Subject: HRC IA Clips 12.23.07
From: "Christopher Chase" <[email-masked]>
To: "Christopher Chase" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:43:32 -0500

HRC Iowa Campaign Clips

Sunday, December 23, 2007 

I. MUST READS <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#MustReads> 

BEAUMONT

Democrats ratchet up message of electability, DM Register, 12-23

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS/712230332 <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS/712230332> 

GLOVER

            Obama Criticizes Edwards' Record, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/23//ap/politics/d8tmrls00.txt <http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/23/ap/politics/d8tmrls00.txt> 

Obama focuses on Edwards' track record, trade issues, AP: WCF Courier, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/ap-state-ia/d8tmkh082.txt 

Edwards says 'my people will be there', AP: WCF Courier, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Marshalltown Times Republican, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/ap-state-ia/d8tm28f03.txt

TIBBETTS

Thompson not bothered by campaign criticism, WCF Courier,The Ames Tribune, 12-22

http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=19137731&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554432&rfi=6 

MISC./OF NOTE <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#MISC> 

Times Democratic caucus endorsement: Hillary Clinton passes the test, QC Times, 12-23

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/23/opinion/opinion/doc476dbeaa93608338096560.txt <http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/23/opinion/opinion/doc476dbeaa93608338096560.txt> 

 

II. CLIPS <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#CLIPS> 

HRC <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#HRC> 

Hillary is 'polarizing' only because of what rivals say, Bill Clinton says, Des Moines Register, 12-22

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS09/71222002/1001/NEWS 

     Bill Clinton stresses Hillary's 'vision' in Des Moines speech, CR Gazette, 12-23

           http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-            script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/c                 rb_23surfp003.pdf.0/&section=B%3A%20Iowa%20Today&edition=The%20Gazette&pag      eNum=B03# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/crb_23surfp003.pdf.0/&section=B%3A%20Iowa%20Today&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=B03> 

 

     Clinton: We Don't Vote for Advisers, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

            http://www.qctimes.com/ap/politics/d8tmp5ng0.txt <http://www.qctimes.com/ap/politics/d8tmp5ng0.txt>  

            Clinton Makes Closing Argument to Women, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

            http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/23//ap/politics/d8tmvic80.txt <http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/23/ap/politics/d8tmvic80.txt>   

Clinton appearance set for Sunday night, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, 12-22

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=184637 

Fog makes Bill Clinton a no-show, Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/vote_Bill_Clinton_122207 

Political understudies stand in for absent political star: Former Iowa governor and Oregon governor fill in for President Clinton in Columbus Junction, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/news/doc476c84aded6f8708278871.txt 

Vilsack said Iowans can make history by backing Clinton, AP: WCF Courier,  Muscatine Journal, 12-22

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/ap-state-ia/d8tm2mfg0.txt 

Blog Post: Union members plan to disavow themselves from Obama/Edwards attack ad, Des Moines Register, 12-22

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U=0c5cd9bc447140cb9acb4966e5e98b1d&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=0c5cd9bc447140cb9acb4966e5e98b1d&plckPostId=Blog%3a0c5cd9bc447140cb9acb4966e5e98b1dPost%3a702a2954-9391-416f-a802-739f88cce87d&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest 

            Blog Post: Bill Clinton Woos Iowa Undecideds, Iowa Politics, 12-22
            http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=113969 

Biden <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#BIDEN>  

Biden hopes late "Mo-Joe" pushes him to 4th, maybe higher in Iowa, AP: WCF Courier, Burlington Hawk Eye, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/ap-state-ia/d8tm18vo0.txt 

Biden says election is about security, Carroll Times Herald, 12-21

http://www.carrollspaper.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=5148&TM=45520.71 

LTE: Biden has necessary foreign policy experience, CR Gazette, 12-23

http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm010.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A10# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm010.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A10> 

            Blog Post: IowaPolitics.com: Biden Asks Caucus-goers To Focus on Credentials,       Iowa Politics, 12-23
            http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=113971 

 

            Blog Post: Biden picks up two more legislator endorsements, Bleeding Heartland, 12-  22 

            http://www.bleedingheartland.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=814 <http://www.bleedingheartland.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=814>  

Blog Post: Biden picks up two more legislator endorsements, Bleeding Iowa, 12-22

http://www.bleedingheartland.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=814 

DODD <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#DODD> 

            Dodd asks for 'good look' in Coralville, CR Gazette, 12-23

            http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-            script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/c            rb_23surfp003.pdf.0/&section=B%3A%20Iowa%20Today&edition=The%20Gazette&pag      eNum=B03# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/crb_23surfp003.pdf.0/&section=B%3A%20Iowa%20Today&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=B03> 

            Blog Post: Dodd Hopes for Third or Fourth in Iowa, Contrasts on FISA, Iowa    Independent, 12-22

            http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1704 <http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1704> 

Blog Post: Dodd: "Third, Fourth, First Is Best" in Iowa , Iowa Independent, 12-22

http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1704 

EDWARDS <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#EDWARDS> 

Edwards tells '527s' to stop ads, Des Moines Register, 12-22

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS/71222010/1001/NEWS 

            Edwards tells Lisbon he feels momentum again, CR Gazette, 12-23

            http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-            script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/c            rb_23surfp003.pdf.0/&section=B%3A%20Iowa%20Today&edition=The%20Gazette&pag      eNum=B03# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/crb_23surfp003.pdf.0/&section=B%3A%20Iowa%20Today&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=B03> 

            Edwards doesn't 'walk the walk,' Obama says, Omaha World Herald, 12-23

            http://omahaworldherald.ne.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-            script/fullpage.php?pSetup=omahaworldherald&file=0@/omahaworldherald/20071223/23            _dec.su03iaa.pdf.0/&section=A%3A%20Main&edition=Metro%20Morning&pageNum=A0    3# <http://omahaworldherald.ne.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=omahaworldherald&file=0@/omahaworldherald/20071223/23_dec.su03iaa.pdf.0/&section=A%3A%20Main&edition=Metro%20Morning&pageNum=A03> 

            Edwards: Industry won't solve health care crisis, Iowa City Press-Citizen, 12-23

            http://www.press-           citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS01/712230320/1079 

 

            Edwards wants Congress to create $100 billion economic cushion, AP/Globe             Gazette, Quad City Times, 12-22

        http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IA_EDWARDS_ECONOMY_IAOL-   ?SITE=IAMAS&SECTION=AMERICAS <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IA_EDWARDS_ECONOMY_IAOL-?SITE=IAMAS&SECTION=AMERICAS>  

 

Edwards: Greed created health crisis, WCF Courier, 12-22

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/12/22/business/local/doc476d10b7343ed273557546.txt 

Edwards steps up rhetoric against health insurance, drug companies, WCF Courier, 12-22

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/12/22/news/politics/bc0f5cb0cf2531bf862573b9001eb20e.txt 

Edwards in Northeast Iowa late next week, WCF Courier, 12-22

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/12/22/news/metro/8504f7ebeb2deb9b862573b9001e066f.txt 

Edwards rails against corporate influence, Ames Tribune, 12-22

http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=19138176&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554432&rfi=6 

Edwards wants Congress to create $100 billion economic cushion, AP: WCF Courier, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/ap-state-ia/d8tmhn201.txt 

Edwards brings his 'Fighting for America' tour to Le Mars, Le Mars Daily Sentinel, 12-21

http://www.lemarssentinel.com/story/1299274.html 

LTE: Man of integrity, Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Buddy_Howard_122007 

LTE: What I believe in, The Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Carrie_Duncan_121107 

LTE: Edwards has a plan to end war, health care, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/opinion/letters/doc476c0a9f196b4663949185.txt 

LTE: Edwards will put nation on new course, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/opinion/letters/doc476c0ae273fe7296905108.txt 

Blog Post: What Edwards has going for Him in Iowa, 12-22

http://commoniowan.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-edwards-has-going-for-him-in-iowa.html 

OBAMA <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#OBAMA> 

            History creates 'place of fear' for some, DM Register, 12-23

            http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS09/7           12220338/-1/caucus <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS09/712220338/-1/caucus> 

 

     Obama vows strong trade agreements, DM Register, 12-23

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS10/7           12230337/-1/caucus <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS10/7           12230337/-1/caucus> 

 

     Obama criticizes Edwards on new ads, CR Gazette, 12-23

            http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-            script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071            223/crb_23surfp003.pdf.0/&section=B%3A%20Iowa%20Today&edition=The%20Gaz           ette&pageNum=B03# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/crb_23surfp003.pdf.0/&section=B%3A%20Iowa%20Today&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=B03> 

 

            Obama's Views Have Changed With Time, Quad City Times, 12-23

        http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/23/ap/politics/d8tmo15o2.prt <http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/23/ap/politics/d8tmo15o2.prt>  

 

            Obama rakes Edwards over indie groups' ads, Radio Iowa, 12-23
            http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=03C66CC3-D0D5-D31C-            C89CA0FF30B696B1 <http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=03C66CC3-D0D5-D31C-C89CA0FF30B696B1>  

Obama sees energy as new frontier, Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/vote_obama_122207 

Obama touts foreign affairs judgment, Ft. Dodge Messenger, 12-22

http://www.messengernews.net/page/content.detail/id/501974.html?nav=5010 

Obama to visit the Bluffs Sunday, Council Bluffs Nonpareil, 12-22

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19137999&BRD=2703&PAG=461&dept_id=555107&rfi=6 

LTE: JFK to Obama, Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Virginia_Riddle_121707 

Blog Post: Obama rakes Edwards over indie groups' ads, Radio Iowa, 12-22

http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=03C66CC3-D0D5-D31C-C89CA0FF30B696B1 

Blog Post: Obama says Edwards "inconsistent", Radio Iowa, 12-22

http://learfield.typepad.com/radioiowa/2007/12/obama-says-edwa.html 

Blog Post: Obama: Government should Lift Barrier, Century of the Common Iowan, 12-22

http://commoniowan.blogspot.com/2007/12/obama-government-should-lift-barriers.html 

 

            Blog Post: Will Latino caucus-goers break for Obama? <http://www.bleedingheartland.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=815> , Bleeding Heartland, 12-22,             http://www.bleedingheartland.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=815 <http://www.bleedingheartland.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=815>  

 

            Blog Post: Obama's Health Care Plan: 'Not Behind Closed Doors' <http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1706> , Iowa Independent,   12-22

http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1706 <http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1706>  

 

RICHARDSON <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#RICHARDSON> 

Richardson volunteers to stream into Iowa from New Mexico, Des Moines Register, 12-22

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS09/71222008/1001/NEWS 

Richardson calls out Congress, CR Gazette, 12-23

http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/crb_23surfp003.pdf.0/&section=B%3A%20Iowa%20Today&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=B03# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/crb_23surfp003.pdf.0/&section=B%3A%20Iowa%20Today&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=B03> 

Caucus Digest: Richardson health plan, WCF Courier, 12-22

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/12/22/news/politics/7216c148c52c7fe1862573b9001df8e9.txt 

Richardson: War still big issue, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=19138156&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554432&rfi=6 

            Blog Post: Richardson says Iowans Can Deliver Win over "Smarty Pants Set in          Washington," Iowa Politics, 12-22,   http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=113970 

 

GOP <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#GOP> 

Huckabee: Caucus clout stays - if you support me, Des Moines Register, 12-23

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS/712230343/-1/caucus <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS/712230343/-1/caucus> 

Analysis: Can Thompson's late effort pay off?, Des Moines Register, 12-23

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS/71222023 <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/NEWS/71222023> 

Huckabee: My campaign proves it's not about the money, Des Moines Register, 12-22

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS09/71222004/-1/caucus 

Huckabee: My campaign proves it's not about the money, Des Moines Register, 12-22

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS09/71222004/1001/NEWS 

Fred Thompson events canceled, Des Moines Register, 12-22

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/NEWS/71222007/1001/NEWS 

     Romney says McCain flunked 'Reagan 101', Omaha World Herald, 12-23

            http://omahaworldherald.ne.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-            script/fullpage.php?pSetup=omahaworldherald&file=0@/omahaworldherald/20071223/23            _dec.su03iaa.pdf.0/&section=A%3A%20Main&edition=Metro%20Morning&pageNum=A0    3# <http://omahaworldherald.ne.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=omahaworldherald&file=0@/omahaworldherald/20071223/23_dec.su03iaa.pdf.0/&section=A%3A%20Main&edition=Metro%20Morning&pageNum=A03> 

 

     Huckabee: Stronger Military, Families, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

            http://www.qctimes.com/ap/politics/d8tmnuhg0.txt 

 

     Romney Takes on McCain Over Taxes, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

            http://www.qctimes.com/ap/politics/d8tmmcrg2.txt <http://www.qctimes.com/ap/politics/d8tmmcrg2.txt>  

            Rivals: Huckabee Another Bill Clinton, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

            http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/23//ap/politics/d8tn3ld00.txt <http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/12/23/ap/politics/d8tn3ld00.txt>  

 

            Huckabee returns to city, now with front-runner status, Sioux City    Journal, 12-23
            http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/23/news/top/4b5f2a2c24dad6d2862573     ba000fca24.txt <http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/23/news/top/4b5f2a2c24dad6d2862573ba000fca24.txt>  

 

            Huckabee Delivers Populist Message in Iowa's Democratic Stronghold, Iowa             Independent, 12-22, http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1705 <http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1705>  

 

        Huckabee Disavows Anti-Catholic Sentiments At Church Where He Will Speak,        Iowa Independent, 12-22, http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1708 <http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1708>  

 

Huckabee touts poll climb, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, 12-22

http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=184692  

'I dance to no man's tune', Ft. Dodge Messenger, 12-22

http://www.messengernews.net/page/content.detail/id/501976.html?nav=5010 

In Iowa, barnstorming Thompson aims to keep campaign alive, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/ap-state-ia/d8tm4bpo0.txt 

A Rendezvous with Huckabee: Republicans' rising star lands in Muscatine for campaign appearance, Muscatine Journal, 12-21

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/news/doc476c822ed9b6c514230349.txt 

Q&A: Inside the bus with Fred Thompson, Carroll Times Herald, 12-21

http://www.carrollspaper.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=5147&TM=45520.71 

Republicans, Le Mars Daily Sentinel, 12-21

http://www.lemarssentinel.com/story/1299267.html 

LTE: As candidate, Thompson is refreshingly honest, CR Gazette, 12-23

http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm010.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A10# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm010.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A10> 

            LTE: McCain right to speak out about U.S. use of torture, CR Gazette, 12-23

            http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-            script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/c            ra_23surfm010.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&    pageNum=A10# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm010.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A10> 

Blog Post: Huckabee Delivers Populist Message in Iowa's Democratic Stronghold, Iowa Independent, 12-22

http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1705 

Blog Post: Doing Mitt's Bidding in Des Moines, Des Moines Register, 12-22

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U=e8d13281d6fa4bb3ad8a0c02ca590dcf&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=e8d13281d6fa4bb3ad8a0c02ca590dcf&plckPostId=Blog%3ae8d13281d6fa4bb3ad8a0c02ca590dcfPost%3a5c7fcc40-4505-4218-a16d-2e2a8444d448&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest 

THE FIELD <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#THEFIELD> 

The Tribune's guide to caucusing. Ames Tribune, 12-21

http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=19138148&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554432&rfi=6 

Together we caucus, ... Divided they can fall. The Iowa caucus, is the first big test of a presidential candidate's viability and popularity, and it's one where every person's involvement can reap big dividends - or losses - for a White House hopeful., Muscatine Journal, 12-21

http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2007/12/22/news/doc476c83c6ebd83976154880.txt 

Democrats, Le Mars Daily Sentinel, 12-21

http://www.lemarssentinel.com/story/1299266.html 

Iowa Caucus 2008: A how-to guide, Le Mars Daily Sentinel, 12-21

http://www.lemarssentinel.com/story/1299265.html 

LTE: Caucus buddy, Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Celine_Schulte_121607 

LTE: Iowa college students are Iowans, DM Register, 12-23

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/OPINION04/712220306/1038/OPINION <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071222/OPINION04/712220306/1038/OPINION> 

III. Op-Eds and Editorials <https://webmail.hillaryclinton.com/exchange/ChristopherChase/Drafts/?Cmd=new#OpEds>  

            Voter's voices, DM Register, 12-23

            http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/OPINION03/712    230309/1035/OPINION <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/OPINION03/712230309/1035/OPINION> 

            Spending must be controlled, CR Gazette, 12-23

            http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-            script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/c            ra_23surfm011.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&    pageNu m=A11# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm011.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A11> 

A plan to guarantee health care for all, CR Gazette, 12-23

http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm011.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A11# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm011.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A11> 

No. 1 duty: Protect nation from our enemies, CR Gazette, 12-23

http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm011.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A11# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm011.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A11> 

There's no U.S. military solution for Iraq, CR Gazette, 12-23

http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm011.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A11# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm011.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A11> 

Pause the PlayStation; focus on Iowa caucuses, CR Gazette, 12-23

http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm010.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A10# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm010.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A10> 

Poll-obsessed media focus on strategy over substance, CR Gazette, 12-23

http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm009.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A09# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm009.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A09> 

Who elected Iowa?, CR Gazette, 12-23

http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm009.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A09# <http://cedarrapidsgazette.ia.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=cedarrapidsgazette&file=0@/cedarrapidsgazette/20071223/cra_23surfm009.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Opinion&edition=The%20Gazette&pageNum=A09> 

The '70s live on in the '08 race through Arkansas connection, Omaha World Herald, 12-23

http://omahaworldherald.ne.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=omahaworldherald&file=0@/omahaworldherald/20071223/23_dec.su07mdb.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Editorial%20Page&edition=Metro%20Morning&pageNum=B07# <http://omahaworldherald.ne.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/frame/3_0f.ver/php-script/fullpage.php?pSetup=omahaworldherald&file=0@/omahaworldherald/20071223/23_dec.su07mdb.pdf.0/&section=%20%20%20%20%20Editorial%20Page&edition=Metro%20Morning&pageNum=B07> 

Obama, Romney best tap into America's desire for change, Sioux City Journal, 12-23

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/23/news_opinion/editorial/5b54e9808f97e123862573b90065bdd6.txt 

OP-ED: Obama vs. Romney, Sioux City Journal, 12-23
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/23/news_opinion/editorial/19ffa0edb447abe8862573b9006549ef.txt 

Opinion: Caucus 2008: Our Endorsements, Daily Iowan, 12-23

http://www.dailyiowan.com/ <http://www.dailyiowan.com/>  

Guest Columnist: A plan to end the war, Council Bluffs Nonpareil, 12-22

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19137028&BRD=2703&PAG=461&dept_id=555110&rfi=6 

Columnist: People's Business: Looking for a sure thing? Look elsewhere, Ames Tribune, 12-22

http://www.midiowanews.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=19137739&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554336&rfi=6 

Full Text of Articles

I. MUST READS

BEAUMONT

Democrats ratchet up message of electability, DM Register, 12-23

By THOMAS BEAUMONT and JASON CLAYWORTH

For the past 11 months, Democratic caucusgoers in Iowa have heard two words - "change" and "experience" - over and over.

