly not enough to prove conclusive linkage to the push polling. If the AG succeeds in finding a link to a candidate, they can kiss their presidential future good-bye.
UPDATE: A roundup of Iowa predictions.
UPDATE: IowaHawk is liveblogging the caucuses. Meanwhile, as of 6:36 Central Time, Drudge has the early numbers:
RESULTS:
Clinton 0; Obama 0; Edwards 0
Huckabee 0; Romney 0; McCain 0; Paul 0; Thompson 0; Giuliani 0
UPDATE: Ed Morrissey is liveblogging the caucus results. Fox, CNN, and ABC News are projecting Huckabee to win Iowa. As of 8:05 pm with 15% percent of GOP precincts reporting, Huckabee leads Romney 36%-23%, followed by Thompson at 15%, McCain at 12%, and Paul with 11%. The Dems are split with 22% of precincts reporting, with Edwards a point ahead of Clinton and Obama, 33-32-32. If Thompson maintains the ever-important third place, Iowa will turn out to be a huge pickup for him.
UPDATE (8:24 pm): With 57% of Democratic precincts reporting, Obama leads Edwards and Clinton, 35-31-31. With 41% of GOP precincts reporting, Giuliani has received a large bump upwards, now running at 11%.
UPDATE (8:51 pm): CNN calls it for Obama, with 73% of precincts reporting. Hillary runs in third so far. If she remains there, the rest of the race will be a big problem for her. A New Hampshire win for Obama might cause the rest of the nation may reconsider their support for Clinton. With 65% of GOP precincts reporting, Huckabee maintains a nine-point lead over Romney. Thompson is hanging on to third place.
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