Michele Bachmann spent the final hours of her Iowa campaign fighting off the perception that she will be the latest casualty of the Republican presidential battle.

"We think people are going to be very surprised with what the vote is tonight," Bachmann said today at a high school near Des Moines. "We're confident."

Polls put Bachmann in sixth place out of six major candidates. The Minnesota congresswoman who describes herself as the "one true conservative" in the race is also considered a big underdog in the New Hampshire primary a week from tonight.

But Bachmann is rejecting suggestions she might drop out after Iowa, pledging instead to head for the more conservative environs of South Carolina. The first southern contest, South Carolina holds its primary on Jan. 21.

"We're moving on," Bachmann said. "We're moving forward because this election is far from over. This is the opening chapter. Tonight is the first vote. We've got a long road to go."

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DES MOINES -- This is it. Welcome to the official start of the 2012 presidential race.

Iowa voters tonight will render the first judgment of the nominating season on seven major Republican candidates seeking to be their party's standard bearer against a vulnerable President Obama. Caucuses are being held in more than 800 locations across the state beginnning at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET.

The winner heads to New Hampshire for the first-in-the-nation primary on Jan. 10, but who the victor will be is anybody's guess.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who came in second in the 2008 Iowa caucuses, held a slight lead in the final Iowa Poll over Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a libertarian known for his opposition to anything not authorized by the Constitution.

The wild card in the final days of campaigning here was former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, who doggedly made more than 360 campaign appearances throughout Iowa last year to pitch his conservative credentials.

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Rick Perry is seen as battling for fourth place in tonight's Iowa caucuses, but the avid runner says it's only the start of a very long race for the Republican presidential nomination.

"It's a marathon, it's not a sprint," Perry said tonight on CNN.

The Texas governor also said he plans to resume the race in South Carolina, skipping over the New Hampshire primary next week to concentrate on the race's first southern contest. Perry said his campaign plane is warmed up and prepared to head to Aiken, S.C., for an event tomorrow.

Looking down the line, Perry said he would take the contest to Mitt Romney -- a front-runner in Iowa and New Hampshire -- by emphasizing the health care he plan he instituted as governor of Massachusetts. That plan "is not going to sell in South Carolina," Perry said.

Perry also cast himself as "an authentic conservative," while "Mitt Romney has a real problem when it comes to consistency."

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DES MOINES -- President Obama definitely wants to be part of the conversation today in Iowa, and visitors to the website of the state's largest newspaper are being reminded about his take on the GOP caucuses.

Obama for America has taken out Web ads on the homefront of the Des Moines Register, which are running as banners at the top and sides of the page.

"The Republican candidates are leaving Iowa. But their terrible plans are here to stay," proclaims the ad, which takes you to a page to sign up with the Obama-Biden re-election campaign.

Obama plans to address Democratic caucusgoers tonight via a video hookup to get them fired up to help him with another term. Democratic allies are also here in town to deliver Obama's message and to "fact check" the GOP candidates, particularly Mitt Romney.

The Obama campaign is a heavy buyer of online ads and appears on many websites.

"While the Republican candidates didn't build a lasting ground organization in Iowa to boost them in November, they did leave a legacy of proposals that Americans will overwhelmingly reject, like returning to the policies that led to the economic crisis and leaving our troops in Iraq indefinitely," Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said.

The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY are both owned by Gannett.

Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King is frustrated. A day after the conservative lawmaker opted against endorsing any of the Republican Party's presidential contenders competing in tonight's caucuses, he vented further about the party's leadership in Congress.

King expressed "real clear frustration" with the leadership of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, for two offenses in 2011: ruling out the possibility of a government shutdown during the budget debate in the spring, and ruling out a U.S. default during the debt ceiling debate in the summer. The result is an empowered president and a weakened House GOP, King said in a radio interview Tuesday morning.

"I just think we needed to draw that line and now here we are: Whatever the president is willing to fight for, the president will get," King told WMAL's Morning Majority talk show. "And we've got another year of this, and it's going to be hard to make the argument to the American people, it's going to be hard to keep our energy up, it's going to be hard to keep our base here, we've got to fight for what we believe in."