For the next 11 days, they will hear this one the most: "electability."

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards are trying to break out of a three-way battle for the lead as they barrel toward Iowa's Jan. 3 caucuses by stressing what they argue are general-election strengths that make them uniquely able to win next year.

Clinton's electability argument relies on a perception that she is the most experienced; questions about Obama's readiness; and her potential to be the nation's first female president.

Obama, like Edwards, says he is the most electable because he represents a starker change. The two are trying to present themselves as more electable than Clinton, whom many Democrats admire but also see as a rallying figure for Republicans.

The Republican field has stressed electability less, in part because the candidates vary more on core issues, observers say.

The leading Democratic candidates' emphasis on strategic instead of policy distinctions in their closing arguments to caucusgoers recognizes what many activists in the leadoff nominating state agree is a strong field of candidates who generally align on key issues.

It's also a sign that the candidates are tapped into Iowa Democrats' intense focus on nominating a general-election winner, after trying and failing in successive campaigns, observers say.

"They know that they don't want to screw up and give the party somebody who ends up not winning," said Elaine Kamarck, a Harvard University political science professor and member of the Democratic National Committee. "I think that a lot of the concern about electability goes to the responsibility Iowans feel about being first and getting it right."

Consider the messages from the campaign trail last week:

? Iowa first lady Mari Culver stamped her endorsement for Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, with, "I think he can really rally Americans in the fall."

? Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, enlisted Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who told reporters, "Head and shoulders above everyone else, Senator Obama is the most electable candidate we have."

? And a new radio advertisement for Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, by the American Federation of Teachers ends with a woman's voice proclaiming, "Hillary can win in November."

As Obama has edged ahead in some Iowa polls, Clinton has stepped up her claim that she can survive Republican attacks, framing her well-known public trials over the past 16 years as proof she has been more thoroughly examined than Obama.

"When Republicans come out full-throttle, it is always difficult for someone who's not been through this before even to imagine what the incoming fire is like," Clinton said in a Des Moines Register interview. "So, one thing you know about me is I've been on the receiving end for a long time. You're going to be able to count on me to withstand whatever comes at me."

Obama says that among his chief electability points is that he would not automatically have the Republicans rallied against him the way he argues Clinton would against her.

"My campaign is premised on a different idea, and that is that we can stay true to our progressive ideals, but reach out to Republicans and independents and after the election form a working majority for change," Obama told the Register last week. "And I don't think that there's anybody out there who can do that better than I can."

Recent Iowa polls have shown Obama and Clinton trading a narrow lead in Iowa, with Edwards within striking distance. In all recent surveys, there has been a sizable gap between the top three and the rest of the field.

Few Iowa polls show how electability rates among other perceptions of the candidates, although some national surveys show the factor has become more of a concern among Democrats during the fall campaign.

Democratic strategists say it weighs on Iowa caucusgoers, as it did in 2004. A plurality backed Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, whose military experience lent to the perception he was more electable.

Joe Trippi, who managed former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's 2004 campaign through the early contests, said caucusgoers this year are even more concerned about choosing a candidate they believe can win, in light of Kerry's defeat in 2004 and caucus winner Al Gore's general election loss four years earlier.

The caucuses' earlier-than-ever spot at the front of a tightly packed nominating schedule also puts pressure on caucusgoers to choose wisely this time, Trippi said.

"In Iowa, more than anyplace else, it clearly weighs in, and I think that's one of the reasons the caucuses are so unpredictable this time because I think people clearly have doubts about all of these issues, including electability," Trippi said.

It's in the front of undecided Cedar Rapids Democrat Lois Livingston's mind.

"It's very important," Livingston said. "If the Democrats want to get the presidency, get the White House back, it's very important to go with someone who is electable."

A USA Today/Gallup Poll taken two weeks ago showed roughly half of likely Democratic primary voters nationally were almost evenly split between those who prefer a nominee who agrees with them and those who want one with the best chance of beating the GOP nominee. In November, Democrats preferred agreement on issues 3-2 over electability, according to the poll.

The electoral map is a big part of Democrats' electability argument. Most candidates tout a special claim to turning states that voted Republican in 2004 back to the Democrats, who lost the 2000 and 2004 elections by razor-thin electoral margins.

Edwards says his Southern roots and message of economic fairness would appeal to voters in states that have voted Republican in the past two elections.

"We all know that Democratic presidential candidates need to lead in those places to be successful nationally and state-by-state in the Electoral College. I can do that," Edwards told reporters in Des Moines last week. "I'm the only one who's actually won in a red state."

All the candidates point to recent polls showing them receiving more support than the Republican candidates in hypothetical general election matchups, which scholars say have little meaning.

Clinton and Obama, who have won in heavily Democratic states, argue they would grow the Democratic electoral map in their own way.

Clinton says her nomination would boost Democratic support from women in all states.

"There's going to be a tremendous coalition for change that crosses party lines and a lot of excitement about the possibility of the first woman president that will give me a much broader electoral map on which to compete," she said.

Obama, who is black and just 46 years old, says his race could bring back states abandoned by Democrats in recent elections.

"I am absolutely convinced that I have the best chance of any candidate of breaking out of the 50-plus-1 election formula," he said.

Electability has not been a top issue coming out of the Republican campaigns, in part because the field of candidates for 2008 is less alike on core GOP issues, such as immigration and abortion rights, party strategists said.

Electability has come up at times during the GOP campaign. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tout their elections in Democrat-leaning states, for instance.

But the USA Today poll shows Republican voters by about 3-2 preferred a presidential nominee who agrees with them on most issues. It is a sign that ideological differences remain a factor in the Republican race, said GOP strategist John Maxwell, who has advised past presidential candidates.

"There are wider issue differences among the Republicans, making electability less a concern," said Maxwell, a top adviser to Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley.

Electability is subjective, a perception voters include with other factors they attribute to the candidate they prefer, sometimes unconsciously, former Brookings Institution presidential scholar Charles Jones said.

"It's part of what you've decided by way of supporting a candidate, and wrapped up in that is your judgment that the person can win and should win," Jones said.

GLOVER

Obama Criticizes Edwards' Record, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

By MIKE GLOVER

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - Democrat Barack Obama criticized John Edwards on Saturday as an unconvincing populist who passed up chances in the Senate to curb the power of lobbyists and is tolerating presidential campaign tactics that he claims to oppose.

As an example, Obama pointed to a nearly $800,000 advertising campaign being launched for Iowa voters by Alliance for a New America, a labor-affiliated group that is independent of the Edwards campaign but supportive of him. Such "527" organizations can raise unlimited amounts of money for ads that frame the debate in ways favorable to a candidate without directly advocating how voters should cast their ballots.

"John said yesterday, he didn't believe in these 527s," Obama said. "You can't say yesterday, you don't believe in it and today three-quarters of a million dollars is being spent for you. You can't just talk the talk. Everybody talks change, but how did they act when it was not convenient, when it's hard?"

Edwards said in response that he didn't know anything about the ad buy and has no say in it.

"The way the law operates is we're not allowed to be involved in this _ the campaign's not allowed to be involved, I'm not allowed to be involved," Edwards told reporters after a campaign stop Saturday in Lisbon, Iowa. "I found out about this probably after most of you did through the news media."

He said after campaigning in Coralville, "I would prefer that all the 527s _ not just this one _ that all the 527s stay out of Iowa."

Several presidential candidates in both parties are benefiting and taking hits from independent groups that are only now beginning to make their presence known in the early contest states of Iowa and New Hampshire. These groups can be more targeted and more negative and can coordinate their activities in ways that candidate campaigns cannot.

Former Edwards advisers Nick Baldick and Jeff Link have been advising labor-backed groups that are putting up hundreds of thousands of dollars in issue ads supportive of Edwards. Obama says these efforts amount to "huge, unregulated contributions from special interests" of the kind Edwards talks about bringing under control.

"I've got a track record," Obama said of restraining special interests. "I don't just talk the talk, I walk the walk."

He said that "when we actually had a chance to do something about it, I did something and John didn't" during Edwards' six years as a North Carolina senator.

Edwards attributed the Illinois senator's criticisms to concern about the Iowa race.

"I guess he's seeing the same thing on the ground that we're seeing here, which is why he's started talking about me, which is that we're moving," Edwards said.

Opening his latest Iowa swing, Obama coped later in the day with a driving snowstorm that reduced his motorcade to a crawl on treacherous highways. Still, more than 200 people came to a high school in Winterset to hear his pitch, and one sang him a song.

Late in the day, another 300 braved the wintry weather at a suburban Des Moines school to hear Obama's pitch, a sure sign they are the kind of activists likely to show up on a frigid night next month for precinct caucuses. When asked, virtually all raised their hands to indicate they planned to attend.

"You're here tonight, you're pretty committed," said Obama. "Thank you for braving this weather."

Edwards has generally lagged slightly behind Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in polls of likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa, although the three-way race is considered tight.

Obama also gave special emphasis Saturday to trade and its impact on workers, which has been a big part of Edwards' campaign.

On the stump and in new television commercials, Obama called for more training and health coverage for workers whose jobs are shipped overseas.

"We're not going to stop globalization in its track, but what we can do is have a president who's standing up for American farmers and workers," Obama told about 300 people in a middle school gymnasium.

Obama also began broadcasting a commercial in Iowa titled "Enough," in which he says he would end tax breaks for companies sending jobs abroad.

"When I'm president we'll give you training before you lose your job if there's a good chance it will get shipped overseas," he said. "We'll give you an education account that you can use to retrain."

Obama focuses on Edwards' track record, trade issues, AP: Muscatine Journal, 12-22

By MIKE GLOVER 

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - Opening his latest presidential campaign swing through Iowa, Democrat Barack Obama singled out rival John Edwards for criticism, arguing that the former North Carolina senator doesn't have a track record to back up the sharply populist themes he sounds on the campaign trail.

"I've got a track record," said Obama. "I don't just talk the talk, I walk the walk. John does not have the same track record."

The Illinois senator and his aides also singled out a new television campaign they said is being launched on Edwards' behalf, accusing him of hypocrisy.

"John said yesterday, he didn't believe in these 527s, those are these independent groups that raise money with no disclosure, nobody knows who is giving them, he said I don't believe in them," said Obama. "We found out today there's a group buying three-quarters of a million dollars worth of television and the individual running the group used to be John Edwards' campaign manager."

Obama used the occasion to suggest that Edwards is guilty of hypocrisy.

"You can't say yesterday, you don't believe in it and today three-quarters of a million dollars is being spent for you," said Obama. "You can't just talk the talk. Everybody talks change, but how did they act when it was not convenient, when it's hard."

Campaign aides distributed to reporters a list of television ad buys in six markets covering Iowa totaling $796,610 that were purchased by the Alliance for a New America, which they described a pro-Edwards group. Focusing on Edwards could signal that Obama views him as a greater threat than previously perceived.

Edwards has generally slightly lagged behind Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in polls of likely Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa, although the three-way race is considered tight.

Obama also extended his criticism to Edwards' single term in the Senate.

"During six years in the Senate he wasn't passing laws to reduce the power of lobbyists," said Obama. He contrasted that with his own role in crafting new ethics legislation.

Obama was spending his day seeking to focus on trade policy, an issue Edwards has strongly emphasized.

On the stump and in new television commercials, Obama called for more training and health coverage for workers who find their jobs shipped overseas as well as giving them significantly more time to find another job.

"We're not going to stop globalization in its track, but what we can do is have a president who's standing up for American farmers and workers," said Obama, speaking to about 300 people in a middle school gymnasium.

Obama also began airing a new commercial in Iowa titled "Enough" in which he uses the 30-second spot to vow to end tax breaks for companies shipping jobs overseas, giving them instead "to companies that are investing right here in Iowa."

As the voting season nears, there are signs that voters are beginning to focus on pocketbook economic issues and Obama was responding by seeking to capitalize on the frustration and anger many feel as they watch companies move overseas, leaving workers high and dry.

"When I'm president we'll give you training before you lose your job if there's a good chance it will get shipped overseas," said Obama. "We'll give you an education account that you can use to retrain."

Also, Obama vowed financial aid for workers who find themselves displaced.

"We'll help ensure that losing your job doesn't also mean losing health care by giving you some extra money to pay for it," said Obama. "And we'll make sure employers give you an extra month's notice before letting you go _ so you have 90 days notice instead of just 60."

Obama said he's formulated his economic policy by holding round table meetings with small groups of voters around the state, where he hears stories of working families.

"People are working harder and harder just to keep pace," said Obama. "People have lost faith that their leaders can or will do anything about it."

Edwards says 'my people will be there', AP: Muscatine Journal, 12-22

By MIKE GLOVER 

JOHNSTON, Iowa - Democrat John Edwards said Friday his experience gives him an edge in the closing days of a tight contest for the state's leadoff precinct caucuses because he knows "what the caucus-goers are looking for."

"They're looking for energy and passion and focus and that's what they're going to get from me," said Edwards.

He took a passing swipe at leading rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, suggesting they are running far more cerebral campaigns that don't generate as much energy as his campaign.

"Having been through this before, I know what you have to do. I know what you have to do to close and what Iowa caucus-goers are looking for," Edwards said. "They're not looking for academic, they're not looking for analytical, they're looking for somebody who speaks from right here, from their gut, and who believes deeply and passionately in what they're talking about."

Edwards spoke during a taping of Iowa Public Television's "Iowa Press" program, airing this weekend. He assessed a race that most polls indicate is a dead heat less than two weeks before the caucuses launch the presidential nominating process on Jan. 3.

Roughly 124,000 Democratic activists showed up in 2004, and Edwards declined to predict turnout this time.

"What I know is my people will be at the caucus," said Edwards. "If you come to my events, they look like caucus-goers. My people are strongly for me, that's what I know."

Edwards finished a surprising second in the caucuses in 2004, and he said he's banking on that experience to give him an edge in closing the sale with activists.

As the sniping between Democratic candidates has increased in recent days, Edwards warned that activists are not likely to reward those who launch attacks on opponents.

"What Iowa caucus-goers are looking for is not petty, personal fighting between politicians. They're looking for someone who is actually willing to take on the corporate power and corporate greed," said Edwards.

Edwards noted that he surged late in the 2004 campaign, and told reporters Friday he's feeling the same thing on the ground in this election cycle.

"Things are moving, there's an enormous amount of energy on the ground," said Edwards. "The energy and the momentum has a familiar feel to me."

But he conceded the race remains unsettled.

"I think all three of us, Clinton, Obama and me are in a very tight race here," he said. "They've invested and so have I, very heavily in this contest. I think what that means in practical terms is someone is going to come out of here with momentum."

Many argue that Edwards needs to improve on his second-place showing last time and needs to win.

"I don't think you can say for any of the three of us that you have to win because it depends on how it plays out," said Edwards.

He was also asked about comments Clinton made earlier in the week in which she said she would pull U.S. troops from Iraq within a year.

"I was startled by it, to be honest with you," said Edwards. "Having been on the stage with her so many times at forums and debates and hearing her say something very different from that. She's certainly entitled to change her opinions. There's nothing wrong with that. It certainly is different."

Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee later said Edwards was misquoting the New York senator and that she had called for withdrawing most troops within a year. Clinton has consistently argued that one to two battalions a month could be withdrawn from Iraq, Elleithee said.

Edwards later headed for a suburban community college, where he continued to sound the sharply populist themes that mark his campaign.

"An America where big corporations are favored over middle class families is not the America I believe in," said Edwards. "That's not the America I see over the horizon."

