Kerry wins big in Iowa

In the first test on the road to find a challenger to President Bush, Kerry won 38 percent and John Edwards scored a surprise second-place finish with 32 percent of the vote. One-time favorites Howard Dean, the front-runner for months, and Gephardt trailed badly with 18 and 11 percent, respectively.

The win was a huge momentum boost for Kerry, the four-term senator from Massachusetts and decorated Vietnam War veteran who weeks ago was given up for dead but roared back into the race with an emphasis on his foreign policy and war experience and his ability to beat Bush.

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"We came from behind and we came for the fight and now I have a special message for the special interests that have a home in the Bush White House: We're coming, you're going, and don't let the door hit you on the way out," Kerry told roaring supporters in Des Moines.

Kerry and Edwards, a senator from North Carolina, benefited from perceptions that they offered the best chance to beat Bush, which television network caucus polls showed was a crucial issue for Iowa Democrats.