(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-17 10:46

DES MOINES, United States -- The 2008 US presidential race marks the first time since 1928 that there is neither an incumbent president nor an incumbent vice president participating in the presidential nomination contest.

That leaves the door to the White House wide open for the candidates, who have been locked in a very tight race. The following is a brief introduction to the current major contenders in the race.

To date, the Democratic nomination race is basically a three-way contest among Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards. Hillary is still the front-runner in national polls, but she is locked in a neck-and-neck race with Obama in Iowa, where the first-in-the-nation caucus will be held on Jan. 3.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton is a senator representing New York. She was US first lady from 1993 to 2001 while her husband Bill Clinton served as president.

In 1993, she headed a task force that developed proposed legislation to provide universal healthcare to all Americans. The legislation was never passed, but she continues to make universal healthcare one of her top political goals.

Experts consider Clinton the first female presidential candidate with a realistic chance of winning the nomination and the election.

Clinton was born on Oct. 26, 1947, and grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois. She attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts and Yale Law School. The Clintons have one daughter.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama is a first-term senator from Illinois. Previously, he served in the Illinois state Legislature and worked as a civil rights attorney. Obama has proposed legislation that would create a new employment eligibility system for companies to verify if their employees are legal residents.

Obama, whose father is from Kenya, is considered by experts to be the first African-American candidate with a reasonable chance of winning the presidency.

Obama was born on Aug. 4, 1961, in Hawaii and has lived in many places including Indonesia. Obama attended Columbia University in New York and earned a law degree at Harvard University in Massachusetts. He and his wife Michelle have two daughters.

John Edwards

John Edwards is a former senator from North Carolina and was the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2004.

The first in his family to attend college, Edwards was a practicing attorney until he was elected to the Senate.

Edwards has said he would build a "new energy economy based on clean renewable energy and energy efficiency" if elected.

He was born on June 10, 1953, in Seneca, South Carolina. He attended North Carolina State University and received a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Edwards and his wife Elizabeth have had four children, one of whom died in a car accident in 1996.

On the Republican side, the situation is more complex as no definite front-runners have emerged so far in the presidential race.

Former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani is still leading national polls, but four other candidates follow him very closely. In Iowa and New Hampshire, where the first two major contests in the nomination race will be held, he is not among the top two choices for the Republican voters.

Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani served as mayor of New York City when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred and his performance in handling the incident won him wide acclaim. He previously was US attorney for the Southern District of New York and prosecuted several high-profile cases.

As part of his campaign, Giuliani has made "12 commitments to the American people," including "I will keep America on offense in the terrorists' war on us" and "I will impose accountability on Washington."

Giuliani, who was born on May 28, 1944, attended Manhattan College and New York University Law School. His wife is Judith, and he has two children from a previous marriage.

Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee is a former governor of Arkansas and a former Baptist preacher. As a diabetes patient, Huckabee has received national attention for losing 110 pounds (about 50 kg) and encouraging others to improve their diet and exercise.

Huckabee says withdrawing US troops from Iraq "would have serious strategic consequences for us and horrific humanitarian consequences for the Iraqis."

Born on Aug. 24, 1955, in Hope, Arkansas, Huckabee attended Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas. Huckabee and his wife have three children.

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney is a former governor of Massachusetts. He also oversaw the committee that organized the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in Utah.

Romney supports President George W. Bush's surge strategy for Iraq and has called on Americans to demonstrate a "surge of support" for US troops in Iraq.

Romney was born on March 12, 1947, in Detroit, when his father was governor of Michigan. Romney attended Brigham Young University in Utah and Harvard University's business and law schools in Massachusetts. He and his wife Ann have five sons.

John McCain

John McCain is a senator representing Arizona. He served in Vietnam, where he was a prisoner of war for more than five years. McCain was also a presidential candidate in 2000.

He has called for a "greater military commitment to Iraq," saying more troops are necessary to rebuild the nation and prevent sectarian violence.

McCain supports immigration reform legislation that would provide illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and establish a temporary guest worker program.

He was born on Aug. 29, 1936, in the Panama Canal Zone, where his father was serving in the US Navy. He attended the US Naval Academy. McCain and his wife Cindy have seven children and four grandchildren.

Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson is a former Tennessee senator. He is perhaps best known for playing the role of District Attorney Arthur Branch on the television show Law & Order.