Very little Christmas break for harried Iowa campaigns

DES MOINES, Iowa — It was Christmas Eve and her family was all together back in Arkansas. Except for her. But Sarah Huckabee wouldn't leave Iowa.

Huckabee, daughter of the Republican presidential candidate and Iowa front-runner Mike Huckabee, decided along with the small staff of four that runs the Huckabee campaign office here to remain through the holiday. "If one of us is going to stay, all of us are going stay," she said, near a banner that read "Merry Christmas and a Huckabee New Year."

This year, politics has to be thicker than blood. But she isn't alone in her dedication. With the compressed political calendar, the campaign staffs here have had no choice but to keep working. As Kevin Madden, press secretary to Mitt Romney, says of Romney's headquarters here: "Des Moines never closes."

And indeed, Gentry Collins, Romney's state director, was hitting the mall Monday afternoon, his Christmas shopping for his three young children unfinished, all the while talking of turnout rates and precinct-to-precinct strategies.

On the day before Christmas, the city was nearly empty. A leading hotel favored by campaign staff members and journalists was 15 percent full. But those who've stayed behind to work on presidential candidates' campaigns are more restive than restful, waiting eagerly to resume the battle Wednesday about a week before the caucuses. The next few days will be crucial in a state that is essentially a tossup on both sides.

Even the so-called dead zone before Wednesday won't truly be that. Mixed among ads touting post-holiday markdowns, the on-air campaigns will continue.

The problem, other than the calendar, lies in the numbers. The race is so close to call on the Democratic end that no one can look you in eye and tell you who will win. On Sunday, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama took it as far as they could, even with a snowstorm almost paralyzing the state.

Clinton winged in early from New Hampshire only to have weather scuttle her last planned event of the day. Depending on the poll, Clinton and Obama are neck and neck with John Edwards coming up on the rail.

Meanwhile, Republicans Huckabee and Romney are waging their own tight struggle. Theirs pits momentum against organization. Earlier Monday, Huckabee took advantage of the relaxed Christmas news cycle by storming the cable-news networks. His daughter, who has a high-level role in the campaign, watched as he was interviewed for more than 10 minutes on CNBC.

"A good chunk of time," Iowa campaign manager Eric Woolson said, approvingly.

"That's the tie I bought for him," Sarah Huckabee said.

But after Mike Huckabee finished the interview, Democratic strategist and Edwards adviser Joe Trippi came on and opined that, after visiting a Huckabee event at a mall, he doesn't have the resources to compete, his "candidacy has outstripped his supply line." Sarah Huckabee frowned. "He knows that from one visit to the mall?" she said.

Resources are what the Romney camp is counting on. The campaign has built an elaborate network of supporters here only to see Huckabee sweep by in the last month. "Organizationally we're staying the course," Collins, Romney's state director, said.

Romney's challenge, Collins said, is fighting both in Iowa and New Hampshire to win. By contrast, his rivals Huckabee and John McCain have each concentrated on winning only one of those states.

"We also don't have the risk. If Mike Huckabee loses in Iowa, he's in deep trouble. If John McCain doesn't win in New Hampshire, he's in big trouble," he said.

Romney won't return to Iowa until the end of the week. He'll begin the post-Christmas campaign in New Hampshire. Edwards will also spend Wednesday in New Hampshire before coming to Iowa on Thursday. Huckabee is returning to Iowa early Wednesday for a pheasant hunt.

Meanwhile, Clinton and Obama will both come back to Iowa on Wednesday.

Late Monday afternoon, Obama's Des Moines office was humming even as Clinton's and Edwards' offices were closing for the holiday. The single-floor structure on Locust Street was filled with more than 70 staff members and volunteers, some wearing Santa caps, poring over precinct maps. That evening, the mother of the campaign's state director was to cook dinner for the staff.

Obama's challenge in the coming days will be responding to critical TV ads launched by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which is loyal to Clinton, and the Service Employees International Union, which is loyal to Edwards. "We just have to keep our head down and get to work," said Obama's Iowa press secretary, Tommy Vietor.

Also hitting the ground running after Christmas will be Sen. Joseph Biden, who is making a spirited final bid to inject himself into the mix.