Today's the day

Several of the candidates will be calling into the Radio Iowa newsroom today to speak briefly.  Democrat Barack Obama was the first, at 7:23 a.m. -- the candidate whose supporters have been chanting "fired up" with a response of "ready to go" at campaign rallies.  UPDATE:  Scroll to the bottom to see the latest from Bill Clinton's call to KICD in Spencer.

"Tired enough?  Ready to snore?" I asked Obama in jest as he came on the line.  He laughed.

"You know, the truth is I feel pretty good except for my voice.  My voice called a time out," Obama said.  "We're going to be doing a lot of handshaking.  My hands are feelin' fine and I'll just smile a lot and shake hands....We feel great.  We've done everything that we could.  Our organization is unbelievable.  They've been working around the clock.  We've identified a whole lot of supporters out in Iowa, it's just a matter of getting them out to caucus.  I think that, you know, the people in Iowa have taken this process so seriously.  They've been so engaged.  They've given everybody a fair hearing.  They've really earned the place that they have in this democracy as the first-in-the-nation caucus and I am expecting that we're going to see a really big turnout today.  They want to see the country pull together and solve problems like health care and they know that this is a chance to do it."

Obama intends to drink a concoction that includes lemon and ginger to help revive his vocal cords.  "It puts a pucker on my face, but the team insists that it's going to do some good."

At 8:18 a.m., a campaign aide for Democrat John Edwards called into the newsroom, asking if it was possible to interview the senator earlier than our appointed time.  I said yes.

"Kay's always ready," Edwards joked to the staffer and all three of us laughed.  "I'd say the same of you," I replied.

"Well, maybe.  Not as consistently," Edwards generously offered, then we began the brief check-up/temperature reading.  "We just finished a 36-hour 'Marathon for the Middle Class' -- non-stop campaigning.  Last night we had our last event in Des Moines.  We had between 3000 and 4000 people which is a record crowd.  I don't think anybody else had anything close in the last days so we have a lot of energy and momentum and the thing is moving in our direction.  We're very encouraged....I stay on what I believe.  I believe if we don't end corporate greed, strengthen the middle class and stand up for American jobs we're not going to be able to give the promise of America to our children that was given to us by our parents and our grandparents and that's what the battle's about and we need a fighter, somebody who will go in to bring about the change that we need and that's exactly what I'm going to do as president."

"What is your judgment of the mood of the electorate as we move into this election year?" I asked.

"I think that the voters are looking for change and they're looking for who will be the most effective vehicle for that change and I think that they now believe that somebody who has a history of standing up to big corporate interests and somebody who has a history of winning battles against big corporate interests -- and that's me -- that's the person who can do the best job."