TIBBETTS

Thompson not bothered by campaign criticism, The Ames Tribune, 12-22

By: Ed Tibbetts, Davenport Quad-City Times

About the nicest adjective some analysts have applied to Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson is he's laid back.

More often, they're apt to call his campaign lethargic, dull, lazy, sleepy-eyed or, in the words of a conservative columnist, "fizzy as day-old cherry Coke."

Thompson, if he cares, doesn't show it.

In fact, he seems to wear his demeanor and his campaign's pace quite proudly.

Take when he walked into the Thunder Bay Grille restaurant in Davenport this month.

Barely had he begun speaking when he acknowledged the criticism. He said it reminds him of his first run for the Senate in Tennessee in 1994.

"It's kind of funny because the same things I hear about myself today, I heard about then," he told a room of more than 150 people. "Does he want it bad enough? Is he ambitious enough? Did he get in soon enough? All those things that didn't, to me, have anything to do with the future of our country, seemed to consume the attention of the chattering classes a whole lot."

In the end, he tells the crowd, his campaign went from 20 points down to a 20-point win. And in a state that Bill Clinton carried.

"I think I know a little something about winning elections," Thompson said.

With little time left before the Jan. 3 caucuses, Thompson trails in most polls, lagging behind Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and, often, Rudy Giuliani.

He's trying to change, though. Thompson's cranked up a bus tour, heavy with stops at local newspapers and town squares. And in perhaps the biggest boost to his Iowa campaign thus far, he won U.S. Rep. Steve King's endorsement.

The conservative Republican from western Iowa is a favorite of the right.

"There is only one candidate who epitomized the full spectrum of our conservative values," King said. He said Thompson was the best candidate when it came to appointments to the Supreme Court, something he called a "destiny issue."

Thompson's entry into the presidential race was much anticipated.

There was speculation he would consolidate conservatives unhappy with the records or prospects of the rest of the field.

It hasn't worked out that way, but what Thompson has done along the way is win plaudits for substantive policy proposals on immigration, taxes and Social Security.

On Social Security, for example, he's said the government needs to change the way it pays out future benefits, tying it to the consumer price index. What that will do is lower the rate of increase, something some economists believe is essential to the retirement program's long-term future.

He's also proposed allowing people to create private accounts.

"There's no reason to run for president of the United States if you can't tell the American people the truth about complex issues like Social Security," Thompson said while rolling out the plan last month.

He's also proposed cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 27 percent and ending the alternative minimum tax, which was initially instituted to catch rich people who avoided paying taxes but now is threatening to ensnare more middle-class taxpayers.

There have been proposals to fix the tax so it goes back to its original intent, but some conservatives want to get rid of it.

Bill Edmonds, a Davenport man who left a job as a car salesman in Wyoming two years ago to be closer to his grandchildren, said Thompson is the "true conservative" in the race.

He said people who just see Thompson as laid back, miss his strength.

"I come from the state of Wyoming. We're kind of the same way. We're pretty laid back. We don't get real excited about things until somebody excites us. Fred is going to be there," said Edmonds, who is a volunteer leader in the Quad-City area.

Thompson is perhaps best known today for the roles he's played in movies like the "Hunt for Red October" and on television's "Law & Order" where he plays prosecutor Arthur Branch.

Thompson gained initial fame as legal counsel for Republicans during the Watergate hearings. And his career got a big boost in the late 1970s when he represented a woman fired from Tennessee's parole board for failing to help the politically connected.

The case became a movie, in which Thompson starred.

Thompson got to the Senate by winning a special election in 1994, then a full, six-year term in 1996.

He focused on stopping nuclear proliferation and, in 1997, led a Senate investigation into the Clinton White House's fundraising.

Thompson faces long odds in Iowa, though he's performed better in most national polls. Here, he appears to be targeting Mike Huckabee, criticizing his record as governor of Arkansas and frowning on his foreign policy credentials.

Thompson may blame the attention to his demeanor on the "chattering classes," but interviews with Iowans say they, too, are paying attention to how all this is translating in national polls.

"If I don't see national support for Thompson, then I'm going to support the candidate who's the best conservative," George Templer, a conservative activist from Davenport, said earlier this month.

MISC./OF NOTE

Times Democratic caucus endorsement: Hillary Clinton passes the test, QC Times, 12-23

By The Quad-City Times

Hillary Clinton passes test after test after test. This Clinton arrived for the caucus campaign with much, much more experience than the first Clinton to stump across Iowa. In campaign speeches and in an interview with the Times Editorial Board, she spoke passionately of people - specific, real people - whose stories drive her desire to solve problems. "I was brought up to believe we were the problem solvers," she told the editorial board. "If it was hard, that meant America would do it."

This Clinton hasn't shied away from problems.

As first lady, she stepped far beyond the traditional role and took on a major policy issue: health care. Washington special interests villified her for trying, branding any reform "socialized medicine" and even giving it her name: "Hillarycare."

Regardless, she persevered, becoming an advocate for children worldwide and pioneering the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which has survived Republican and Democrat Congresses.

She passed perhaps the toughest personal test. Many Americans stand up for the sanctity of marriage. Hillary Clinton did something much harder. She very publicly stood up for her own marriage.

She passed the New York voters' tests. Twice. Rudy Giuliani backed away from challenging her to address his own health and marital problems. She went on to win and six years later won again by an even larger margin.

In the Senate, she's worked across party lines to pass test after test and earn this testimonial: "This blue-state senator with a blue-state perspective has managed to build unusual political alliances on a variety of issues with Republicans." That commendation was written for Time magazine by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who led the impeachment prosecution against her husband.

We tested her, too, in our editorial board interview, looking for evidence of the partisan rancor that is destroying our country. We found none. Instead, we found a proven, passionate, intelligent leader with a breadth of legislative and executive experience that is the best of a good bunch.

For Iowa's Democratic caucuses, we support Hillary Clinton.

Read about and listen to excerpts of Sen. Clinton's meeting with the Times Editorial Board.

Democrat candidate notes

Barack Obama

The Obama phenomenon electrifies this caucus campaign and inspires thousands of young people to invest their time and hope in politics. Our conclusion after tough, tough discussions: Not yet.

Joe Biden

The Delaware senator stayed on our short list through the entire process. More than any other legislator, Biden exhudes an aura of a statesman.

John Edwards

The candidate who seemed to invest most in the Iowa caucus process won our heart, but not quite the endorsement. He's ready for a fight in Washington. We'd prefer a less combative approach.

Chris Dodd

Intellect, congressional experience and a rich family tradition of public service encouraged our serious consideration of Dodd. In the end, we believe Dodd is too valuable in the Senate to risk a long-shot presidential run.

Bill Richardson

Richardson's colloquial, candid and clear speech is different from every other candidate and builds instant rapport. His deep experience, however, still falls short of our favored candidate.

II. CLIPS

HRC

Hillary is 'polarizing' only because of what rivals say, Bill Clinton says, Des Moines Register, 12-22

By JENNIFER JACOBS 

Republicans may hammer Hillary Clinton for being polarizing, but its simply a strategy to block independent voters from supporting her, former president Bill Clinton said today. 

You become polarizing not because of what you do (but) because of what people say about you. Thats all thats going on here. She can win this race.

He continued: I believe, I would draw on todays facts: all of our people could probably win.

On the campaign trail in West Des Moines and Boone today, the former president tossed out words that his wifes campaign staffers dont like to even speak: cold, calculating, polarizing.

But he used them lightly, using humor to try to convince Iowans that his wife is the opposite.

Now when people say how calculating she is and how she had a decades-long strategy to be president, he told an audience in Boone, I thought, If thats true then she ought to get 100 percent of the votes. Because shes the only person in history to ever figure it out, that the best way to become the first woman president is .. not to run for office, but to go to small town in the Arkansas Ozarks, in a state that had never produced a president, and marry a guy who had lost his only election for public office, who was making $26,000 a year and was $42,000 in debt.

If she was smart enough to figure that out, he said, she deserves to be president.

On a holiday weekend with a looming winter storm, Bill Clinton drew about 460 people in Boone, and about 600 people in the Republican stronghold of West Des Moines, who cheered for so long when he strolled on stage that the former president had to wave them to sit down.

I must say youre like an early Christmas present for me - theres so many here and youre in such good humor and its so early in the morning, he told the audience.

Rival Democrat Barack Obamas campaign staff, after reading news reports about Bill Clintons glowing recommendation of his wife  he used the word positive multiple times when describing her  sent out a statement about outside groups slamming Obama on Hillary Clintons behalf.

Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said the campaigns for both Hillary Clinton and Democrat John Edwards are having millions of dollars spent on their behalf by powerful Washington insiders. 

Three outside groups have spent over $2 million on Clintons campaign - $730,000 by the American Federation of Teachers, $486,000 by the women-friendly political action committee EMILYs List, and $907,000 by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, he said. Some of that has been for positive advertising.

But the pro-Clinton AFSCME forked over $34,000 to send negative mail pieces explicitly against Obama, Vietor said. The mailer said Obamas health care plan would leave 15 million Americans without health insurance, and quoted Edwards criticizing Obama.

This deceptive health care attack is exactly the kind of politics Iowans are tired of, Vietor said. Barack Obama is running to change this politics and has a plan to provide affordable health care to every single American. 

Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee responded: Just this week, Barack Obama sent out a misleading and negative mail piece in New Hampshire attacking Senator Clintons character. The truth is, Senator Clinton has a health care plan that covers every American, while experts say the Obama plan would leave 15 million uncovered. His attack mail cant change that fact.

Meanwhile, it is not surprising in the slightest that Bill Clinton is gushing about his wife, but die-hard Hillary Clinton fans and some undecided voters in the room leaned in to hear his strategy of persuasion.

He said grizzly old Republicans in Upstate New York voted for Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate race, saying she was the only person whos ever done anything for them.

He said: One area that Hillarys more conservative in than the Republicans is the budget ... and shes got a good economic plan. 

He clicked through other points in his wifes stump speech, saying she has a good vision to rebuild the middle class, reclaim the future for children, and restore Americas standing in the world.

After going into detail about one of the topics hes most passionate about - clean energy - Bill Clinton said his wifes plans for health care, job creation, education and also have that level of meat on it.

Everything she proposes to do is fully paid for, he said.

At the end of his talk, Bill Clinton said he hoped Iowans would sign a card pledging to caucus for his wife, otherwise this becomes a highly academic discussion.

Obama supporter Marie James, 54, was in the cafeteria at Valley Southwoods freshman high school in West Des Moines, sitting right below a red-white-and-blue Ready for change! Ready to lead! banner. 

Her husband, Leo James, 65, a serious Hillary Clinton fan, convinced her to come. Hes trying to convert me, Marie James said. Weve been together 30 years and weve never, ever been split like we are on this. 

The first time Marie James saw Obama, at her church, I was like, Oh, my God, she said. But then her husband told her he thinks the reason Bill Clinton was a successful president was because of Hillary Clinton.

So Im open, said Marie James, who lives in West Des Moines. And so is he.

Leo James intended to go to his first Obama event today. 

Afterward, Marie James, who had never been to a Clinton rally before, said: I was very impressed, especially the way he talked about the universal heath care and Hillarys support of the middle class. But Im still on the fence. But Im going to be pursuing more about Hillary. I definitely could be persuaded, I can say that. 

West Des Moines is Republican territory by a good margin, said Michael Mauro, the state official who oversees Iowas election system, and who endorsed Hillary Clinton Friday night. 

Later in Boone, although his mission was to talk about his wife, Bill Clinton couldnt resist sharing some anecdotes about himself, although he was careful to say she believes or we believe instead of I believe, as he has said on the campaign trail in the past.

Chuckling at the name of the Boone venue, an old grocery store thats being converted into a restaurant called the Gigglin Goat, Bill Clinton told the crowd that when he was six years old he was nearly killed by a ram, and still has the scars on his head. 

It gave me a very high pain threshhold, he said. It was probably the best preparation I ever had for becoming president.

Hillary Clinton may not always inspire the rock-star-shrill screams her husband was greeted with by some Iowans today, but her campaign was quick to point out that when she appeared at the same Boone venue in October, the fire marshal had to shut people out of the overcrowded room. The campaign pumped audio into the street so about 200 people could listen.

I could keep you here till tomorrow morning, Bill Clinton told the Boone audience before leaving without taking questions. I left out a bunch of stuff.

Bill Clinton stresses Hillary's 'vision' in Des Moines speech, CR Gazette, 12-23

By Rod Boshart 

 The Gazette 

  WEST DES MOINES - New York Sen. Hillary Clinton will make a great president because she has an ability to tackle a challenge and leave it in better shape than she found it - a talent sorely needed in the White House right now, according to the man who knows her best.

  Former President Bill Clinton brought his sales pitch for his wife's 2008 Democratic presidential bid to about 300 potential caucus goers at a suburban school Saturday, calling her a "world class" agent for change who offers the best vision for America.

  "America needs a president with the right vision, the right plans and the capacity to change other people's lives for the better. On all three of those counts, I think she is your best choice and I hope that you will caucus for her," the former president said. "She's a good person, will be a great president, she can't get there without you." Clinton said his wife has the credentials needed to win in a general election, and brings a solid agenda to rebuild the nation's middle class, restore America's standing in the world and reclaim the future for America's children.

  "It's true that she has higher negatives because they (critics and Republicans) have been beating up on her for 15 years," he told the crowded school forum. "I think she is the most electable because national security experience will be far more important in the general election than it is now and because she is not fresh fodder for them." Clinton touted his wife's universal health care plan and said he was not bothered by his administration's failed effort in 1993 that she led, noting a number of significant reforms and improvements for children and others came out of that process.

  "If you're not willing to fail, you'll never try to do anything, and it's better to fail struggling in the right direction then succeed in taking the nation in the wrong direction," he said.

  Jerry Crawford, the Clinton campaign's Midwest coordinator, called the former president the campaign's "secret weapon down the stretch," saying his Iowa speeches are greeted with a lot of nodding heads that translate into late-deciding caucus supporters.

  Along with organization, weather on the evening of Jan. 3 will play a "big, big role" in the Iowa caucus outcome, Crawford predicted.

  "I can tell you from Hillary Clinton's perspective, we're hoping for a nice night," he said.

Clinton: We Don't Vote for Advisers, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

By PHILIP ELLIOTT 

MILFORD, N.H. - Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday that even if rival Barack Obama's claim that he has more support from her husband's administration was true, the statement was "silly" because voters look at qualifications, not a candidate's brain trust.

"This is not a campaign between lists of advisers," Clinton told reporters in a packed diner. "This is a campaign between real people with experience and qualifications to become president on day one."

In Iowa on Friday, Obama suggested he had the support of more Clinton administration figures than the former first lady. Lists provided by both campaigns quickly showed hers is almost twice as large.

"Why is the national security adviser of Bill Clinton, the secretary of the Navy of Bill Clinton, the assistant secretary of state for Bill Clinton, why are all these people endorsing me?" Obama said. "They apparently believe that my vision of foreign policy is better suited for the 21st century."

Clinton rejected the comment's premise.

"Honestly, it's a silly question. We have hundreds of people's support, not just people who were in my husband's administration, but people from all over the country who have expertise."

She added: "It's important to pick the person who can make the best decision, who is tested and proven as a leader."

Obama's campaign disputed Clinton's proclaimed independence, again citing her support of a 2002 Senate resolution authorizing the use of U.S. force against Iraq.

"If Senator Clinton wants to make this election about who's made the best decisions on foreign policy, that's a comparison we're happy to make since Barack Obama is the only major candidate who opposed the war in Iraq and refused to give George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran," Obama spokesman Reid Cherlin said.

Clinton said Obama's opposition to the war in Iraq came while he was a member of the Illinois state Senate.

"He wasn't in the Congress at the time," Clinton told reporters.

Clinton Makes Closing Argument to Women, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

By PHILIP ELLIOT

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday made her closing argument to female voters in a message that could be reduced to three words.

You. Go. Girl.

Clinton, standing in a lobby of a YWCA, told undecided mothers and their daughters that her agenda for families and children is the most aggressive to help them. She touted her family care and child care tax credits designed to lessen the burden on working women.

"We can do a better job in supporting families than we do right now," Clinton said. "We give a lot of lip service to family values, but we've never really valued families in a way that we can."

Clinton, on the last of a two-day trip to this early voting state, tailored her message and appearances to female voters with whom she enjoys a sizable lead in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. She bests rival Barack Obama, 42 percent to 25 percent among women in the latest CNN-WMUR poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire. She leads overall in that poll, 38 percent to 26 percent.

A separate New Hampshire poll, released Friday from USA Today and Gallup, showed Clinton and Obama tied at 32 percent each of Democrats overall. Her outreach to women underscores the tightness of the race in this first-in-the-nation presidential primary state and the support she is trying to cement in case she falters in Iowa's three-way race.

Iowa's presidential caucuses are Jan. 3, followed by New Hampshire's primary on Jan. 8.

One voter, a self-described feminist, asked Clinton later in Keene if she thought it was acceptable to support her based solely on her gender.

"Of course I do," Clinton said with laughter. "I'm not asking you to vote for me because I'm a woman. ... But the fact that I am a woman gives this election extra significance."

