Diary: Fever pitch in arctic Iowa

By Gordon Corera
BBC correspondent in Iowa

The US presidential election season gets properly under way with the Iowa caucus on Monday. Here is the fourth of Gordon Corera's diaries from the state.

Just as the race is heating up to fever pitch, the temperature in Iowa has dropped to what feels like sub-arctic.

If the polls are to be believed, then this race is as close as you can imagine - a four way dead heat between Howard Dean, Richard Gephardt, John Kerry and John Edwards.

At this stage organisation is everything. Since a caucus requires people spending a cold evening debating politics rather than just ticking a ballot box, making sure people turn up is crucial.

WHAT IS A CAUCUS? Derives from an Indian word meaning meeting Instead of going to the polls and casting a vote, party members attend about 2,000 private meetings across Iowa, hold a debate and declare their preference Participants also elect delegates to communicate their choice to county party conventions, which themselves choose delegates to do the same at state and then national level Critics of the caucus system say it is too laborious Supporters of the system say it encourages grassroots participation Q&A: Iowa caucuses US election glossary

Most of the campaign headquarters are situated within a few hundred metres of each other in downtown Des Moines and hordes of the young and old flood in and out of each building clutching precinct sheets with the names of decided and undecided voters who will be canvassed for support.

Inside the bustling, free-wheeling Dean Campaign HQ sits Emmet Regan.

Aged 22, he is Dean's second in command for organisation in the state.

He is also not able to vote, not just in Iowa but anywhere in the US since he has come over from Dublin, taking a year off to help out.

Having started as an intern, his obvious political skills have led to him being put in charge of organising the logistics for the 3,500 Dean volunteers flooding into Iowa to help.

He has not slept for 48 hours but still seems full of energy as he points out key locations in the state on the array of maps around his office and recounts being asked to judge the local water-melon contest in one small town.

Over the road at the Edwards campaign there is also a buzz. Mr Edwards, along with Mr Kerry, seems to have the momentum on his side and is rising in the polls.

But fewer volunteers here and around the state may mean it is harder for him to translate support into actual turnout at the caucus.

Lacking the student support of Mr Dean and the union support of Mr Gephardt, the Edwards and Kerry campaign will be hoping that momentum will be enough to carry them forward.

Gordon's diary: Sunday - Building the enthusiasm

Gordon's diary: Saturday - Farmers' voices

Gordon's diary: Friday - strains showing