The Iowa caucuses are too close to call, as early returns show Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney in a dead heat for the first-in-the-nation presidential contest.

With 45 percent of precincts reporting, Santorum led with 25 percent. Romney followed with 24 percent, Paul with 22 percent. The Fox News decision desk projects that only those three candidates are in contention for the top spot.

Fox News also projects that Michele Bachmann will finish last in Tuesday’s caucuses among the candidates who are competing there. Early returns show her with 6 percent. Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry are settling into the second tier, with Gingrich slightly ahead.

The results trickled in following a day of sharp-elbowed politicking.

Gingrich, fed up with the negative ads against him, agreed with a depiction of Romney as a liar.Santorum, similarly dispirited about a spate of robo-calls in Iowa, called Paul “disgusting.”

The exchanges were characteristic of the bitter tone that pervaded the closing moments of one of history’s most volatile GOP elections. With more than 40 percent of Iowans supposedly uncommitted to a candidate as of this past weekend, the campaigns approached Tuesday night’s caucuses with little certainty of the outcome.

The three candidates at the top took nothing for granted, holding rallies on caucus day in a final bid to get out the vote. Gingrich, Perry and Bachmann also pressed the flesh Tuesday in a last appeal to caucus-goers.

At the 1,774 caucus sites, each candidate relied on local supporters to make his or her case before Iowans finally cast their ballots. Romney had found himself defending a narrow lead in the state — after barely competing there for most of 2011. A win Tuesday night could help reaffirm his oft-threatened front-runner status, as the field heads next into New Hampshire, where Romney holds a decisive lead.

But Romney is not pulling away from the pack by any means. After having predicted a win the night before, caucus returns show Romney seemingly unable to break the 25 percent threshold — which roughly has been his cap in terms of support in national polls. Romney’s showing in Tuesday’s caucuses appears similar to his showing in 2008, when his 25 percent haul landed him in second place behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

A second-place finish for the former Massachusetts governor on Tuesday could portend a more drawn-out and competitive process. Santorum and Paul, each looking for a come-from-behind win in the state, tussled on Tuesday as they tried to consolidate the not-Romney vote.

Paul has been claiming Santorum is a closet liberal, while Santorum and others say Paul is dangerous on foreign policy.

On Tuesday, Santorum called Paul “disgusting” after blaming his campaign for robo-calls that describe Santorum as too liberal on gun rights and abortion.

Paul, on Fox News, accused Santorum of trying to “deflect away” from the scrutiny his record is receiving. Paul claims Santorum’s support for foreign aid is outside the conservative mainstream.

Elsewhere in Iowa, Gingrich continued to take a more aggressive tone after being battered with negative advertising and watching his once-lofty poll numbers plummet.

Asked in a CBS interview early Tuesday whether he thinks Romney is a liar, he said yes — claiming the so-called “Super PACs” running ads against him are tied to Romney though he “pretends” he’s not involved.

Romney suggested on Fox News that Gingrich is thin-skinned.

“If you can’t stand the heat of this little kitchen, wait until the Hell’s Kitchen which is coming from Barack Obama,” Romney said.

And Perry, who like Gingrich once led the field in Iowa, tried to fire up the crowd Tuesday during a stop at his West Des Moines headquarters.

“It is a powerful moment in America’s history, and you are on the front lines. This is Concord, this is Omaha Beach,” Perry said. Despite flagging in the polls, Perry’s campaign is making plans to chart a post-Iowa course. The Perry campaign confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday that it has bought TV time in South Carolina, which holds the first-in-the-South primary — one that historically has been far more accurate at picking eventual GOP nominees than Iowa.

Romney, for his part, predicted a day earlier that he would pull off a win in Iowa. The statement marked a turnaround from his earlier campaign strategy, which all but discounted Iowa in favor of New Hampshire.

Romney told Fox News on Tuesday that he’s prepared to take on President Obama.

“We created more jobs in Massachusetts than this president created in this entire country,” Romney told Fox News. “We’ll be comparing my record with his record, and he comes up very short.”

Santorum, who unlike Romney was committed to Iowa from the start of his campaign and visited all 99 counties, said he has the essential ingredients headed into the evening’s endeavor.

“Caucuses are about enthusiasm and momentum, and we certainly have enthusiasm and momentum,” he said.

But Bachmann, an Iowa native, earlier claimed Iowans were quietly returning to her camp — a claim the caucus results appeared to dispute.

Aside from former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman who is not competing in Iowa, Bachmann had performed the worst in recent caucus polling.

Related posts: