The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Washington

Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are locked in a tense dogfight and Republican sensation Mike Huckabee is rocketing upwards, as cliffhanger White House races enter the home stretch. Tightening opinion polls raised the stakes for a looming Republican debate Wednesday and a Democratic clash Thursday, both in Iowa, the last head-to-head showdown of candidates before the state's leadoff caucuses on January 3. New Hampshire holds its primaries five days later, launching a flurry of contests which could see party nominees crowned by the first week in February, in the longest, most expensive White House race on record. Obama Monday basked in a publicity blitz after his weekend campaign duet with talk-show diva Oprah Winfrey, while two new Republican polls confirmed Huckabee's numbers rising even outside his new Iowa stronghold.