DES MOINES -- What to do in a decent-sized Midwestern town on a Friday night? Sane people engage in normal activities; this particular Friday, many streamed into the Wells Fargo Arena to hear John Cougar Mellencamp. The concert showed Iowans may be getting tired of the politicking; former Senator John Edwards made a surprise appearance and heard the only boos of the night.

But for those whose sanity might be called into question, the real event was next door, at Veterans Memorial Auditorium. There, like the worst stereotype of a high school election, dozens of staffers and volunteers from each campaign sprinted past watchful Iowa Democratic Party monitors, flying at top speed to the upper decks, where tonight an estimated 9,000 people will listen to six top Democratic candidates at the annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner. Once upstairs, runners slathered walls and halls with printed yard signs and custom-made banners.

These are Sign Wars, Iowa style.

Below, on the arena level, wave after wave of runners prepared, bathed in face paint, armed with bullhorns and slapping duct tape on their t-shirts for use on the upper deck. "Hillary, our nominee," the Clinton backers chanted. "Fired up! Ready to go!" Obama supporters answered, the two camps separated by every other candidate like two school bullies destined to duke it out if they cross paths.

From the middle of the scrum, a defiant chant, aided by a bullhorn: "We want Elizabeth, we want John, we want to see them on the White House lawn!" Even Edwards backers, it seems, are fighting to establish the perception of a three-way race. A lone Congressman, not of Iowa, slowly made his way out the door, uniquely calm and solitary amidst the mayhem.

Upstairs, fallen signs, the first of what will be thousands of victims destined for a dumpster, lay scattered on the floor just minutes into the mad dash. A handful of senior staffers, armed only with digital cameras and envious memories of forgotten youth, wander the concourse, stepping quickly to avoid the sprinting signers, more than a few of whom collided at full speed.

Inside the arena, no signs are allowed, punishable by a ten-minute time out. Candidates walked a thin line around IDP officials with increasingly short tempers. Only Sen. Joe Biden got a time out, though "I'm more than willing to give more," one party staffer said.

The dinner will likely raise more for Iowa Democrats than any single event in their history. It is possible, even, that the party will pull in more than Iowa Republicans did at their quadrennial straw poll, in August. The thirty sections on the upper level sold out in just hours, according to one campaign source, as campaigns snapped up the sections at $5,000 a piece in order to stack them with supporters. On the floor level, tickets ranged from $20 to several thousand, though IDP spokeswoman Carrie Giddins declined to provide specific statistics.

For some candidates, the Jefferson Jackson dinner will provide their best chance to talk directly to several thousand guaranteed caucus attendees. In 2003, the event started Sen. John Kerry's comeback and helped Edwards establish himself as a serious player. This year, candidates will come armed with their best, and for one, it could be the a definitive moment.

But before any dinner can take place, young staffers have to blow off steam, hundreds of signs and untold rolls of duct tape in the greatest sign wars on earth.