CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team.

(CNN) — With Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama set to answer questions from Pastor Rick Warren at a forum on Saturday night, issues of faith dominated political headlines Friday.

In the latest episode of CNN=Politics Daily, White House Correspondent Ed Henry reports on McCain's efforts to hold on to the votes of social conservatives and evangelicals; voters that were critical to President Bush's election and re-election.  On the same theme, Carol Costello takes a more personal look at how each man deals with discussing his personal faith in his political life as a presidential candidate.

Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider goes back to Iowa, where the 2008 presidential campaign began in early January.  The state known for its first-in-the-nation caucus is shaping up to be a November battleground.

Finally, it's Friday so Jennifer Mikell brings you some of this week's most memorable moments from the campaign trail.

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The CNN Election Express is heading across the country.

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – We’re back where it all began. Iowa’s caucuses kicked off the presidential primary season back on January 3. And Barack Obama’s victory in Iowa altered the landscape in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The CNN Election Express spent about a month in Iowa late last year to cover all the campaign action. Now we’re back — and for good reason. If you thought once the caucuses ended, Iowa was out of the political picture: Think again.

Vice President Al Gore won the state by only 4,000 votes in the 2000 presidential election. President Bush carried the state by only 10,000 votes four years ago. This time around, the fight for Iowa’s seven electoral votes should be another close one. The most recent state polls give Obama a slight lead over presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

Today we’re at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. The annual fair is a must for anyone running for the White House, and it’s also a great place to talk to voters about what’s on their minds.

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The CNN Election Express is heading across the country.

ABOARD THE CNN ELECTION EXPRESS IN ILLINOIS (CNN) — We’re heading west, making our way through what can safely be considered Obama Country.

The Democrat’s presumptive presidential nominee also has a day job, and that’s Senator from Illinois. Before that Barack Obama was a longtime state lawmaker here, and prior to that he was a community organizer in Chicago.

We’ve been driving through a number of crucial battleground states on our way from DC to Denver, site of the Democratic National Convention, but this isn’t one of them. Vice President Al Gore won Illinois by double digits in 2000, Senator John Kerry took the state by double digits four years ago, and Obama’s expected to easily win his home state this time around.

While there’s not that much electoral drama in Illinois, it’s a different story in the two states we just passed through. Indiana’s a traditional red state that Obama would like to turn blue. And Michigan’s a state that's gone for the Democrats in the past two presidential elections, but John McCain would like to turn it red.

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McCain visited the flood-stricken town of Columbus Junction, Iowa Thursday.

(CNN) — John McCain's campaign is striking back after a top staffer for Iowa Governor Chet Culver said Thursday that the Democratic governor had unsuccessfully asked the Arizona senator to avoid making a scheduled campaign trip to the flood-ravaged state.

Patrick Dillon, Culver’s chief of staff, said in a statement there had been worries McCain's arrival would put a strain on already-overtaxed area law enforcement. The presumptive Republican nominee visited several hard-hit towns in the state Thursday.

President Bush also visited Iowa Thursday.

A McCain aide said the campaign took steps to avoid burdening any flood recovery efforts. “We worked with the local authorities to make certain we weren’t getting in the way. We’d be happy to put you in touch with the local mayor and sheriff who were part of our tour,” a McCain aide told CNN and pointed to an AP-reported comment from the mayor of the town of Columbus Junction, Iowa that McCain’s Thursday visit had not posed any difficulties.

“The governor never called the campaign to express this concern,” the McCain aide added.

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McCain found his springtime Iowa swing a far more pleasant trip.

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – Ah, Iowa. Where the grass is a green, the temperature is a balmy 72 degrees, and a triumphant Sen. John McCain stands before a Republican audience as his party’s standard-bearer.

Yes, the landscape of the Hawkeye State has changed considerably since the political world evacuated en masse late in the evening on January 3, headed to New Hampshire and beyond on chartered jets, steeling themselves for just a few more weeks of campaigning, thinking each party’s nominees would soon be determined.

On Thursday, four weary months later, the national reporters and TV crews assigned to McCain’s campaign returned to Des Moines for the first time since January to cover a town hall put on by the presumptive Republican nominee.

The scene offered a few muted flashbacks to those frigid weeks before the caucuses: the fleet of women wearing fire truck red “Divided We Fail” t-shirts, the elderly gentlemen sitting and clutching small American flags, even the slow-paced, meet-the-candidate format of the town hall itself.

The politician on stage chatted about ethanol subsidies and lauded the tenacity of Iowa farmers. CNN even spotted Tim Albrecht, Mitt Romney’s ubiquitous former Iowa communications director, milling around, lending a friendly helping hand to the event planners. This all seemed familiar.

But in other ways during this journalist homecoming, it was bizarro Iowa.

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(CNN) – Iowa has spoken, after nearly a year of campaigning by a crowded presidential field.

In Monday’s The Best Political Podcast, Chief National Correspondent John King reports on the Iowa caucuses. Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider delves into CNN’s Iowa entrance polling data and explains what caucus goers liked about Sen. Barack Obama and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

John King and Dan Lothian also look ahead to New Hampshire’s primary on January 8. Plus: the headlines percolating on the Political Ticker after the caucuses and political parting shot from I-Report cartoonist Jim Brenneman.