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The nation waits patiently as Iowans turn out at caucus sites in tonight's first-in-the-nation nominating contest. Which candidate do you think has the most momentum heading into the caucus? What are your expectations? In which order will the candidates finish? Join the discussion and follow tweets below from reporters on the ground: Susan Page (@susanpage), Jackie Kucinich (@jfkucinich) and Catalina Camia (@USATOnPolitics). Also, catch the latest updates at @electionsUSAT and @TheOval.

Newt Gingrich today is calling Mitt Romney a liar, just hours before Iowa voters cast their ballots for a GOP presidential nominee.

In an interview with CBS, the former House speaker was asked specifically if he believes his GOP rival is a liar. Gingrich has been pummeled in recent weeks on Iowa airwaves by negative ads, many of them funded by a pro-Romney group.

"Yes," Gingrich told Norah O'Donnell of CBS. When the question was repeated, Gingrich replied: "Well, you seem shocked by it. Yes."

Later, in an interview with Fox News, Gingrich said Romney "fails to tell the truth" when it comes to his record as Massachusetts governor and about Restore Our Future, the independent "super PAC" that has spent more than $3 million on Iowa advertising. A recent analysis shows nearly half of all the ads in Iowa are negative spots directed at Gingrich.

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DES MOINES -- Mitt Romney predicted today he'll be "among the top group" in tonight's Iowa GOP caucuses and made a final pitch for his vision of America's future as voters here get ready to cast the first ballots of the 2012 presidential election.

In an interview with MSNBC, the former Massachusetts governor echoed the sentiment of many that it's hard to forecast the outcome in what has been a roller coaster-like final stretch of campaigning in Iowa.

"It's hard to predict exactly what's going to happen," Romney said in an MSNBC interview. "I think I'll be among the top group."

At the Temple for the Performing Arts here, Romney rallied his supporters with attacks on President Obama. He made no mention of GOP rivals Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, his chief opponents according to the final Iowa Poll, or any of the other Republican candidates.

"The last three years have been tough," Romney said, referring to Obama's time in the White House. "I believe it's been a detour ... not our destination."

Although some of Romney's supporters in attendance said they believe he'll do well tonight, they said coming in first isn't necessary.

"I don't think he has to win," said Nancy Coplen, a member of Romney's Texas finance committee, who has been in Iowa since last week. Iowa is "a staging area," she said. "It's not who wins Iowa, it's important who makes a stand."

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who joined Romney on the Iowa campaign trail yesterday, agreed.

"If you said he had a chance to win a month ago, no one would have believed it," Flake said. "He has the infrastructure in place to move ahead."

While six major Republican presidential candidates make their final appeals in Iowa today, Jon Hunstman continues working on the next contest: New Hampshire.

The former governor of Utah -- and former ambassador to China under President Obama -- is betting his entire campaign on the New Hampshire primary a week from today, confident that the state's tradition of one-on-one campaigning will pay off for him.

"It happens time and time again here in New Hampshire," Huntsman told reporters Monday. "It's where message matters, it's where grass-roots politics is rewarded, and this is a state that is finely tuned to finding leaders and then sending them south."

As the Republicans gear up for tonight's caucuses in Iowa, Huntsman speaks at a charter school in Pembroke.

Huntsman also conducts three town halls today at a medical center in Lebanon, a small business in Keene, and at the Peterborough Town Hall.

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Michele Bachmann is backing up her closing argument to Iowa voters with a TV ad pitching herself as a "consistent conservative fighter" and a native of the Hawkeye State.

The ad opens with some childhood pictures of Bachmann, who was born in Iowa and lived in Waterloo until she was about 12 years old. As a narrator talks about her conservative credentials fighting President Obama's health care law and legislation to raise the debt ceiling, a small image of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher appears next to Bachmann's picture.

It's a not-so-subtle reminder that Bachmann has vowed to be America's next "Iron Lady," a moniker frequently used for Thatcher.

STORY:  Bachmann's final argument

The ad is the only one running by the Minnesota congresswoman before Tuesday's caucuses, which begin the 2012 presidential election season.

Bachmann is following up her pitch as "Iowa's own" in an e-mail to conservatives asking for their support.

"Every day the liberal media reports a different front runner, a new breaking story in the race, and new positions from each candidate," Bachmann writes. "I am the only Iowan and the only consistent conservative in this race."

DES MOINES -- Rick Santorum is getting a boost today from the Duggars, the family featured on the TLC reality show, 19 Kids and Counting.

Jim Bob Duggar, the family patriarch, campaigned with the former Pennsylvania senator today at a pizza parlor in Boone "asking Christians in America to get behind Santorum."

In a news release, Michelle Duggar called Santorum a "pro-life, Christian conservative with the family values and common-sense business perspective" needed for the presidency. She had a miscarriage last month.

Santorum has surged in Iowa in recent days, largely from the support of religious conservatives.

Christian conservatives typically make up a significant bloc of voters in Iowa caucuses and accounted for 60% of those who cast GOP ballots in 2008. Christian conservatives helped former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee come out of nowhere for a surprise victory in Iowa four years ago.

USA TODAY's Jackie Kucinich will have more about Santorum's rise in Iowa and his final days of campaigning in Tuesday's editions.

Updated 6:33 p.m. ET

DES MOINES -- Jan Bauer fondly recalls the energy that then-candidate Barack Obama brought to Iowa in the 2008 Democratic presidential caucuses and the razor-sharp ground game that paved his road from here to the White House.

Four years later, Bauer finds herself calling other Story County Democrats to remind them that they have important political work to do Tuesday just like their Republican counterparts – even if Obama is unopposed for their party's nomination.

INTERACTIVE:  Candidate Match Game

"A lot of Democrats aren't even aware that we're caucusing," said Bauer, Democratic chairwoman in the county that includes Ames, home to Iowa State University. "We're getting little to no attention in the media … but we still have to reorganize the party."

Obama plans to address Iowa Democrats who caucus Tuesday night through a live satellite feed and share his ideas about the importance of the 2012 election.

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DES MOINES -- Ron Paul brought in reinforcements for the final full day of campaigning before the Iowa caucuses: His son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

"We're going to win in Iowa tomorrow!" the younger Paul declared at a rally at a downtown hotel here, the first of five "whistle-stop" events that would take the pair from Cedar Rapids to Cedar Falls. Rand Paul, a Tea Party favorite, said he had agreed to campaign for his father if he didn't have to wear a tie. (He wore a gray V-neck sweater instead.)

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who was wearing a suit and tie, was greeted by fervent chants of his name.

"I have been in the business of promoting the cause of liberty for many years," he told the crowd, "but today the enthusiasm has tremendously increased. It's a big difference even from four years ago." He outlined his signature positions against the Federal Reserve and U.S. military action abroad, decrying the growth in the cost and power of government.

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Updated 2:11 p.m. ET

DES MOINES -- Newt Gingrich said today he doesn't expect to win the Iowa caucuses tomorrow night, but will declare victory because he has survived an onslaught of negative advertising.

Gingrich, the leader in Iowa and national polls in November, said the first contest of the 2012 presidential race is too volatile to predict. He cited the final Iowa Poll out over the weekend that shows 41% of likely caucusgoers are still undecided.

INTERACTIVE:  Poll tracker

BLOG:  Gingrich slams Obama

"I don't think I'm going to win," Gingrich told reporters after a campaign event in Independence, Iowa, adding that he believes caucus support for all candidates is "open to constant change."

Gingrich's comments are a big turnaround from his stance in early December, when he flatly told ABC News that he would be the GOP presidential nominee and that negative attacks wouldn't stick.

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DES MOINES -- Mitt Romney slipped in a reference to reality TV star Kim Kardashian as he took a swipe at President Obama and his promises to Iowa voters.

"I've been looking at some video clips on YouTube, of President Obama, then candidate Obama, going through Iowa making promises," Romney said while campaigning Sunday in Council Bluffs.

"The gap between his promises and his performance is the largest I've seen since, well, the Kardashian wedding and the promise of 'til death do us part.' "

The joke got a laugh this morning from Romney's wife, Ann, during a Fox News interview as the video clip was played.

"I got a kick out of that," she said about her husband's name-dropping line. "It was pretty funny. He likes to have fun."

And, yes, she says her husband knows Kardashian called it quits on her marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries after 72 days.

Romney credits her two daughters-in-law, who read People and US magazines, for helping the couple stay on top of pop culture news.