With daughter Chelsea and mother Dorothy Rodham in tow, Clinton's four-event schedule highlighted what could be a history-making nomination. As her campaign released a list of 3,500 female supporters, she said there are too many challenges facing working mothers.

"We put so many burdens on families trying to do the right thing, trying to take care of their families," Clinton said.

She cited her time as a young mother in Little Rock, Ark.

"When I was a young lawyer and also a mom, I learned how difficult it was for a lot of the other women who worked in the law firm _ the secretaries, the paralegals. At 3 o'clock every day, they'd all be on the phone, whispering to make sure their children were there safely. ... It was just such a time of tension and concern to make sure they got home."

Clinton highlighted her proposals to help working women with young children or who _ like Clinton _ take care of their parents.

"She's going to hit the ground running," said Barbara Marzelli, a mother whose son benefited from a children's health program Clinton supported. "She has the experience, the strength and the commitment _ and above all, a heart _ to lead the country."

Throughout the day, Clinton's supporters invoked history.

"It's been 220 years and we do not have a woman as a leader of this country," state Sen. Molly Kelly said during a mostly women's meeting in Keene. "My mother passed away this past year. She was 80. I think about that. Only seven years before she was born did women have the right to vote and we take that for granted."

The history wasn't avoided by Clinton.

"As the first mom who would ever be president, I want to set an example that, you know, being a mom and being a daughter and taking care of your family is one of the most important obligations any of us have. You shouldn't have these really false choices presented to people: We can either be good workers or you can be a parent. You can be both," Clinton said in Keene.

Clinton also turned back to her book, "It Takes a Village." She said families have to work together to strengthen their relationships.

"It sounds incredibly old-fashioned, but having a meal together really makes a difference. It stabilizes your children during the day. It gives them a chance to interact with the family," she said. "That kind of investment is every parent would like to be able to do, but so many parents can't."

Clinton appearance set for Sunday night, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, 12-22

Former first lady and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is scheduled to be in Dubuque Sunday night, according to her campaign.

The Democratic presidential candidate will take part in the "Holidays with Hillary" event at 7:30 p.m. at the Grand River Center.

It is likely that her Dubuque event will be Clinton's last before she 

and other candidates take a two-day Christmas break.

 

Fog makes Bill Clinton a no-show, Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

Former president phones it in to talk to enthusiastic crowd.

By JEFF ABELL

[email-masked] 

COLUMBUS JUNCTION -- Bill Clinton knows how to fire up a crowd, even when he isn't able to do so in person.

The former president had planned to appear Friday afternoon at the Columbus Junction Community Schools campus to campaign for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. 

As the high school choir readied, students and adults packed the gymnasium to listen to the two-term president. Then, the announcement was made that Clinton was unable to attend the event due to dense fog that forced his plane to land in Des Moines.

Some in the crowd left disappointed by the news. The majority, however, waited for Clinton to speak via telephone, which was piped through loud speakers. 

Clinton was greeted by thunderous applause as he thanked the crowd for showing up to support his wife's presidential bid. Clinton spoke for about 10 minutes and made his pitch to convince caucusgoers to turn out Jan. 3 for Hillary.

Recent state polls show the two-term senator from New York is in a statistical dead heat with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

Clinton touted his wife as the most experienced candidate and said she would provide bold leadership in a changing world. 

"If you will nominate her, I believe she will be elected handily based on everything I know about politics," he said. "This is a big decision that you will have to make. She is ready to make a difference in this country."

Speaking on health care, Clinton defended his wife's unsuccessful attempt in the 1990s to provide universal coverage. If elected, he said, she would reach across the aisle to ensure health care reform is passed. 

Under her plan, insurance companies would be required to provide affordable coverage for everyone regardless of a pre-existing condition.

"We had to go back to the drawing board," he said. "If you like the coverage you have, you can keep it. This plan would provide coverage to all Americans."

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who were standing in for Clinton, both said the senator was the most electable candidate in the Democratic field.

Vilsack recounted how Hillary Clinton's support in his 1998 bid for governor helped to turn around his campaign. Like she did in that campaign, he said, Iowans have a chance to make a significant impact this election.

"This time you have a chance to make history," he said.

Kulongoski discussed the candidate's promise to take care of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. He charged President George Bush has turned a blind eye to the health care 'concerns of veterans.

"Hillary Clinton has spoken more on behalf of veterans than any other candidate," he said. "We have to once again invest in these young soldiers, these young men and women who give their lives, give their time and their careers to protect you and me."

A day earlier, Hillary Clinton pressed her case to The Hawk Eye editorial board. She met with the board to seek the newspaper's endorsement.

Clinton dismissed statements made by her rivals that she is a Washington insider. Clinton said her record over the past 35 years is that of an agent for change.

"It's about being able to actually produce results. We don't need more false hopes after the disastrous years of the Bush administration. We actually need to get our country back on the right track."

An hour later at the Port of Burlington, Clinton said Bush administration's foreign policy has damaged the image of America abroad. The country is looking for change tempered by experience, she added.

Her husband agreed.

"Hillary is ready to lead ... I know if you elect her she will be an amazing president," he said.

Political understudies stand in for absent political star: Former Iowa governor and Oregon governor fill in for President Clinton in Columbus Junction, Muscatine Journal, 12-21

By Jennifer Meyer of the Muscatine Journal 

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa - Louisa County residents came to see a president Friday, but got two governors instead.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Gov. Ted Kulongoski of Oregon filled in for President Bill Clinton in Columbus Junction to campaign for Clinton's wife, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton.

"I thought it would really be something to see a president in a small town like this," said Jim Ingersoll of Fredonia. "It probably never, ever happened before. You don't usually even get a governor here."

Fog delayed the president's flight from landing Friday in Des Moines until shortly before his 1:15 p.m. appearance in the community of about 1,900.

"They wouldn't let my plane land anywhere within the borders of Iowa almost," President Clinton said in a telephone call from Des Moines. The call was broadcast on the speaker system in the Columbus Junction High School gymnasium, where students and about 60 others gathered.

President Clinton was scheduled to visit Louisa County last week, but cancelled an appearance in Wapello on Dec. 11 due to an ice storm in the area.

He delivered an approximately 15-minute speech Friday focused on  Sen. Clinton's plans for affordable health care.

"Our first job is to try to insure all Americans. The second thing is ... delivering care in a more efficient and more effective way," President Clinton said.

He asked Iowans to caucus for Hillary Clinton on Jan. 3.

"It all starts in Iowa with your responsibility to caucus," he said. "I hope you will caucus for her."

Jane Wolford said she's leaning toward supporting Sen. Clinton at the caucuses, but attended the campaign event because, "Who would miss the opportunity to come two blocks to see a former president?"

High school student Earl Martin, 17, "really looking forward" to seeing Clinton.

Classmate Aaron Allen, 18, said, "I don't really agree with them, but how often do you see a former president?"

Allen said he plans to caucus for caucus for either Republicans Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani, both Republicans.

Reporter contact information

Jennifer Meyer: 563-262-0525

Vilsack said Iowans can make history by backing Clinton, AP: Muscatine Journal, 12-22

By DAVID PITT 

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa - Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack on Friday told a high school gymnasium full of students and local townspeople that January's caucus was about making history.

Asking caucusgoers and the students in this town of 1,900 people to support Hillary Rodham Clinton, he noted the opportunity to elect the nation's first female president.

"This is an opportunity to make a difference," he said. "This time you get to make history by supporting Sen. Clinton."

Vilsack and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski were standing in for former President Bill Clinton, who was prevented from attending the event for his wife by a dense fog that prevented his plane from landing.

Bill Clinton was later able to land about 150 miles away in Des Moines, and he spoke by telephone, which was piped through speakers into the room.

He spoke for about 10 minutes, mostly about his wife's health care plan, which he said is broad and has support from "every sector of the economy."

"If you will nominate her, I believe she will be elected handily based on everything I know about politics," he said. "It all starts in Iowa with your responsibility to caucus and I hope you will caucus for her."

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski discussed health care and Clinton's promise to take care of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We have to once again invest in these young soldiers, these young men and women who give their lives, give their time and their careers to protect you and me," he said. "They're entitled to health care and a job when they get back. We have to give them that opportunity."

Blog Post: Union members plan to disavow themselves from Obama/Edwards attack ad, Des Moines Register, 12-22

Iowa members of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees union will formally disavow themselves from a flyer some believe is misleading.

The flyer is paid for by AFSCME's People Committee, a union that has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The flyer says that Barack Obama's "health care plan is not up to the job" and quotes John Edwards, a North Carolina senator, saying it would leave 15 million people uninsured.

Edwards has made such statements as has Clinton.

Edwards staff notes that the flyer does not mention Clinton and, because it uses the Edwards quote, makes it appear as if his staff has gone negative, said Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, the Iowa state director for Edwards' campaign.

A spokesman for Clinton's campaign declined to comment, noting that it was not their mailer.

Today, Iowa AFSCME members Phyllis Thede - a former local president - and Angie Barnes will join Henry Bayer, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 31 on a press conference call at 12:30 p.m.  

The Iowa AFSCME members will disavow the paid media campaign being launched by the group's Washington, DC leadership, according to a press release sent by Obama's campaign staff.

 

Blog Post: Bill Clinton Woos Iowa Undecideds, Iowa Politics, 12-22
By Chris Dorsey

WEST DES MOINES -- Bill Clinton sold at least one caucus-goer Saturday as campaigns around the state spent the long holiday weekend shopping for undecided Iowans.

The former president's pitch focused on his wife's "can do" spirit, especially in the fight for a better health care system. Clinton said he's sick of hearing excuses.

Rachel Rowley must have liked what she heard. She's spent several months trying to determine who to caucus for on Jan. 3. She has been torn between two Democratic senators, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. After listening to the former president speak at Valley Southland High School, the Des Moines woman is sold on Hillary Clinton.

The former president has spent significant time in time since November campaigning nearly every week on behalf of his wife, whom he calls the non-incumbent he has ever had the opportunity for vote for in a presidential election.

Though Rowley is a avid admirer of President Clinton, she said she is also impressed with Sen. Clinton, especially after reading her book, "It Takes A Village."

"Coming here reinforced what I was thinking," Rowley said.

The country faces many challenges and obstacles in the next several years, and to marshal that change requires someone with a plan, President Clinton said. He touted his wife's health care, energy and education plans.

"She always leaves things better than she found it," the president said. "You need that as a president. You elected her president, she will do a magnificent job."

Clinton also touted a mindset Hillary boasts -- a can-do spirit -- to make change a reality. He cited health insurance as an example. Sen. Clinton was criticized in 1993 trying to get universal health care passed when she was first lady. But, she never gave up, and that fighting for Americans is vital to the direction the country must go, the president said.

"People still want to come here. You know why, because we are a can-do country, except in health care where we say, 'I"m sorry we're a can't do country,'" Clinton said. "We can' figure out how to insure everybody. Every other rich country has, but we can't do it. The insurance countries won't let us, the drug companies won't let us. It's pitiful; I'm tired of hearing it. Aren't you?"

The president is slated to campaign for Sen. Clinton this afternoon in Boone. Before ending his appearance in West Des Moines, he urged the crowd in excess of 200 to caucus for Clinton on Jan. 3.

"She is a good person and she would make a good president," the former president said

BIDEN 

Biden hopes late "Mo-Joe" pushes him to 4th, maybe higher in Iowa, AP: Muscatine Journal, 12-22

By BETH FOUHY 

DES MOINES, Iowa - Joe Biden's aides call it "Mo-Joe" _ a last-minute surge of momentum and good luck they hope could power the Delaware senator into a better-than-expected showing in Iowa's leadoff caucuses.

"There's a fingertip instinct that tells me something is going on. I feel like I'm still in the game," Biden said in a telephone interview as he traveled to a campaign event in Cedar Rapids.

Aides acknowledge it remains an uphill trudge for Biden, a Democrat whose distinguished 35-year Senate career has been eclipsed by the star power of rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

But with all eyes on those two candidates and former Sen. John Edwards as they compete for the lead in Iowa, Biden is on a high-energy sprint across the state hoping to catch on with enough voters to make a difference.

He draws enthusiastic crowds to his events and last week began his first sustained TV ad campaign. He was approved for $857,000 in matching funds this week by the Federal Election Commission, helping to ease the financial pressure on his cash-strapped campaign.

Operatives for rival candidates say privately they've detected substantial pockets of support for Biden in some rural areas and in the ethnic, heavily Catholic industrial towns along the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa. Complicated caucus rules mean those pockets could produce enough delegates for Biden to have an impact.

With polls showing Bill Richardson's support appearing to fade and Chris Dodd still struggling to catch on, Biden's advisers are hoping for a strong fourth-place finish and say they can even envision coming in third. Their outside hope is for Biden somehow to overtake Edwards, who draws much of his support from the same blue-collar and rural voters Biden is trying to woo.

While it sounds like a long-shot scenario _ Edwards has a strong organization in Iowa that he began building in his 2004 presidential effort _ the Biden team suggests Edwards could stall before caucus night as voters consider which candidate is best prepared to deal with national security issues such as Iran and Iraq.

"Authenticity and electability matter," Biden Communications Director Larry Rasky said.

However, Edwards' spokeswoman, Colleen Murray, said the former North Carolina senator has strong momentum in the state and is the most electable Democrat in the general election.

"As Iowans are making up their minds, they know that John Edwards can beat the Republicans," she said.

Should Biden get any sort of bounce out of Iowa, his team believes he would fare well in other early voting states such as Nevada, where he would benefit from long ties to organized labor, and South Carolina, where he has the support of several black legislators and community leaders.

It's been a bumpy road for Biden, who spent much of the early part of his campaign explaining why he had called Obama "clean" and "articulate" in a newspaper interview and has often had to fight for air time in nationally televised debates. Still, the debates have generally served him well, allowing him to show off his sense of humor and expertise on national security issues.

He's also thrown a few memorable zingers, like saying the only words Republican Rudy Giuliani uses in a sentence are "A noun, and a verb and 9/11."

Biden said that no matter what happens Jan. 3, he's glad he undertook the adventure.

"I feel more passionately about issues now than when I entered politics," he said. "I'm going out, saying what I believe, laying out what I think should be done, and the response is good. There are an awful lot of people coming to take a look."

Biden says election is about security, Carroll Times Herald, 12-21

By DOUGLAS BURNS

Staff Writer

Saying that western Iowa may hold the key to the Democratic side of the Iowa caucuses, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden Wednesday put in kitchen-table, one-on-one campaign time with Carroll-area residents.

A veteran senator from Delaware, and one of the more powerful figures in Washington, Biden spent 90 minutes in Carroll meeting with about 75 people at the Moose Lodge. The senator listened to concerns about veterans' benefits, teacher salaries and even provided a position-paper-length answer on why he thinks meat-packing operations shouldn't be able to own livestock - all in a style that ranged from intimate to theatrical.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a late sprint of Iowa caucuses campaigning, stressed his credentials on national security and international relations.

"The next president has the single greatest opportunity any president has had since President Franklin Roosevelt to literally reshape the world," Biden said.

Biden said he is frustrated that many candidates aren't focusing on Iraq.

"I think this election at the end of the day is going to be about security," Biden said.

For his part, Biden was successful recently in getting a plan passed in the Senate 75-23 that, according to the Baltimore Sun, requires the United States to work to support the division of Iraq into three semi-autonomous regions, each governed locally by its dominant ethnic and religious factions, the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds.

The regions would have dominion over police protection, jobs, utilities and other municipal functions, supported by a weaker federal government in Baghdad. All three regions would share in the country's oil revenues, The Sun reported.

"There will be no peace until there is a political settlement," Biden said.

Biden said world leaders are coming around to his viewpoint on Iraq - a war, he says, that will cost the United States between $125 billion and $150 billion.

A strong advocate for better protective gear and equipment for American fighting men and women, Biden said it is an outrage that troops don't have the best available armor in theater and the most sophisticated medical care when they return stateside.

"It's a matter of our honor," Biden said. "Our military has done everything we've asked them."

LTE: Biden has necessary foreign policy experience, CR Gazette, 12-23

Washington pundits and some Democratic candidates mention that Sen. Joe Biden would make an excellent secretary of state. During his 33 years of service on the Foreign Relations Committee, Biden has become one of the country's foremost foreign affairs experts.

  Nobody seriously suggests Hillary Clinton, John Edwards or Barack Obama are qualified to be secretary of state. Given the state of the world, supporting a candidate for president who lacks the qualifications to be secretary of state carries inherent risk.

  Comparing the two Bush presidencies illustrates the inherent danger in electing a president lacking expertise in foreign affairs. The elder Bush was experienced in foreign affairs and wasn't forced to rely heavily of the judgment of advisers. As a result, in 1991, he wisely ignored pressure from members of his administration advocating a march into Baghdad to overthrow Saddam Hussein. The second President Bush lacked his father's foreign affairs expertise, and his misplaced reliance on the advisers has proved disastrous.

  I support Biden for president not only because his record of domestic accomplishments far exceeds that of all other candidates, but more importantly, given the state of the world today, we need a president who knows as least as much about foreign affairs as the next secretary of state.

  Ray Havlik Atkins

Blog Post: Biden Asks Caucus-goers To Focus on Credentials, Iowa Politics, 12-23
By Matt Clark

DAVENPORT -- Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Biden asked potential caucus-goers Saturday to remember his "unparalleled credentials" when deciding which candidate to support on Jan. 3.

