Two leading candidates posing as "Washington outsiders" are declared winners of the Iowa caucuses for both major political parties, according to preliminary results of the first battle of the 2008 presidential race held in Des Moines Thursday night. 

Senator Barack Obama and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee have emerged the victors in Iowa Thursday, winning the presidential caucuses. 

Obama, a first-term senator, won with a significant lead over his main rival and Democratic front-runner, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. 

Former Senator John Edwards came in second but Clinton came in at a very close third while votes were being tallied. 

Meanwhile, Huckabee, a Baptist preacher-turned politician, won the Republican caucus. He defeated Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney who occupied the second. 

Former senator Fred Thompson and Senator John McCain were in a tight race for third place. 

Going into Iowa, the first big test of the presidential race, Huckabee and Romney were neck-and-neck in the polls. 

Romney said that despite the loss, he was satisfied with the gains he made in the polls. 

"I've been pleased that I've been able to make up ground and I intend to keep making up ground, not just here but across the country," he said. 

According to Clinton's aides, the New York state senator called Obama to congratulate him. But her campaign manager said the fight for presidency was far from over. 

Analysts said Obama's win in an overwhelmingly white state is a great triumph as he tries to become the first African-American president of the United States. 

Iowa is the first state contest on the road to the party nominations and the official start of what is expected to be the longest White House race in history. 

While the state is tiny and the voter numbers low, political analysts say Iowa matters because it can make or break a candidate's chances in the other 49 states. 

"If you can't make the top three on either side in Iowa, you can't get the party nomination , "Terry Branstas, a former Republican governor of Iowa told Xinhua. 

In fact, since 1976, nearly every serious presidential candidate has come to Iowa and tried to win in the state. 

In total, Iowa has picked the eventual Democratic presidential nominee in 5 of the past 7 competitive caucuses and the eventual Republican nominee in 3 of the past 5 competitive caucuses.

(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2008)