DES MOINES - Iowa, the state that helped jump-start Democrat Barack Obama's presidential run in its presidential caucuses, supported Obama again Tuesday in his historic win over Republican John McCain.

The Associated Press and major news networks called the state for Obama just moments after the polls closed at 9 p.m.

With all precincts reporting, Obama led with 54 percent of the vote to McCain's 44.2 percent.

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Cumming who was re-elected Tuesday night, highlighted Iowa's role in Obama's victory.

"Iowa launched Barack Obama on his winning journey, and today Iowa was proud to be part of the great wave of change that swept him into the White House," Harkin said. "I can't wait to get back to work to help President Obama get America back on track."

Addressing supporters, Harkin said Obama's win was not just a victory for the Democratic Party, but for a country that has chosen a new direction and a new kind of politics.

"Tomorrow, we've got work to do," Harkin said. "Boy do we have a lot of work to do. We've got to bring Americans together; we've got to bring our country together and get our country moving again. And on that score I have six words: Yes we can, and yes we will."

Obama had a head start in Iowa with the organization his campaign assembled last year to win the state's first-in-the nation presidential caucuses in January.

Jackie Norris, who led Obama's general election campaign in Iowa, said the campaign was pleased to see support for the Illinois senator all across the state.

Norris said they built on the caucus organization and tried to make it accessible to supporters.

"We kept it very local. We kept it very grassroots. Part of our strategy was to have offices all across the state so people could get invested in the campaign locally and become part of the political process locally," Norris said.

For the general election, the Obama campaign opened 50 offices around Iowa including rural areas and had 120 paid staff members working on the ground.

Throughout August and September, the Obama campaign pushed heavily into rural areas of the state, holding roundtables on Obama's rural policies that featured Iowa politicians such as Harkin.

The Obama campaign narrowed its target in early voting efforts to sporadic voters - those who voted in none or one of the last three elections. The campaign encouraged those voters to cast ballots ahead of Election Day - either at satellite locations, local election offices or by mail.

That was a departure from past elections, when Iowa Democrats focused more heavily on getting reliable party voters to cast absentee ballots before Election Day.

Obama's victory came despite the intense effort McCain's campaign placed on Iowa in the closing weeks of the campaign. McCain and running mate Sarah Palin blitzed the state, holding rallies in an attempt to turn out supporters and win over undecided voters.

Despite polls showing Obama with a double-digit lead in Iowa in the final weeks, McCain campaign officials expressed optimism that many of Obama's supporters could be persuaded to vote for McCain.

"We just worked as hard as we could and tried to play catch up," said Stewart Iverson, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. "Sen. Obama had a great organization from the caucuses, and it certainly helped dramatically. But you know, I think Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin did an outstanding job."

Obama and Democrats headed into election night in Iowa with an edge of more than 100,000 registered voters over Republicans.

Tuesday's win for the Democratic nominee marks a departure from the 2004 election, when the state went for Republican President George W. Bush. Bush won Iowa by just over 10,000 votes out of 1.5 million votes cast.

In 2000, the vote here was even narrower, with Democrat Al Gore winning the state by a margin of close to 4,000.

Contact Charlotte Eby at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.