"Americans are neither liberal, nor conservative - they're pragmatic," he said.

Biden touted his record of achieving results as a key reason voters should be interested in the thought of a Biden presidency. In outlining his health care plan, which would focus on preventative treatment of chronic diseases, Biden compared himself and his plan to the proposals put forth by his Democratic challengers. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John Edwards are "good people with decent plans," Biden said, adding his plan was the best because it is the clearest and easiest to understand for Americans.

"I have a history of taking complicated issues and articulating them to the public in a way that can be understood,' Biden said.

The Delaware senator is hoping his talent for making the often-dense intricacies of public policy clear to caucus-goers will result in support for his candidacy. With just two weeks left until the Iowa caucuses, Biden remains optimistic that if voters hear what he has to say they will make him the Democratic nominee, to the surprise of pollers who consistently put Biden in the second-tier of candidates.

"When we win this election, it will have started here on the Mississippi River, in the Quad Cities," he said. "With your help, we're going to shock the devil out of them."

Anita Ohren of Davenport said she will be caucusing for Biden because of his Iraq exit strategy.

"His experience with world leaders and his knowledge of the warring factions within nations is amazing," Ohren said. "Americans are being robbed by the flawed foreign and domestic policies of the Bush administration, and Biden is the best guy to turn that around."

Biden said his administration would "fundamentally change the way Republicans spend money." He explained that ending the war in Iraq, rolling back tax cuts for wealthy Americans, and cutting funding for out-of-date and unnecessary weapons systems would free up $350 billion from the budget. Biden said his plans for public health care, education reform, and other spending initiatives would cost $170 billion at the most, leaving nearly $200 billion to put toward balancing the budget and reducing the deficit.

Acknowledging his goals were ambitious, Biden explained that while some have accused the Democrats of being timid, "that adjective has never been assigned to me."

Another Quad Cities resident is sure Biden has what it takes to be the next president. Stephanie Callaway blamed the media for labeling Biden a long shot, saying his message is resounding with voters, but the press is not paying attention.

"Biden is right where John Kerry was in the 2004 race," Callaway said. "He is set to win over undecided voters and come out strong in the early states. The media decided early on who they wanted, creating a buzz around certain candidates rather than following the progress of people like Joe Biden."

The senator introduced those in attendance to his two sons who have been campaigning with him, and his niece who recently became part of his staff. He thanked his family for their support, likening the experience of campaigning in Iowa to the expression "if you build it, they will come" from the movie, "Field of Dreams."

"Hold a caucus, and the Bidens show up," he said.

 

Blog Post: Biden picks up two more legislator endorsements, Bleeding Heartland, 12-22 

by: Chris Woods 

Potential sleeper candidate Joe Biden picked up two more state legislator endorsements this morning.  From a Biden for President campaign release: 

"Today, Sen. Joe Biden received endorsements from two key Iowa elected officials.  State Representatives Dennis Cohoon of Burlington and Eric Palmer of Oskaloosa become the 15th and 16th Iowa State legislators to endorse Sen. Biden.   

"I am supporting Sen. Biden because he's the most prepared to be president from Day One," said Rep. Cohoon.  "And as a high school special education teacher for thirty years, I know Sen. Biden can accomplish the education reforms we need to get kids in preschool earlier and give them the opportunity to go to college." 

Rep. Palmer stressed Sen. Biden's experience in world affairs and his commitment to civil rights: "The Des Moines Register talked about knowledge and experience in their endorsement. To me Joe Biden exhibits real knowledge and experience in foreign affairs and his understanding of the constitution, both qualities not exhibited by this White House.  As Vice-Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, I am particularly impressed with Sen. Biden's expertise in constitutional law, which will be critical to getting America back on track.""

Like the release says, that brings his endorsement total to 16.  And trust me, that's a lot in the state legislator race and puts him just behind Clinton and Obama.  That bodes well for Biden in terms of organization and contacts.  State legislators have strong local connections that help them get elected in the first place.  Their opinion matters if nothing more than to help Iowans pick a solid second choice. 

Now, don't get me wrong, these endorsements aren't going to catapult Joe Biden into the top three.  But they could help him a lot.  If any of the three front-runners do poorly in terms of rural organizing or see troubles in viability, Joe Biden could see a boost.  And with his Iraq policy and seriousness he still captures Iowans' attention to at least listen to him.  The question is what kind of crowd will show up to the caucuses on January 3rd.

DODD

Dodd asks for 'good look' in Coralville, CR Gazette, 12-23

By Erika Binegar 

 The Gazette

  CORALVILLE - Presidential hopeful Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., expressed confidence Iowa voters will choose the next Democratic Party nominee based on who they believe has the experience to bring about real change, rather than on celebrity endorsements.

  Iowans, he added, have the job of weeding the candidate pool.

  "I've been impressed over the years here, that you've not been diverted by money, or glitter or celebrities," Dodd said, "that you've cut through all that." Dodd asked a crowd of about 40 in the Old Town Hall, 406 Second Ave., on Saturday to give him the chance to continue making his case. "In the next 11 days, I hope you'll give me a good look." He garnered applause from the crowd after joking his talk Saturday would be much shorter than his 11-hour speech on the Senate floor last Monday. "I'm not going to engage in a filibuster here," he said, referring to his effort last week to block a bill that would have shielded from lawsuits telecommunications companies that helped the government tap American communications after Sept. 11.

  Dodd cited the proposed legislation as an example of how President Bush has sacrificed rights in the name of safety. "That is a dangerous, dangerous notion," Dodd said. "We are more secure because we fight and defend those rights." The senator was in town on a "12 Days of Results Tour," during which - as a play on the 12 Days of Christmas - he highlighted his record of results on a particular issue each day. On Saturday, it was democracy and the right to vote.

  Dodd pointed to his work on the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which flooded additional resources into communities to improve voting procedures and authorized statewide registration and provisional ballots. The 26-year senator also drew on life experiences to prove he's most qualified for the job. "I didn't cram for this meeting here today," he said.

  Instead, he talked of an upbringing that anchored his belief in the Constitution, his time in the military and Peace Corps, and his work passing landmark child care legislation and the Family and Medical Leave Act - proof he can reach across party lines to make a difference, he said.

  "He understands how you have to compromise to make progress," John McNamara, 56, of Coralville said after the event. McNamara said he was impressed with Dodd's pas sion and knowledge, but added he's still unsure who he'll caucus for. "He's deserving of the White House, whether he gets there or not." Dodd, who is scheduled to remain in Iowa with his family through the holidays, said he posted a sign reading, "Dear Santa, we're in Iowa," outside his Connecticut home to put his daughter, Grace, 6, at ease. He has scheduled stops today in Clinton, Muscatine, Burlington and Fairfield. He'll finish his "12 days" tour Monday in Carroll.

Blog Post: Dodd Hopes for Third or Fourth in Iowa, Contrasts on FISA, Iowa Independent, 12-22

John Deeth

At a stop at Iowa City's Hamburg Inn, Chris Dodd told Iowa Independent that "third or fourth" would be a good showing in Iowa, but "first is best." 

Dodd spent close to an hour at the politically famous diner, offering no speech but speaking with every one of about 50 every patrons, sometimes at length.  Owner Dave Panther said Dodd was the sixth candidate to visit this cycle, joining fellow Democrats Joe Biden, John Edwards and Barack Obama, Republican John McCain and Green Cynthia McKinney.  Three candidate's spouses -- Elizabeth Edwards, Jackie Dodd and former president Bill Clinton -- have also visited.

It was the second of Dodd's three Johnson County stops in 24 hours.  Friday night, Dodd spoke at the Knights of Columbus Hall, where he won the endorsement of Iowa City Council member-elect Matt Hayek.  "We need an adult in the room," Hayek said after the event. "Our next president won't have the luxury of getting up to speed internationally." 

Dodd discussed his recent FISA filibuster with Iowa Independent at the Hamburg Inn. 

Deeth: How's the FISA work that you did playing out on the campaign trail? 

Dodd: I'm impressed how many people are aware of it, because the mainstream media wouldn't hardly cover it.  People wonder whether or not blogs and the internet are having any value, and this story would have been buried away, forever maybe, and they might have gotten away with it.  But we had 500,000 emails sent to members of Congress through our campaign office by the way, that was through our office and I respect that people did it.  People expressing their concern about this had a lot of influence, I think, on people deciding they were going to pull this bill off the floor of the Senate.  So it made a big difference, and people here this morning have certainly thanked me for making that trip back to Washington to be there to defeat that legislation. 

Deeth.  Some of the other Senators who are doing the same thing you're doing didn't go back. 

Dodd: No, and they all went back for the farm bill, because that was good politics in Iowa.  But the Constitution is what you swore to uphold when you are inaugurated or confirmed in the Senate, that's what you do when you take an oath of office.  To me there's nothing more important, and this administration's had an assault on the Constitution for the last six years, and they continue to do it almost on a daily basis.  If you can't come back and defend the constitution, I mean, this is a time when we need people to do that.  If you let it pass and exonerate the phone companies who've vacuumed up people's phone messages, emails for five long years without a court order at the behest of the Bush administration, and they want to pretend it never happened, is just wrong.  And that's why I stood up for 11 hours on the floor of the Senate and pushed back, and they finally pulled the bill out.  That's going to come back in January, so we're not done with defeating that.  It's a temporary victory, and I'm hoping next time I'll get some more members to come back to be a part of it.  If you want to be President of the United States, you've got to lead, not just talk. 

Deeth: You were saying last night at the Knights of Columbus that you were the best able to work across the aisle.  So far this week I've heard Senator Obama and Senator Clinton also say exactly the same thing.  What makes you more effective at working across the aisle than the other candidates who are claiming the same thing? 

Dodd: Because I have. I mean, it's a simple record, it's one thing to say it, it's another to have done it.  For 26 years, going back to the very first major legislation I was involved in, all the way up till just a week ago on Darfur.  People say they are that way, I've actually done it.  On the Family and Medical Leave, child care, all those I've done over the years really dozens and dozens, including fourteen pieces of legislation in the last two weeks that have become the law of the land as a result of my working with Dick Shelby, the Republican from Alabama, to get it done.  So other people can say it, it's one thing to say it.  But the question you want to ask is, where have you done this?  What confidence do I have?  Of course everyone wants to say that, but I think I'm the only one who's actually done it. 

Deeth: You've been working really, really hard here in Iowa, literally staying in Iowa for a while, yet you're still lagging number-wise.  What do you have to do to go on from Iowa? 

Dodd: I think polls here don't mean as much as they do other places.  It's a question of celebrity to some extent, and I think people are getting much more serious about this with ten or 11 days to go here before Jan. 3, and you need to have a good showing here.  I don't know what that showing means, it depends where the others are. 

Deeth: What's good? 

Dodd:  Well, you know, third, fourth, first is best here... and I'm hoping Iowans will recognize that it's important of those of us who've had something to say... I've been the most outspoken on the Constitution, the most outspoken on the Iraq war.  I bring military service, Peace Corps service, I'm a person who can actually, with proven results bring Democrats and Republicans together.  If that's what people are interested in, I think I'm an ideal candidate for Iowans.

Also at the Hamburg Inn was Jim Larew, chief legal counsel to Governor Culver, dining with former state legislator Dave Osterberg of Mt. Vernon.  Larew, a leading backer of John Edwards in 2004, was pleased with First Lady Mari Culver's Edwards endorsement, though he was careful to note that the governor himself is neutral.  Larew said the governor has "released" his staff to follow their conscience and support the candidates of their choice, and though Larew is busy he hopes to help Edwards again in the remaining days.

Patricia McMichael of Iowa City was signing a Dodd pledge card at the Hamburg.  "He's a statesman," she said," and we need that."

Blog Post: Dodd: "Third, Fourth, First Is Best" in Iowa , Iowa Independent, 12-22

by: John Deeth 

At a stop at Iowa City's Hamburg Inn, Chris Dodd told Iowa Independent that "third or fourth" would be a good showing in Iowa, but "first is best."

David Osterberg and Jim Larew with Dodd

Dodd spent close to an hour at the politically famous diner, offering no speech but speaking with every one of about 50 every patrons, sometimes at length.  Owner Dave Panther said Dodd was the sixth candidate to visit this cycle, joining fellow Democrats Joe Biden, John Edwards and Barack Obama, Republican John McCain and Green Cynthia McKinney.  Three candidate's spouses -- Elizabeth Edwards, Jackie Dodd and former president Bill Clinton -- have also visited. 

John Deeth :: Dodd: "Third, Fourth, First Is Best" in Iowa  

Matt Hayek with Dodd Friday.

It was the second of Dodd's three Johnson County stops in 24 hours.  Friday night, Dodd spoke at the Knights of Columbus Hall, where he won the endorsement of Iowa City Council member-elect Matt Hayek.  "We need an adult in the room," Hayek said after the event. "Our next president won't have the luxury of getting up to speed internationally."

Dodd discussed his recent FISA filibuster with Iowa Independent at the Hamburg Inn.

 

Deeth: How's the FISA work that you did playing out on the campaign trail?

Dodd: I'm impressed how many people are aware of it, because the mainstream media wouldn't hardly cover it.  People wonder whether or not blogs and the internet are having any value, and this story would have been buried away, forever maybe, and they might have gotten away with it.  But we had 500,000 emails sent to members of Congress through our campaign office by the way, that was through our office and I respect that people did it.  People expressing their concern about this had a lot of influence, I think, on people deciding they were going to pull this bill off the floor of the Senate.  So it made a big difference, and people here this morning have certainly thanked me for making that trip back to Washington to be there to defeat that legislation.

Deeth.  Some of the other Senators who are doing the same thing you're doing didn't go back.

Dodd: No, and they all went back for the farm bill, because that was good politics in Iowa.  But the Constitution is what you swore to uphold when you are inaugurated or confirmed in the Senate, that's what you do when you take an oath of office.  To me there's nothing more important, and this administration's had an assault on the Constitution for the last six years, and they continue to do it almost on a daily basis.  If you can't come back and defend the constitution, I mean, this is a time when we need people to do that.  If you let it pass and exonerate the phone companies who've vacuumed up people's phone messages, emails for five long years without a court order at the behest of the Bush administration, and they want to pretend it never happened, is just wrong.  And that's why I stood up for 11 hours on the floor of the Senate and pushed back, and they finally pulled the bill out.  That's going to come back in January, so we're not done with defeating that.  It's a temporary victory, and I'm hoping next time I'll get some more members to come back to be a part of it.  If you want to be President of the United States, you've got to lead, not just talk.

Deeth: You were saying last night at the Knights of Columbus that you were the best able to work across the aisle.  So far this week I've heard Senator Obama and Senator Clinton also say exactly the same thing.  What makes you more effective at working across the aisle than the other candidates who are claiming the same thing?

Dodd: Because I have. I mean, it's a simple record, it's one thing to say it, it's another to have done it.  For 26 years, going back to the very first major legislation I was involved in, all the way up till just a week ago on Darfur.  People say they are that way, I've actually done it.  On the Family and Medical Leave, child care, all those I've done over the years really dozens and dozens, including fourteen pieces of legislation in the last two weeks that have become the law of the land as a result of my working with Dick Shelby, the Republican from Alabama, to get it done.  So other people can say it, it's one thing to say it.  But the question you want to ask is, where have you done this?  What confidence do I have?  Of course everyone wants to say that, but I think I'm the only one who's actually done it.

Deeth: You've been working really, really hard here in Iowa, literally staying in Iowa for a while, yet you're still lagging number-wise.  What do you have to do to go on from Iowa?

Dodd: I think polls here don't mean as much as they do other places.  It's a question of celebrity to some extent, and I think people are getting much more serious about this with ten or 11 days to go here before Jan. 3, and you need to have a good showing here.  I don't know what that showing means, it depends where the others are.

Deeth: What's good?

Dodd:  Well, you know, third, fourth, first is best here... and I'm hoping Iowans will recognize that it's important of those of us who've had something to say... I've been the most outspoken on the Constitution, the most outspoken on the Iraq war.  I bring military service, Peace Corps service, I'm a person who can actually, with proven results bring Democrats and Republicans together.  If that's what people are interested in, I think I'm an ideal candidate for Iowans.

Also at the Hamburg Inn was Jim Larew, chief legal counsel to Governor Culver, dining with former state legislator Dave Osterberg of Mt. Vernon.  Larew, a leading backer of John Edwards in 2004, was pleased with First Lady Mari Culver's Edwards endorsement, though he was careful to note that the governor himself is neutral.  Larew said the governor has "released" his staff to follow their conscience and support the candidates of their choice, and though Larew is busy he hopes to help Edwards again in the remaining days.

Patricia McMichael of Iowa City was signing a Dodd pledge card at the Hamburg.  "He's a statesman," she said, " and we need that." 

EDWARDS

Edwards tells '527s' to stop ads, Des Moines Register, 12-22

By TONY LEYS

Lisbon, Ia.  Presidential candidate John Edwards declared Saturday that the country should ban independent political groups that buy ads flattering or trashing candidates, and he said he wished that groups running ads favoring him would stop doing so. 

After a rally here, the former North Carolina senator told reporters that by law, he can have no control or over such groups, known as 527s.

