MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, Host:
NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson is in Des Moines. And Mara, what are you watching for this evening?
MARA LIASSON: The other thing to watch for, particularly on the Democratic side, is who is the second choice of the second-tier candidates? On the Democratic side, if a candidate does not reach 15 percent of the caucus participants in most caucuses, they have to either go home or pick another candidate. And already, Dennis Kucinich and Bill Richardson have said that Barack Obama will be the second choice of their supporters if they don't reach 15 percent in those caucuses.
SIEGEL: Mara, is it fair to say that in a caucus, as opposed to a primary, that turnout and organization are more important?
LIASSON: The number of delegates the people get are not based on the number of people they turn out. It's based on a complicated formula based on the turnout among Democrats in the last two general elections. So in other words, if you get a tremendous turnout in a previously poorly performing precinct, it doesn't give you any extra delegates. It's kind of like Democrats turning out 10 million extra votes in New York.
SIEGEL: Mm-hmm. Well, what's the last-minute buzz you're hearing about the candidates? First, in the Democratic race.
LIASSON: Well, the buzz is that as he has been getting all along, very big crowds for Barack Obama, bigger than Hillary Clinton's. The big question - we're now going to finally find and have the answer - is can he turn those crowds into votes? I would say there is cautious optimism on - in the Obama camp. I think there's a lot of nail-biting and frustration among Hillary Clinton's supporters, very concerned here. And of course, John Edwards has staked everything on doing well in Iowa.
SIEGEL: He's been out there for years campaigning.
LIASSON: Yes, ever since 2004.
SIEGEL: And Republican buzz?
LIASSON: Republican buzz is that Romney might finally have kind of beaten back the Huckabee surge with this barrage of negative ads. Romney is feeling cautiously optimistic. Huckabee is already downplaying expectations, saying that a second-place finish here would be great for him. The other thing that you're hearing a lot about is John McCain. He has barely campaigned in the state, but he has come back in the last couple of days because he's been moving up in the polls. If he comes in as the number three here, that will give his campaign a very big boost.
SIEGEL: Well, we have to settle for buzz for a couple more hours. We'll get some facts after that. Thank you, Mara.
LIASSON: Thank you, Robert.
SIEGEL: That's NPR's Mara Liasson speaking to us from Des Moines.