But if you can't wait until January 19, hang on: Kerry said he'd also have a "big surprise" today on the steps of the Iowa capitol - the endorsement of 27 Iowa state legislators - and maybe someone else.
Speaking on Monday on Fox News, Kerry said his rival Howard Dean is not assured the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. "I'm going to be the nominee and I think that's beginning to happen here in Iowa."
As for the 27 Iowa lawmakers who plan to endorse him today, Kerry said, "These are the people who do the work everyday for Iowans. These are the people who have to run and want somebody at the top of the ticket who can beat George Bush and help them to build a majority here."
Kerry - his breath steaming in Iowa's January cold - said his campaign is heating up. "I feel the energy, I feel the growth," Kerry said.
Kerry said there have been "huge swings" in the final days of the Iowa campaign. He said his campaign has momentum, and will gain more - not just with the endorsement of the lawmakers, "but with an added surprise that will help my campaign continue to move."
"I'm confident that what's going on in Iowa is a lot of thinking," Kerry said in the Fox interview. "I've never met a group of people who are more serious about the democratic process than they are out here in this caucus. They bring notebooks to these meetings. They compare candidates. They come and listen to you three, four, and five times, trying to make up their minds."
Kerry said he's grown to "love" Iowa, "and I feel confident that in these next days my campaign is going to grow. I just feel it."