I cant talk to them at all, he said. When asked if he would say publicly that he wished the groups would stop running ads for him, Edwards changed the subject. But later, in Coralville, he said that he did wish the groups would drop the ads. 

I would encourage all the 527s, not just this one, but all the 527s to stay out of it, he said. But I have no legal authority over that.

Edwards trails his two top Democratic competitors in fund-raising, and he often says that the campaign-finance system should be drastically changed to increase transparency and limit the role of corporations and lobbyists.

Rival candidate Barack Obama criticized Edwards earlier Saturday for benefiting from the 527 groups ads while saying the groups should be banned. Obama said in Oskaloosa that Edwards former campaign manager is working with one of the groups.

You cant just talk the talk, Obama said, according to a transcript provided by his campaign. The easiest thing in the world is to talk about change during election time.

One of the groups running pro-Edwards radio ads is associated with several locals of the Service Employees International Union. 

As it happened, an SEIU leader was sitting in Edwards audience in Lisbon Saturday. Cathy Glasson is president of an SEIU local that covers most of Iowa and has endorsed Edwards.

Glasson, wearing one of her SEIUs trademark purple shirts, acknowledged that her union has a 527 group that has been running Iowa radio ads complimentary of 

Edwards. 

She said she understands the criticisms of such groups, including that their finances are not made public, and she has heard calls for them to be banned. I dont think thats necessarily wrong, she said. 

But we have to live in the situation were in.

Edwards speculated that his surging strength in Iowa spurred Obamas criticism.

Edwards tells Lisbon he feels momentum again, CR Gazette, 12-23

By James Q. Lynch 

 The Gazette 

  LISBON - Four years ago, when he was polling in the single digits, John Edwards kept telling reporters that his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination was picking up momentum that would surprise people on caucus night.

  Now in the thick of a threeway statistical dead heat at the front of the Democratic field less than two weeks from the Jan. 3, Edwards says he getting that feeling again.

  "I believe it's happening right now," the former North Carolina senator said after speaking to about 300 people at Lisbon High School on Saturday afternoon. "I can see it in the energy and the enthusiasm at the events." More than that, Edwards, who was the party's vice presidential candidate in 2004, hears it from people who come up to him after his events.

  "I can see it when people come to me after the events and say 'I came here for Obama, I came here deciding between you and Obama - which is what I hear more often, and I'm for you. I'm committing right now,'" said Edwards, who consistently has trailed Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in polls.

  "I had a bunch of people tell me that right up there in the middle of that event." That didn't surprise Nate Willems, an Edwards supporter from Lisbon, who predicted the former trial attorney would carry caucuses in the southeastern Linn County community. Other candidates might fare better in caucuses dominated by professional and white-collar voters, but Willems thinks Edwards' promise to fight for working people against corporate greed will play well in blue-collar communities.

  "His appeal isn't personality-driven," Willems said. "Edwards stands for what the Democratic party is supposed to stand for." That was the thrust of Ed wards' comments Saturday.

  Focusing on "corporate greed controlling our democracy," Edwards told his audience that people with the top 1 percent of incomes are taking in twice as much as they did a quarter of a century ago while 35 million Americans go hungry, 47 million are uninsured and 200,000 veterans are homeless. "Enough is enough," Edwards said. "It's time to tell the truth and the truth is corporate greed is stealing our children's future." He predicted that on Jan. 3, "right here in Iowa, you're going to rise up and say enough is enough. You're going to start a wave of change and American is going to be changed." His passionate rhetoric might be part of the reason Edwards is rising, Matt Glasson of Cedar Rapids said.

  "It's a much different message than he had four years ago," said Glasson, a member of SEIU of Iowa, a union that has endorsed Edwards. "He has more passion than four years ago."

Edwards doesn't 'walk the walk,' Obama says, Omaha World Herald, 12-23

OSKALOOSA, Iowa (AP) - Opening his latest presidential campaign swing through Iowa, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama on Saturday singled out rival John Edwards for criticism, arguing that the former North Carolina senator doesn't have a track record to back up the sharply populist themes he sounds on the campaign trail.

  "I've got a track record," Obama said. "I don't just talk the talk, I walk the walk. John does not have the same track record."

  The Illinois senator and his aides also singled out a new television campaign they said is being launched on Edwards' behalf, accusing him of hypocrisy.

  "John said yesterday, he didn't believe in these 527s," Obama said. "Those are these independent groups that raise money with no disclosure, nobody knows who is giving them. . . . We found out today there's a group buying three-quarters of a million dollars' worth of television, and the individual running the group used to be John Edwards' campaign manager."

  Edwards said in response that he didn't know anything about the ad buy and has no say in it.

  "The way the law operates is we're not allowed to be involved in this - the campaign's not allowed to be involved, I'm not allowed to be involved," Edwards said after a campaign stop Saturday in Lisbon, Iowa. "I found out about this probably after most of you did through the news media." At a stop in Coralville, Iowa, Edwards said, "I would prefer that all the 527s - not just this one - that all the 527s stay out of Iowa."

  Candidates in both parties are benefiting and taking hits from advocacy groups that are only now making their presence known. Their ads often are more negative than those from the candidates.

Edwards: Industry won't solve health care crisis, Iowa City Press-Citizen, 12-23

Says he wouldn't set policy with drug companies

By Rachel Gallegos

CORALVILLE -- Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Saturday that sitting down at the table with health insurance and drug companies would not be his solution for America's health policies.

"Anybody who says to me I'm going to sit at a table with those people and determine America's health policy -- I say never. It's never going to happen," he said.

Edwards, who spent 20 years in courtrooms fighting against big corporations, said he would continue that mission as president.

"I've been in this fight my whole life, and I take every single bit of it very personally," he said to a standing room-only crowd of more than 350 -- including about 60 people who stood in a hallway throughout the campaign speech -- at the Holiday Inn in Coralville. "We have an enormous, epic fight in front of us."

"America doesn't belong to them. American belongs to us," Edwards said.

With Edwards at his campaign stop was James Lowe, a man Edwards said he met in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia, who was born with a cleft palate. Because of this condition, and having no health insurance to make the necessary surgery affordable, Lowe could not speak for five decades until a doctor fixed it voluntarily for him when he was 50 years old.

"James finally got his voice back. When will you get your voice back?" Edwards said.

Lowe said he believes that Edwards is the man who should be the next president.

"If we don't vote for him, we're messed up," Lowe said.

Before Edwards spoke, supporters started chants to excite the crowd, including "We love Elizabeth. We love John. We want to see them on the White House lawn."

Coralville City Councilor John Lundell said he and his wife, Diana, are both longtime Edwards supporters.

"Not only are his positions well thought out and doable, but what impresses me most about Sen. Edwards is his tenacity," Lundell said.

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek also helped introduce Edwards, saying that since he became an Edwards' supporter, the former North Carolina senator has continued to impress him.

"The campaign actually implemented some of the ideas I gave him about public safety into his initiatives," Pulkrabek said, adding that Edwards has pledged that he is committed to funding methamphetamine programs both in and out of jails.

At Saturday's event, Edwards also emphasized his dedication to the middle class.

"Corporate greed is killing the middle class, robbing you of your jobs and robbing your children of their future," Edwards said.

He said he believes mill workers, using the example of his own family, are worth every bit as much as the person who owns the mill.

Edwards said roughly 35 million people in this country -- almost equal to the population in California -- went hungry this past year.

"Enough is enough, really," Edwards said. "Our country is better than this."

On Saturday, the final day of his "Fighting for America's Voice" tour, Edwards proposed an economic stimulus packages to strengthen the American economy and create new jobs, according to a news release from his campaign. This proposal urges Congress to act immediately and pass at least a $25 billion jobs plan in early 2008, with the possibility of passing $75 billion more if there is evidence of that nation entering into a recession.

The plan calls for investing in clean energy infrastructure, increasing federal aid to help states avoid cutting programs that help families during difficult times, reforming unemployment insurance and addressing the housing crisis.

Luyen Tran of Washington, D.C. said he's still undecided, but he thought Edwards' speech was "quite inspirational."

"I wish more Democratic candidates could speak like he does," Tran said.

Edwards wants Congress to create $100 billion economic cushion, AP/Globe Gazette, Quad City Times, 12-22

By AMY LORENTZEN 

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Presidential candidate John Edwards will argue Saturday said the country can't simply wait for the economy to turn around, and he will call on Congress to come up with $100 billion to prepare for a potential economic slowdown.

The Democrat and former North Carolina senator suggests an initial investment of $25 billion for job creation and other aid, with the rest set aside if the economy slides into a recession. He was scheduled to unveil his plan at campaign stops on Saturday in eastern Iowa.

In his policy paper provided to The Associated Press, Edwards said the economy is struggling because of the housing crisis and stagnant wages. Housing, energy and health care costs have increased while the median income for working-age families dropped $2,400 between 2000 and 2006, he said.

Edwards wants Congress to make a major investment in clean energy that he contends would both fight global warming and create jobs to spark economic activity.

His plan calls for lawmakers to encourage wind and solar farms, help weatherize 250,000 homes and extend the renewable energy production tax credit. Congress should also train workers for "green collar" jobs related to clean energy, and support energy-efficient transportation systems including bus projects and light rail, Edwards said.

He also wants Congress to update the nation's unemployment system, which he said now leaves workers unprepared for hard times. He calls on Congress to help states cover 500,000 additional workers each year, and set aside resources now to keep workers from having to wait for benefits if the unemployment rate rises.

Aid to states also should be boosted to keep them from having to increase property taxes or cut programs such as Medicaid in order to balance their budgets, Edwards said.

To combat the housing crisis, Edwards wants lawmakers to create a home rescue fund to help families get counseling, loans or other financial aid to avoid foreclosure. He also believes that families facing bankruptcy should be allowed to rewrite terms of their mortgage, and write off debt that exceeds the value of their home.

To keep such a crisis from happening again, Edwards said Congress should pass stronger laws against predatory lending and create a federal regulator to oversee financial services products.

Edwards: Greed created health crisis, WCF Courier, 12-22

By CHARLOTTE EBY, Courier Des Moines Burueau

DES MOINES --- Less than two weeks before Iowa's leadoff caucuses, Democrat John Edwards turned up the volume at a rally in West Des Moines Friday, pledging to fight against what he called corporate greed in order to help people who need a voice.

He argued that health insurance and drug companies have managed to block universal health care in the country.

"We will never change this country the way that we need to unless we're willing to take those people on," Edwards said to cheers.

For hundreds who packed a community college meeting room, Edwards brought to life the people he has been talking about for months and years on the campaign trail.

Friday's trip had Edwards campaigning alongside James Lowe, a former coal miner whom Edwards met in Virginia during his poverty tour earlier this year.

Lowe, who lived with a cleft palette that left him barely able to speak, was 50 years old before his condition was fixed because he lacked health care.

Edwards has made Lowe's story a regular part of his stump speech to illustrate the need for universal health care. He often tells voters he was angry when he heard of Lowe's story.

Lowe made his first trip to Iowa so he could campaign for Edwards and got a standing ovation from the crowd.

"The first time I met him, I felt a connection," Lowe said of Edwards. "I felt like he's the man who cares for people like me."

Edwards also introduced the family of Valerie Lakey, who was seriously injured in an accident with a swimming pool drain at the age of 5. As a lawyer, Edwards won a multimillion dollar settlement for the family after making a case that the drain cover was faulty and that the manufacturer knew it but hid the truth.

Mother Sandy Lakey praised Edwards for helping her family.

"John Edwards gave us hope in our darkest hour," she said.

Speaking with reporters after the event, Edwards was upbeat about the state of his presidential campaign. Polls show him locked in a tough three-way fight with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Iowa.

"We're very excited about the energy and momentum behind this campaign. You can literally feel the movement," Edwards said.  

He also expressed optimism about his chances in New Hampshire, which holds the nation's first primary five days after the Iowa caucuses. He described huge crowds in that state after returning from a campaign trip, bigger crowds than during his last presidential campaign.

"I never saw those kinds of crowds ever in 2004, and there's a lot of energy. They're responding to the same message," Edwards said.

Edwards steps up rhetoric against health insurance, drug companies, WCF Courier, 12-22

By CHARLOTTE EBY, Courier Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES --- Less than two weeks before Iowa's leadoff caucuses, Democrat John Edwards turned up the volume at a rally in West Des Moines Friday, pledging to fight against what he called corporate greed in order to help people who need a voice.

He argued that health insurance and drug companies have managed to block universal health care in the country.

"We will never change this country the way that we need to unless we're willing to take those people on," Edwards said to cheers.

For hundreds who packed a community college meeting room, Edwards brought to life the people he has been talking about for months and years on the campaign trail.

Friday's trip had Edwards campaigning alongside James Lowe, a former coal miner whom Edwards met in Virginia during his poverty tour earlier this year.

Lowe, who lived with a cleft palette that left him barely able to speak, was 50 years old before his condition was fixed because he lacked health care.

Edwards has made Lowe's story a regular part of his stump speech to illustrate the need for universal health care. He often tells voters he was angry when he heard of Lowe's story.

Lowe made his first trip to Iowa so he could campaign for Edwards and got a standing ovation from the crowd.

"The first time I met him, I felt a connection," Lowe said of Edwards. "I felt like he's the man who cares for people like me."

Edwards also introduced the family of Valerie Lakey, who was seriously injured in an accident with a swimming pool drain at the age of 5. As a lawyer, Edwards won a multimillion dollar settlement for the family after making a case that the drain cover was faulty and that the manufacturer knew it but hid the truth.

Mother Sandy Lakey praised Edwards for helping her family.

"John Edwards gave us hope in our darkest hour," she said.

Speaking with reporters after the event, Edwards was upbeat about the state of his presidential campaign. Polls show him locked in a tough three-way fight with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in Iowa.

"We're very excited about the energy and momentum behind this campaign. You can literally feel the movement," Edwards said. ?

He also expressed optimism about his chances in New Hampshire, which holds the nation's first primary five days after the Iowa caucuses. He described huge crowds in that state after returning from a campaign trip, bigger crowds than?during his last presidential campaign.

"I never saw those kinds of crowds ever in 2004, and there's a lot of energy. They're responding to the same message," Edwards said.

Edwards in Northeast Iowa late next week, WCF Courier, 12-22

WATERLOO --- Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards will visit Northeast Iowa on Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday the former North Carolina senator will visit Luther College at 1:45 p.m., the Amvets in Waverly at 5 p.m. and Waterloo East High School at 7 p.m.

On Friday, at 10:30 a.m. Edwards will stop by Bill's Pizza and Smoke House, 201 W. First St., in Independence

Edwards rails against corporate influence, Ames Tribune, 12-22

By: Gavin Aronsen/Special to The Tribune 

By Amy Vinchattle/The Tribune

Democratic presidential hopeful former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards speaks to a crowd during a roundtable discussion Friday at S.C.O.R.E pavilion in Nevada.   

At a Friday campaign stop, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., vowed to fight against the corporate influences he said have corrupted the nation and asked his audience for their votes at the Jan. 3 caucuses in Iowa.

Edwards, who runs third in state polls behind Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., addressed his populist message to a gathering of 120 people at the S.C.O.R.E pavilion in Nevada.

He brought with him James Lowe, a Virginia man who he said couldn't speak until he underwent surgery for a cleft palate at age 50, and the Lakey family, whose daughter Edwards successfully represented as a lawyer after a pool drain disemboweled her.

He also mentioned 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan, who died Thursday, hours after CIGNA, a health care insurance corporation, finally agreed to approve a liver transplant it previously had refused her on the grounds that her health care plan didn't cover the procedure.

At the stop, Iowa Farmers Union President Chris Peterson also announced his support for Edwards, applauding the candidate for fighting for the interests of family farmers.

"Corporate greed has taken over the government, it's that simple," Edwards said. "It's infiltrated everything that's happening."

Much of his ire was directed at insurance companies and their Washington lobbyists, tax breaks granted to American companies relocating jobs out of the country and private military contractors Blackwater and Halliburton, which have both been embroiled by controversy over their profits off no-bid contracts in the Iraq war.

"These people are stealing your children's future," he said.

Last year, Edwards said, 35 million Americans went hungry. Insurance companies, whose heads make hundreds of millions of dollars annually, lobbied Congress to prevent popular health care reform legislation.

Halfway through his speech, he invited Lowe to talk. Edwards said Lowe's cleft palate could have been fixed by a simple operation had he been able to afford health care coverage.

"I can't talk too well right now, but I'm learning," Lowe said. "And I want to thank Mr. Edwards and all the doctors who helped me, and thank God for it all."

Edwards said he had never taken a dime from Washington lobbyists or political action committees. He invoked Presidents Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, whom he said were hated by corporate America for not bowing to their whims.

"I won't sit at a table and negotiate with (lobbyists)," he said.

During a brief question and answer session, Nevada High School special education teacher Kevin Ericson asked Edwards what he would do to make the No Child Left Behind Act more equitable for special needs students.

Edwards said he would radically change the act if he kept it at all, with "teachers central to the evaluation process so it's not kids filling in bubbles on a multiple 

He also reiterated the necessity of universal health care and said the system should mandate mental health parity.

Ericson said he planned to caucus for Edwards and that his wife, also a teacher, liked the candidate as well.