Click here to subscribe to The Best Political Podcast

–CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

(CNN) — The candidates, the press corps, the national parties may all be griping about 2008's incredibly early and compressed primary calendar — but it seems the rest of the country may not share those complaints, according to a new survey.

A Gallup poll released Friday found that 49 percent of the country thinks it's a good thing that the caucuses and primaries begin in January. Another 27 percent say it's neither good nor bad. Just 22 percent are troubled by the unprecedented early start to the presidential selection process.

The fact that the contest may be a relatively short sprint didn't seem to trouble a majority of those surveyed, either: 45 percent said it was a good thing that both parties' nominees would likely be known by early February, and 18 percent more said it would be neither good nor bad. Thirty-six percent said they'd like to see the process last longer.

Americans are less enthusiastic about the king-maker role now filled by Iowa and New Hampshire. While 26 percent thought it was a good thing that those two states always weighed in first, 28 percent thought it was a bad thing. Forty-four percent were ambivalent about the current arrangement.

But those surveyed appeared overwhelmingly unhappy about the fact that most of them may not get the chance to cast a meaningful presidential primary vote: 71 percent said that it was a bad thing that the nominees are usually determined before many states hold their primaries or caucuses. Just 11 percent said it was a good thing, and 17 percent said it was neither good nor bad.

The survey of 1,008 Americans was conducted December 10-13, 2007, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd abandoned their campaigns.

(CNN) — Delaware Sen Joe Biden and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd abandoned their bids for the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night.

"I count the past year of campaigning for the presidency as one of the most rewarding in a career of public service. Unfortunately, I am withdrawing from that campaign tonight," Dodd said in an e-mail message sent to supporters tonight.

"But there is no reason to hang our heads this evening — only the opportunity to look towards a continuation of the work we started last January: ending the Iraq War, restoring the Constitution, and putting a Democrat in the White House. … You've been an invaluable ally in the battle, and I'll need you to stick by my side despite tonight's caucus results."

"I'm withdrawing from the presidential race, but let me assure you, we do not exit this race with our heads hanging," Dodd told his supporters Thursday night. "Rather, we do so with our heads very, very high."
Dodd received less than 1 percent in the Iowa caucuses, with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

The 5-term senator called his campaign "one of the most rewarding in my life of public service" and said the results, while not what he had hoped, "sent a clear message that his party is united in the belief that this nation needs change."

Biden sounded a similar note. In a speech before his supporters — who at one point chanted — "Joe, Joe," he said: "I ain't going away, let me make that clear." He said he had no regrets, and the reason he embarked on the campaign was because he believed in the nation. "There's no reason not to be happy," he said. "The promise of this nation is immense." He said he plans to return to the Senate as head of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Meanwhile, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — who will finish a distant fourth in Iowa, with roughly 2 percent of the vote — is staying in the race. "We are on the way to New Hampshire tonight. We plan to make this a referendum on the Iraq war. This is far from over," Press Secretary Tom Reynolds tells CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

Richardson Communications Director Pahl Shipley confirms the news, adding that "New Hampshire is a new game. Every vote counts."

Related video: Biden drops out

Related video: Dodd drops out

– CNN's Mark Preston and John King

Who will get second place in Iowa's Democratic caucuses?

(CNN) — John Edwards is neck-and-neck with Clinton for second place, because 19 percent of Democrats said in entrance polling that it is most important to them to choose a candidate who "cares about people" – 45 percent of that demographic went to the former North Carolina senator, while 23 percent went to both Obama and Clinton

Just over half of Democratic caucus goers said change was the number one factor they were looking for in a candidate, and 51 percent of those voters chose Barack Obama. That compares to only 19 percent of "change" caucus goers who preferred Clinton.

Meanwhile, only 20 percent of Democrats said Clinton's campaign mantra — experience — was the most important attribute of a presidential candidate. Clinton won 49 percent of those voters, while Richards came in second with 20 percent.

–CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider

CNN's Mike Roselli captured the mood at camp Clinton Thursday night.

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – Long after the local and national TV outlets had turned away from her headquarters, Hillary Clinton was still going.

She worked the stage full of supporters that had assembled behind her. She hugged and shook hands with prominent backers such as Madeleine Albright and Terry McAuliffe and stopped to talk with Iowa surrogates who had become constants on her travels across the state. One woman decked out in full AFSCME regalia commanded the senator's attention until they were practically alone on the stage.

Sen. Clinton descended from the stage and worked the remaining fans pressed against the bunting clad ropeline, posing for pictures and signing autographs. She outlasted President Clinton, not one ever to leave a ropeline early.

Once the candidate had exited the ballroom, the campaign soundtrack looped for the umpteenth time as supporters milled about picking up signs, swilling beer, and posing for pictures at the podium where their candidate had just spoken.

