Uplifting appeals largely replaced stinging insults as Democratic and Republican candidates did the only thing left to do in crucial races in Iowa that are too close to call - encourage supporters to vote for them.

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton was scheduled to make her closing argument to Iowa voters yesterday evening during a televised message in which she tells them to "take the first step" toward changing the direction of the country by voting for her at the caucuses.

"After all the town meetings, the pie and coffee, it all comes down to this: Who is ready to be president and ready to start solving the big challenges we face on Day One," Clinton says in the two-minute appeal to be broadcast during evening news programs on the eve of the caucuses.