"We both feel he's genuine in his feelings toward kids and education, and his passion comes through so we know he's going to stand up and do what we need him to do," Ericson said.

Edwards wants Congress to create $100 billion economic cushion, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

By AMY LORENTZEN 

DES MOINES, Iowa - Presidential candidate John Edwards will argue Saturday said the country can't simply wait for the economy to turn around, and he will call on Congress to come up with $100 billion to prepare for a potential economic slowdown.

The Democrat and former North Carolina senator suggests an initial investment of $25 billion for job creation and other aid, with the rest set aside if the economy slides into a recession. He was scheduled to unveil his plan at campaign stops on Saturday in eastern Iowa.

In his policy paper provided to The Associated Press, Edwards said the economy is struggling because of the housing crisis and stagnant wages. Housing, energy and health care costs have increased while the median income for working-age families dropped $2,400 between 2000 and 2006, he said.

Edwards wants Congress to make a major investment in clean energy that he contends would both fight global warming and create jobs to spark economic activity.

His plan calls for lawmakers to encourage wind and solar farms, help weatherize 250,000 homes and extend the renewable energy production tax credit. Congress should also train workers for "green collar" jobs related to clean energy, and support energy-efficient transportation systems including bus projects and light rail, Edwards said.

He also wants Congress to update the nation's unemployment system, which he said now leaves workers unprepared for hard times. He calls on Congress to help states cover 500,000 additional workers each year, and set aside resources now to keep workers from having to wait for benefits if the unemployment rate rises.

Aid to states also should be boosted to keep them from having to increase property taxes or cut programs such as Medicaid in order to balance their budgets, Edwards said.

To combat the housing crisis, Edwards wants lawmakers to create a home rescue fund to help families get counseling, loans or other financial aid to avoid foreclosure. He also believes that families facing bankruptcy should be allowed to rewrite terms of their mortgage, and write off debt that exceeds the value of their home.

To keep such a crisis from happening again, Edwards said Congress should pass stronger laws against predatory lending and create a federal regulator to oversee financial services products.

 

Edwards brings his 'Fighting for America' tour to Le Mars, Le Mars Daily Sentinel, 12-21

By Earl Horlyk

 

Former United States Senator John Edwards brought his bus tour to Le Mars on Thursday afternoon. Edwards, who is locked in a close race to win the Iowa Democratic Caucus, drew a crowd of about 240 to the Plymouth County Historical Museum.

[Click to enlarge]  

Touting his experience, both in the courtroom and in the halls of the U.S. Senate, and his willingness to fight on the behalf of working Americans, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards kicked off a three-day tour of the Hawkeye State, bringing his "Fighting for America" Tour for a rally in Le Mars Thursday. 

Bounding into the Plymouth County Historical Museum with John Mellencamp's "Our Country" playing in the background, the Democratic presidential hopeful remembered the sacrifices made by his parents and grandparents to ensure his life would be better than theirs. 

"But what will we do?" Edwards asked the 240 political junkies and undecideds who filled the museums's Old Central gymnasium. "What will we do to insure the future of our children and grandchildren?" 

"We have 47 million Americans begging for health care," he continued, "35 million Americans went to bed hungry last night, and 200,000 of our nation's veterans are sleeping under bridges or in homeless shelters." 

Edwards shakes his head. 

"Yet corporate profits are at an all-time high," he mentioned, "and we continue to give tax breaks to our nation's wealthiest CEOs." 

Edwards added: "Iowans have a chance to send a message to the health insurance industry and to the CEO of Exxon-Mobil. And that message is going to be loud and clear. That there is going to be a sea of change taking place. And I'm the man who can lead that change." 

This was a message that resonated with Mark Sturgeon. 

(Advertisement)

The Le Mars man had first seen Edwards when the Democratic candidate made a stop in Le Mars during Ice Cream Days last summer. 

"I truly believe Edwards is the man who can stand up to all of those lobbyists in D.C., put an end to 'pork barrel' politics, and get the country back on the right track," Sturgeon said confidently. 

More importantly to Sturgeon is the perception people have of America. 

"George W. Bush trashed our image overseas," he contends. "There's no other way to say it. He trashed our country." 

Jan Utesch agrees. 

The Le Mars woman has been a teacher in the Remsen-Union school district for the past 26 years. 

"And in those 26 years," Utesch admits, sighing, "I've seen a lotta programs instituted. But nothing has been as disastrous as Bush's 'No Child Left Behind.'" 

"We even have a couplet that uses the acronym of the policy," she said. "'Nickel me/Nickel you/Learning is no longer fun to do.'" 

"When it comes to education," Utesch said, throwing up her hands, "Bush has been a disaster." 

Steve Mohning knows where Utesch is coming from. 

A former educator himself, the Le Mars man said he has been a registered Republican and a registered Independent in the past. 

"But I've been a registered Democrat since 2004," Mohning admits. "We need a leader who can lead in a diplomatic way and I don't see the Republican doing that." 

"In fact," he continued, "I don't see the Republicans do much leading at all." 

Back on stage, Edwards introduced James Lowe, a former Virginia coal miner who could barely speak for 50 years because he didn't have health care and couldn't afford the operation he needed to fix his cleft palate. 

"For 50 years," he reiterated, "James could not speak simply because he could not afford medical care." 

Last year, the Virginia man finally met with medical professionals at a free clinic who donated their time to perform the surgery he needed to speak. 

"And now James' wife says he talks too much," Edwards teased. 

"But it just goes to show that our country needs someone who will stand up for working Americans," he mentions decisively. "I am that man." 

"I have dedicated my life as an attorney and as a senator to this fight," Edwards explained. "I've been through (the presidential election cycle) before and I bring a seasoned toughness to the table. I WILL win back the White House." 

Edwards is currently run neck and neck with Democratic rivals, Illinois Senator Barack Obama and New York Senator Hillary Clinton. 

This excites veteran Associated Press reporter Mike Glover because he says it excites likely Iowa Caucus goers. 

"The Iowa Caucus is less than two weeks away," he smiles, "and anybody can take it. It's that close." 

Becoming a handicapper for a moment, Glover says Edwards' plan for success in the Iowa Caucus will be to emphasize the fact that he came in second place during the 2004 caucus. 

"His people know how to play the game," he said, "and they're playing to win." 

Clinton will emphasize that has the Democratic party establishment in her corner. 

"During the Iowa caucus, you're playing to a pretty limited audience of party faithful," Glover informs. "Having the party machinery behind you definitely helps." 

As for Obama, he brings new energy and new people into the fold. 

Glover predicts: "In 2004, the Iowa Caucus drew about 124,000 people. If this year, there's fewer people or about the same amount of people, Edwards will win. If there is more, Clinton or Obama can point to the fact that they brought a new following into the race." 

"But no matter how anyone spins it," Glover says with a grin, "it's exciting to see a horse-race in Iowa." 

Back on stage, Edwards recalls a lesson taught to him by his father. 

"I was six-years-old when I got into a fight with a classmate," he remembers. "I got my butt kicked. I went home pretty messed up and my dad asked what happened. I told him I got into a fight. He asked: Did I start it? No, I said. He said: Good, never pick a fight." 

"But my dad said never walk away from a fight either," Edwards tells the crowd. "I will never back away from what I believe in and I am ready to fight to bring back our country." 

"I am ready to work hard and commit myself with every fiber of my being to bring this country back," he continued, "so on a cold night in January, Iowans across this great state can rise together, look their children in the eye and say we made a difference." 

LTE: Man of integrity, Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

John Edwards -- direct and to the point.

As a union worker, I appreciate that all of the democratic presidential candidates support the Employee Free Choice Act which is arguably the most important legislation to organized labor. They all support fair trade agreements which are sensitive to workers rights and contain strong environmental laws. They all say the Department of Labor in their administrations would actually support labor.

So any of these candidates would be a welcome change after the current administration. This is why democrats have a tough choice deciding who to caucus for in January.

However, if you've ever been on a long strike or lockout and experienced first hand the weak labor laws protecting the rights of workers, if you have voted for a terrible contract because you felt you would lose your job by voting against it, if you have feared for your family's well being as you've looked in the paper and seen ads for replacement workers as a company says, "this is your final offer, take it or leave it," if you have been in any of these situations, I believe one candidate stands out from the rest.

John Edwards is direct and clear when he says, "Imagine a president saying the word union and telling the nation from the White House that organized labor is important to the strength of America. The banning of permanent replacement workers would be the law of the land in my administration." When you're out there fighting for your family's rights and benefits, no scab should be able to walk through your picket line and take your job.

John Edwards has been to hundreds of labor organizing events and has walked picket lines with workers.

He is a man of integrity who backs up his words with his actions.

BUDDY HOWARD

Keokuk

 

LTE: What I believe in, The Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

My heart beats silently to the red, white and blue of our American flag. I ask myself, with tearful eyes, "What has become of our America"? 

I encourage all voters to attend the caucuses on Jan. 3. Your presence at your precinct can and will make a distinct impact on the future of this country and its people.

While canvassing in Mount Pleasant on Nov. 17, 2007, for John Edwards, I realized just how important it was as an American to have the freedom to express my opinion and beliefs at the doorsteps of 27 Mount Pleasant homes.

Afterward, I took out a piece of paper and began to write the emotions that had been created, the enthusiasm and excitement, all due to my actions as an American, and all of this was done in honor of John Edwards and his family. My legs may become weary, my feet begin to tire, but I will not become weak. I shall stand strong for what I believe in and that is for a man who is willing, with our help, to give America back to her people.

John Edwards is indeed that man. As testimony to my belief, I shall walk from my place of employment, New London School, after every eight-hour work day, to my home, 6.l miles. I will begin my walks Dec. 3 until the day of the Iowa Caucuses on the evening of Jan. 3, 2008. "I walk for what I believe in."

CARRIE DUNCAN

New London

 

LTE: Edwards has a plan to end war, health care, Muscatine Journal, 12-21

By Jeffrey Shay, Muscatine, Iowa 

The United States has been involved in a war that has caused the death of nearly 4,000 Americans, not to mention becoming one of the most expensive wars in our history, and for debatable policies. John Edwards wants to bring it to an end, and has a plan to have all combat troops out of Iraq in nine to 10 months. Mrs. Clinton is against keeping troops in Iraq, depending on which day she is asked.

John Edwards has presented a plan for helping agriculture and has toured every Iowa county, meeting with individual farmers. Mrs. Clinton decided to examine farm issues by holding meetings with agribusiness lobbyists.

Over 46 million Americans lack health insurance, while the rest are putting up with high co-payments, deductibles and coverage exclusions. United Health Group has increased premiums for most of its policies, yet recently, paid its ex-CEO $1.4 BILLION in stock option gains, $620 million of which has been declared illegal by the U.S. government due to back-dating of his shares, not to mention his salary of $520 million over the last several years.

Yet, Hillary Clinton has a health plan that (in her own words) would give United Health and other insurance companies their "place at the table." John Edwards has offered a plan to cover all Americans, and put the rascals in their place.

The caucus in January will decide if most Americans will have their place at the table, or under it.

LTE: Edwards will put nation on new course, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

By Sam Osborne, West Branch, Iowa 

An old movie, "Wild River," provides a moving glimpse of a long-past era when Franklin D. Roosevelt put his steady hands to the task of steering our beloved nation out of the Great Depression and onto a new course bent to ensuring that everyone had an opportunity to fairly share in the American Dream.

Back then, FDR offered the same grip and grit that Sen. John Edwards now brings to this pivotal moment in American history. This is why I will enthusiastically and determinedly support John Edwards at our Democratic caucus.

Let us all join together with John Edwards to set this nation moving again. And while Karl Rove, his operatives, and a dwindling flock of Bush excusers go whimpering and woof woofing "Who let the dogs out," the rest of the American people will joyously feel like singing "Happy Days are Here Again."

And perchance we might go to the movies and see a John-Edwards-era remake of "Wild River" that fittingly casts Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins in the lead roles. These two outstanding actors have joined us and John Edwards in this determined fight to ensure a good future for all of We the People and our posterity. It is time to make history.

Blog Post: What Edwards has going for Him in Iowa, 12-22

Time's Mark Halperin says John Edwards has a chance to shock the pundits and win Iowa. Halperin has compiled a list of what Edwards has going for him in Iowa...

1. The endorsement of the First Lady of Iowa.

2. The support (some secret) of people close to Governor Culver.

3. Big Labor help being quietly marshaled by one of Iowa's top Democratic operatives and by Edwards' 2004 campaign manager.

4. A consistently confident, upbeat demeanor.

5. A re-tooled stump speech that has audiences rising up, and that is filled with specifics of his agenda.

6. Caucus rules that work to the advantage of those with strong support in rural and blue collar areas.

7. Dedicated supporters who will likely turn out even if the weather is cold and inclement.

8. National trial lawyers who are going to do something (read: "everything") to get their guy elected.

9. A popular, visible spouse.

10. More than enough money to be competitive.

11. Fearlessness.

12. A stronger work ethic than anyone in the race.

13. Perfect pitch in handling Clinton-Obama conflict.

14. A strong Des Moines Register debate performance.

15. New polling showing him as a strong general election candidate and some new boffo national media clips.

16. High favorables and strong second choice support.

17. Trained precinct captains in almost every precinct - a true, old-fashioned organization.

OBAMA

History creates 'place of fear' for some, DM Register, 12-23

By JASON CLAYWORTH

Mildred Otis won't caucus for Barack Obama for president largely for one reason: She wants to save his life.

Otis, 87, remembers America's violent civil rights movement 40 years ago when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

And, having lived through those events, the Des Moines woman and others fear that Obama's nomination could end in tragedy. "I think there's a lot of people not ready for an African-American to be a president," said Otis, a black woman.

 

 With less than two weeks remaining before the Iowa caucuses, the Democratic party could be poised to embark on a historic nominating process. Democrats could wind up with the first African-American or first woman nominated for president on a major ticket as Obama and Hillary Clinton rank first and second, in either order, in most Iowa polls.

Obama and Clinton both travel in caravans that include Secret Service protection. Neither staff discusses campaign security, but Obama's wife, Michelle, addressed the topic in speeches, and his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, has recently encouraged voters to set aside any apprehensions.

"We can't work from a place of fear," Soetoro-Ng said. "This is a critical juncture in our nation's history, and we have to press forward with courage. ... I see so much love and affection from such a wide range of individuals. I think we are certainly ready for a man like Barack."

Michelle Obama last month urged supporters to confront their own doubts, acknowledging that people want to protect themselves and her family from disappointment and failure but saying the right action is to show bravery and move ahead.

"That veil of impossibility that keeps us down and keeps our children down - keeps us waiting and hoping for a turn that may never come," she said in a speech titled "A Challenge to Overcome," according to text provided by campaign staff. "It's the bitter legacy of racism and discrimination and oppression in this country. A legacy that hurts us all."

Obama has had Secret Service protection since May. Neither national security nor campaign officials have disclosed the reason for the protection.

The vast majority of Iowa's presidential campaign stops take place at small businesses or public places. Only on rare occasions are bomb-sniffing dogs or metal detectors used.

For the most part - even at Obama campaign stops - people simply write their name on a sign-in sheet and walk into the venue without requests for identification. At some events, staffs of candidates don't even bother with sign-in sheets.

Campaign security breaches are rare, but an event last month provided the nation with an example of how serious they can become. The incident occurred when a man walked into a Clinton campaign office in New Hampshire wearing what appeared to be a bomb, demanding to speak about mental health care. The event ended without injury when the man surrendered to police after nearly six hours.

Mark Daley, a spokesman for Clinton's campaign, declined to comment for this article, noting that the campaign generally does not discuss security measures. The former first lady's campaign stops in Iowa after the incident appeared to have the same level of security as before.

Abraham Funchess, who heads Iowa's Commission on the Status of African Americans, said those who chose to vote differently as a safety precaution have been disabled by fear.

"We have to get away from that self-defeating attitude," Funchess said. "I would hope we would not allow that to keep people from participating in democracy. ... There are possibilities that something like that could happen, but there are possibilities at the same time that Hillary Clinton or Bill Richardson could deal with the same type of challenges."

Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Rochester, said she's careful not to dismiss such fears because many times they're grounded in relevant history that is central in the African-American experience.

"The strength of the Obama candidacy, I think, is an indication of how far the country has come," said Sinclair-Chapman. "If, in fact, voters are sincere when they say that they won't support a candidate because they fear for his or her life if they win the nomination, then that really completely undermines the progress that we think we see."

Obama vows strong trade agreements, DM Register, 12-23

By JONATHAN ROOS

Indianola, Ia. - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama took a hard line on trade during a snowy day of campaigning in central Iowa on Saturday.

As Democratic presidential candidates continue to battle for support from blue-collar workers in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Obama tried to press the case that he would best look after their interests.

"If we're serious about fighting for working people - you hear it all the time - then we're going to have to do something to help working people compete abroad," Obama told an audience that filled the auditorium of the Warren County Administration Building.

"I think trade is a good thing for our country as a whole and for rural areas in particular, but only when we sign deals that put American farmers and American workers first," he said.

Obama's remarks coincided with a new campaign television commercial that features a pledge to end tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas.

Obama says that if he wins the presidency, he will only negotiate trade agreements that have strong, enforceable environmental and labor standards, and that he will make enforcement a top priority.