–CNN Senior Political Producer Sasha Johnson

CNN is projecting this split of Iowa's 45 Democratic delegates, based on tonight's results:

Barack Obama: 16, Hillary Clinton: 15, John Edwards: 14

CNN is projecting this split of Iowa's 37 Republican delegates, based on tonight's results:

Mike Huckabee: 17, Mitt Romney: 12, Fred Thompson: 3, John McCain: 3, Ron Paul: 2

Dodd will reportedly drop out of the race.

A senior campaign aide tells CNN that Sen. Chris Dodd is abandoning his campaign for president — an official announcement is expected shortly.

Caucus goers enter the Lovejoy Elementary School in Des Moines.

The Iowa Democratic Party said that with 96 percent of the precincts reporting, they were seeing record turnout, with 227,000 caucus attendees. In 2004, their turnout was about 125,000 caucus goers.

The Iowa Republican Party is also projecting record turnout, with 120,000 people taking part in the Republican caucuses. About 87,000 people took part in the 2000 Republican caucuses.

Mitt Romney spoke in Des Moines, Iowa Thursday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN)– Supporters of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney are trickling in to the campaign’s Iowa headquarter in West Des Moines.

It's a very subdued crowd here, some still watching big TV screens, others just walked away from them after the results were projected. An adviser to the campagn points to the strong evangelical turnout among caucus goers for Romney's loss. That was the big wild card for Romney despite campaigning here for nearly a year and spending over six-million dollars on ads in Iowa.

Romney's family was with him on the campaign trail today. The campaign said he was watching results with them here at the hotel. We are waiting for him to come italk to his supporters.

Romney has been saying in recent days that if he comes in second, it would be a strong statement. He appeared confident earlier in the day, when he told crowds that he looked forward to debating the Democratic nominee.

–CNN's Mary Snow

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – So far, the press has spent hours watching aides tweak the podium and pace the press area, here in the ballroom at the Hotel Ft. Des Moines.

The ballroom is SMALL and will pack fast once supporters filter in — one assumes the temperature will rise from chilly comfortable to summer in Iowa. Areas outside the room have been set up for folks to mix and mingle — which we're told by aides they're doing.

Red, white and blue lights sit behind the curtains to give the old-fashioned space a patriotic glow. When Hillary Clinton emerges to speak to the crowd later this evening, she will do so in front of a large "Ready for Change, Ready to Lead Banner." There is a long tiered platform behind her posing the possibility that supporters and family members will stand behind her.

Reporters, producers and photographers are crammed on the riser trying to make nice — although there's already been a food spill and a hot light clipped a journalist as it tipped over. One imagines comraderie will fade when the candidate takes the stage and the whole press corps surges forward to get the shot.

(CNN) — I’ll be doing on-air “analysis” for CNN through the evening. In preparation, I‘ve been doing what I’ve always done as a reporter when I’m not out talking to people in person — working the phones. Usually I do that in my office in midtown Manhattan, a private and reasonably commodious outpost. But I haven’t done it from a newsroom (a huge one in the case of CNN’s New York operations) in a long time, and I must say it’s a nice feeling to be in a sea of reporters and editors and folks running around with the urgency that daily journalism demands, especially on a big story, which the Iowa caucuses– justifiably or not — have become.

(What seems unjustifiable is the disproportionate role of Iowa and New Hampshire in picking the President of the United States, an anomaly that ought to end after this year’s circus: No matter how diligent the citizens of these two small states — and they tends towards diligent-plus in these matters — the outsized role of two tiny provinces and their tiny populations is certainly is not the what ‘One-person, One-vote’ was supposed to mean…..Another subject for another day, but definitely part of the bizarre dynamic of whatever occurs tonight.)

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Obama continues to face questions based on internet rumors

(CNN) — As he made a last-minute push for votes in Des Moines, Barack Obama was still finding Iowans curious about e-mailed rumors about his religion – or, for one voter, his alleged lack of one.

Zanata Moore-El asked Obama if he was an atheist.

"I'm a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ," Obama said. "Don't read e-mails."

Obama is a Christian, but e-mails speculating on his religious views, including his Muslim heritage, are still circulating despite being discredited.

"I hated having to ask him that," Moore-El told a reporter. "But I heard he was like an atheist. I don't want a president who's an atheist. I'm a firm believer in God. I just really wanted to make sure because I really wanted to vote for him and he has some good topics and everything."

– CNN Associate Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

(CNN) – Joe Biden is definitely a part of the conversation out in Iowa. Quite honestly, it seems to me that he doesn't have a hard time convincing voters that he is the best candidate for the job — the tough task is convincing folks that he is viable. But his camp seems confident that this is where their large group of legislators and party chairs will bring it home for them. Once they get into those rooms on caucus night, they say, they will see all the others for Biden — and between that and professional organizers doing their thing, they will bring it home to fourth place or higher.

–CNN's Donna Brazile

(CNN) — Ironically, I think the most brilliant thing any Democratic campaign has done is the work that Sen. Clinton's team has done — intentionally or not — to lower expectations. If she wins tonight, it's an upset almost; she's the only of the majors who can survive third place. She has a great team on the ground led by the former governor and presidential candidate Tom Vilsack.

–CNN's Donna Brazile