in the early primary state of Iowa to talk to voters about his opposition to the war in Iraq.

At one stop in Iowa's capital, Des Moines, Obama got a warm welcome from a woman who said the visit might persuade her to attend the Democratic presidential caucus in January at which voters start choosing delegates to the party's presidential nominating convention.

"I'm flabbergasted that he's here knocking on my neighborhood door," Jody Degard told reporters after the visit from the Illinois senator.

Degard, who works for a local cable TV company, said she has narrowed her choice to New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama.

"I'm quite pleased that somebody is that local," she said. The Iraq war, she added, is an important issue. "I think it's time to send our troops home," Degard said.

AMSI Net- USA Today