"I'm going to make sure our trading partners live up to our trade agreements," he told supporters here. "We'll do more to stop countries like China from acting unfairly when it comes to trade because no country should get a free pass to bend the rules."

Obama said during an earlier campaign stop in Oskaloosa that he wasn't going to play by the same old rules of Washington politics. "We don't need someone who knows how to play the game better, we need to put an end to the game-playing," he said.

Sreedhar Somisetty, an undecided voter from Oskaloosa, said Obama is an inspirational speaker. But Somisetty is skeptical of whether Obama can make good on his vow to change the political climate in Washington, D.C.

"He speaks great. He inspires people, that's for sure. But I don't know if he'd be able to deliver on what he's promising," said Somisetty, an independent who is unsure whether he will caucus on Jan. 3.

Winterset, Waukee and Urbandale were also on Obama's Saturday schedule.

Obama criticizes Edwards on new ads, CR Gazette, 12-23

 

OSKALOOSA (AP) - Opening his latest presidential campaign swing through Iowa, Democrat Barack Obama singled out rival John Edwards for criticism, arguing that the former North Carolina senator doesn't have a track record to back up the sharply populist themes he sounds on the campaign trail.

  "I've got a track record," said Obama. "I don't just talk the talk, I walk the walk. John does not have the same track record." The Illinois senator and his aides also singled out a new television campaign they said is being launched on Edwards' behalf, accusing him of hypocrisy.

  "John said yesterday, he didn't believe in these 527s. Those are these independent groups that raise money with no disclosure. Nobody knows who is giving them. He said I don't believe in them," said Obama.

  "We found out today there's a group buying three-quarters of a million dollars worth of television and the individual running the group used to be John Edwards' campaign manager." Obama used the occasion to suggest that Edwards is guilty of hypocrisy.

  "You can't say yesterday, you don't believe in it and today three-quarters of a million dollars is being spent for you," said Obama.

  "You can't just talk the talk. Everybody talks change, but how did they act when it was not convenient, when it's hard." Campaign aides distributed to reporters a list of television ad buys in six markets covering Iowa totaling $796,610 that were purchased by the Alliance for a New America, which they described as a proEdwards group.

  Edwards said in response to Obama's criticisms that he would like to ban political committees of the type known as 527s, and that he had no knowledge of the ad buy, which was made independently of his campaign.

  "The way the law operates is we're not allowed to be involved in this - the campaign's not allowed to be involved, I'm not allowed to be involved," Edwards told a group of reporters after a campaign stop Saturday in Lisbon. "I found out about this probably after most of you did through the news media. I didn't know anything about it." 

Obama's Views Have Changed With Time, Quad City Times, 12-23

By CHRISTOPHER WILLS

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - If he wanted, the Barack Obama of today could have a pretty good debate with the Barack Obama of yesterday.

They could argue about whether the death penalty is ever appropriate. Whether it makes sense to ban handguns. They might explore their differences on the Patriot Act or parental notification of abortion.

And they could debate whether Obama has flip-flopped, changed some of his views as he learned more over the years or is simply answering questions with more detail and nuance now that he is running for president.

The Democratic senator from Illinois hasn't made any fundamental policy shifts, such as changing his view on whether abortion should be legal. But his decade in public office and an Associated Press review of his answers to a questionnaire show positions changing in smaller ways.

Taken together, the shifts could suggest a liberal, inexperienced lawmaker gradually adjusting to the realities of what could be accomplished, first in the Illinois Legislature and then the U.S. Senate.

On the other hand, political rivals could accuse him of abandoning potentially unpopular views or of trying to disguise his real positions.

Take the death penalty.

In 1996, when he was running for a seat in the Illinois Senate, Obama's campaign filled out a questionnaire flatly stating that he did not support capital punishment. By 2004, his position was that he supported the death penalty "in theory" but felt the system was so flawed that a national moratorium on executions was required.

Today, he doesn't talk about a moratorium and says the death penalty is appropriate for "some crimes _ mass murder, the rape and murder of a child _ so heinous that the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage."

Then there's another crime-related issue, gun control.

That 1996 questionnaire asked whether he supported banning the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns in Illinois. The campaign's answer was straightforward: "Yes." Eight years later, he said on another questionnaire that "a complete ban on handguns is not politically practicable" but reasonable restrictions should be imposed.

His legislative record in Illinois shows strong support for gun restrictions, such as limiting handgun purchases to one a month, but no attempts to ban them. Today, he stands by his support for controls while trying to reassure hunters that he has no interest in interfering with their access to firearms.

Obama's presidential campaign contends that voters can't learn anything about his views from the 1996 questionnaire, which was for an Illinois good-government group known as the IVI-IPO. Aides say Obama did not fill out the questionnaire and instead it was handled by a staffer who misrepresented his views on gun control, the death penalty and more.

"Barack Obama has a consistent record on the key issues facing our country," said spokesman Ben LaBolt. "Even conservative columnists have said they'd scoured Obama's record for inconsistencies and found there were virtually none."

IVI-IPO officials say it's inconceivable that Obama would have let a staffer turn in a questionnaire with incorrect answers. The group interviewed Obama in person about his answers before endorsing him in that 1996 legislative race, and he didn't suggest then, or anytime since, that the questionnaire needed to be corrected, they said.

Since he came to Washington, one piece of legislation that raises questions is the USA Patriot Act, the security measure approved after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

When he ran for the Senate, Obama called the act a "shoddy and dangerous law" that should be replaced. After he took office, the Senate considered an update that Obama criticized as only a modest improvement and one that was inferior to other alternatives.

Still, Obama ended up voting for that renewal and update of the Patriot Act.

Another disputed issue is health care.

Obama was asked in the 1996 questionnaire whether he supported a single-payer health plan, in which everyone gets health coverage through a single government program. The response was, "Yes in principle," and probably best to have the federal government set up such a program instead of the state.

Today, health care is a hot issue, and Obama does not support creating a single government program for everyone. In fact, rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards have criticized his health proposal for potentially leaving millions of people uninsured because they wouldn't be forced to buy insurance.

Political analysts don't see much danger for Obama in the changes. They aren't major shifts akin to Republican Mitt Romney's changes on abortion and gun control, so voters aren't likely to see the senator as indecisive or calculating.

"I think they allow for some adjustment," said Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire. "It depends on whether they're changing the core of what they're about."

In the general election, the Republican nominee would be more likely to go after the first-term senator on another front.

"If Obama is the Democratic candidate, I don't think the Republicans will be attacking him on a particular issue," said Dianne Bystrom, director of the Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University. "They'd be attacking him on his experience."

Obama's Democratic opponents, concerned about turning off voters who dislike negative campaigning, haven't been aggressively using his shifts against him. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign does quietly argue that they amount to a pattern that should concern the public.

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer noted Obama's positions on handguns, health care and the Patriot Act. "Voters will ultimately decide whether these are significant shifts in his views or not," he said.

One area where Obama's campaign acknowledges his views have changed is on the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages. In January 2004, Obama said he was opposed to repealing the law. By February, one month later, he supported a repeal.

His campaign says Obama always thought the Defense of Marriage Act was a bad law but didn't believe it needed to be repealed. After hearing from gay friends how hurtful the law was, he decided it needed to be taken off the books.

Obama sees energy as new frontier, Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

By KILEY MILLER

[email-masked]

Barack Obama pinned his claim to the presidency Friday on his power to inspire and picked energy independence as his Apollo program.

"The skills that I've got, I think, are the skills that the country needs right now," the senator from Illinois said in a telephone interview with a reporter and a member of The Hawk Eye editorial board.

"I can't say that what I offer is in all circumstances more important than what other candidates offer," Obama continued, "but if voters agree that we can't make progress on big issues like health care or energy or education unless we can rally the country together around a common purpose, if voters agree that it is vital for the next president to project a new vision of America around the world, and if voters agree that we need to restore a sense of trust in our leaders and our government and inspire people to think long-term, then I'm convinced that I'm the best equipped to do those things."

Obama, welded into a virtual tie with Hillary Rodham Clinton in Iowa, was seeking The Hawk Eye's endorsement in his bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

Obama is often compared to President John F. Kennedy, with members of the Des Moines Register editorial board going so far as to liken the choice between him and Clinton to picking between Kennedy and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. (They chose Roosevelt.)

In a speech to Congress in 1961, Kennedy called for millions of dollars to put a man on the moon within a decade.

Asked for his own "man on the moon" dream, Obama had said "energy" before the question was complete.

"I think energy is the place where we get a three-fer," the senator said.

That "three-fer" includes an "immediate boost in the economy" through investment in green energy technology, a response to the "planetary crisis" of climate change and a new freedom from foreign oil.

With the latter comes a diminishing of the role of oil exporting countries Iran, Russia and Venezuela on the world stage, Obama said.

An energy bill President Bush signed Wednesday mandates that vehicles sold in the United States average 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

Obama said he would have reached further, perhaps to 40 miles per gallon by 2016.

His energy proposal also features a cap-and-trade system to slow carbon emissions, incentives to encourage construction of efficient buildings and a heavy emphasis on wind and solar power and renewable fuels.

"And like the Apollo project," Obama said, "what it promises is our ability to train a whole new generation of scientists and engineers, which was one of the most important spin-offs from the space program."

Questioned further on how he would respond to the fuel crunch in the near term, Obama said he has promised to be "straight with people," and that includes telling them there are no easy and immediate solutions.

"I will argue that my election and a change in foreign policy will reduce the world oil market somewhat," he said, "because there's probably a 20 to 25 percent premium that's being paid right now because of concerns about hostilities between the United States and Iraq."

Technology also exists to help Americans cut consumption, Obama said. As an example, he mentioned a plug-in hybrid at the Google campus in California that gets 150 miles to the gallon.

"I actually think a decade is not an unreasonable time for us to start seeing some savings that will impact consumers," the senator said. "The most important thing that we can do in the meantime is make sure that our tax policies and other economic policies are such that the average working families are seeing some boost in their income to meet the rising costs."

Beyond linking Iraq to oil prices, Obama touched on the war there for only a few minutes. His plan for disengagement couples a phased pull-out of U.S. troops over 16 months with a multi-national diplomatic push to bring Iraq's Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds "to the table."

A successful U.S. exit under a peace plan the "Iraqis take some ownership of" will send a signal that this nation does not have long-term plans in the region, he said. That, in turn, will strengthen efforts to root out the Taliban in Afghanistan and help the United States initiate direct talks with Iran regarding its nuclear weapons program and its aid to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"All of these things are connected," Obama said.

He then reiterated a proposal to convene a summit of Muslim leaders if elected. 

At that summit, he said, "I would present a vision of how the west and the Islamic world can cooperate, avert a clash of civilizations and align the Muslim world to go after the terrorist networks that really are out there that we have to strike."

In Burlington Thursday, Obama's wife, Michelle, called her husband the only Constitutional scholar in the race.

That description led to a question to the senator on what guidance he found in the Constitution for use of military force.

Obama responded that the nation's founding document gives Congress the power to declare and fund war, but the president always has authority to strike against an imminent threat to American lives or immediate interests.

"My goal is always going to be to protect and preserve the United States," he said. "I will do what has to be done in concert with the co-equal branches of the government."

The senator then drew a distinction between a plot by al-Qaida terrorists and the situation in Iraq, "where there was not an imminent threat, there was ample time and room for diplomatic negotiations and the potential for congressional involvement."

"There may be cases in the middle that are tougher calls," Obama continued, "but I think the important point is the president has to exercise judgment, and that's part of what's been lacking in this administration."

Like the other front-running Democrats, Obama has put forth a massive health care expansion plan built around employer-provided coverage.

Challenged on what that might do to small businesses, he said such a concern explains why cost control through prevention programs, information technology upgrades and other changes is imperative.

"We can't initiate a universal health-care plan and not have a cost-control element to it," he said, "because not only will it bankrupt employers, it will bankrupt our federal government."

Obama pointed to his proposal for a government-funded catastrophic insurance program to protect employers from sudden spikes in premiums.

The lone African-American candidate in either party and a former community organizer in Chicago, Obama claims an intimate perspective on both race and poverty.

Those two factors are clearly in play in the firestorm issue of illegal immigration and, also, on the less discussed matter of welfare reform.

When it was suggested that the general public does not comprehend the nuances of the nation's immigration struggles, Obama, like New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who met with The Hawk Eye editorial board Sunday, concurred.

He blamed that lack of understanding among citizens on leaders "who don't bother to explain it to them."

With stronger border security and harsher sanctions against employers, Americans can be persuaded to accept a "pathway toward legalization" for illegal immigrants who already have put down roots, he said.

"I think there's a generosity of spirit in the American people that can be tapped into," the senator said, "but right now they feel the government has ceded sovereignty and have no control."

As for welfare, the senator said prior reforms have worked to change attitudes --people no longer expect government assistance to continue indefinitely.

The new problem, he said, is workers churning out of the low-wage labor market. He cited "The Working Poor: Invisible in America," a 2005 book by David Shipler that describes the lives of people at the bottom end of the economy.

Specifically, Obama mentioned the story of a white single mother in the northeast who, because she has no teeth, struggles "to even get a job as an associate at Wal-Mart."

Then there are the inner-city residents with drug addictions, he said.

"Part of our job is, as much as possible, to catch kids when they're young, make sure they are getting the education they need, making sure there are pathways for success for them," he said.

Parents play a huge part in a solution, Obama added.

"We as a culture, as a whole, have been living on the surplus of the Greatest Generation, the hard work and sacrifices of earlier generations, and haven't always been willing to make those same sacrifices," he said. "That's something that has to be talked about, and I intend to talk about that as president."

Obama touts foreign affairs judgment, Ft. Dodge Messenger, 12-22

U.S should 'act more deliberately'

By BILL SHEA, Messenger staff writer POSTED: December 22, 2007 

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama may be fairly new on the national scene, but he says Americans can have confidence in his ability to go one-on-one with foreign leaders if he becomes president.

''I think they can have confidence based on the judgment I've shown on foreign policy issues, judgment that has generally been borne out by events,'' the Democratic senator from Illinois said Friday afternoon.

Obama spoke with The Messenger by phone while traveling to a campaign stop in Washington, Iowa.

During that interview, he recited a few international issues that he believes he judged correctly. He said he was clearly opposed to the Iraq war before it started. And he said he's been pushing for the United States to ''act more deliberately'' toward Iran. That's a position he said is supported by a recent National Intelligence Estimate which stated Iran has stopped its nuclear weapons program.

He said American leaders should pressure Pakistani President Pervez Musharaf to fight Al Qaeda and make his country more democratic.

Obama added that the United States should deal with Pakistan in a way that doesn't ''put all our eggs in the Musharaf basket.''

On the domestic front, Obama isn't offering any quick solutions to the pain people now feel at the gasoline pump.

He said the nation needs vehicles with greater fuel efficiency and more alternative fuel production.

The federal government, he said, needs to work with the airlines to find ways to reduce congestion at airports. He said the eventual solution will involve building some additional runways, which the government would help pay for.

Obama favors more aggressive action to deal with the subprime mortgage crisis. He said the country needs a plan that will join lenders and homeowners with the goal of keeping people in their houses.

Obama to visit the Bluffs Sunday, Council Bluffs Nonpareil, 12-22

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will return to Council Bluffs to meet with the public on Sunday at Thomas Jefferson High School, 2501 W. Broadway.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m. with the event beginning at 5 p.m.

The visit is part of a statewide tour that also includes a stop in Harlan earlier in the day at the Therkildsen Activity Center, 706 Victoria St. at 2:30 p.m. 

LTE: JFK to Obama, Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

My heart beats silently to the red, white and blue of our American flag. I ask myself, with tearful eyes, "What has become of our America"? 

I encourage all voters to attend the caucuses on Jan. 3. Your presence at your precinct can and will make a distinct impact on the future of this country and its people.

While canvassing in Mount Pleasant on Nov. 17, 2007, for John Edwards, I realized just how important it was as an American to have the freedom to express my opinion and beliefs at the doorsteps of 27 Mount Pleasant homes.

Afterward, I took out a piece of paper and began to write the emotions that had been created, the enthusiasm and excitement, all due to my actions as an American, and all of this was done in honor of John Edwards and his family. My legs may become weary, my feet begin to tire, but I will not become weak. I shall stand strong for what I believe in and that is for a man who is willing, with our help, to give America back to her people.

John Edwards is indeed that man. As testimony to my belief, I shall walk from my place of employment, New London School, after every eight-hour work day, to my home, 6.l miles. I will begin my walks Dec. 3 until the day of the Iowa Caucuses on the evening of Jan. 3, 2008. "I walk for what I believe in."

CARRIE DUNCAN

New London

Blog Post: Obama rakes Edwards over indie groups' ads, Radio Iowa, 12-23

By O. Kay Henderson

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama today accused rival John Edwards of having an "inconsistent" message when it comes to promising to adandon old-style politics. Obama pointed to outside groups which have purchased time on Iowa broadcast outlets to run ads promoting Edwards.

"Yesterday my understanding was is that (Edwards) said he did not approve of 527s, these independent groups where there's no disclosure so you don't know who's funding them and how much is being spent," Obama said today during an interview with Radio Iowa. "We find out today that a 527 run by his former campaign manager and political director is running three-quarters of a million dollars worth of ads on his behalf and it strikes me that if you say yesterday you don't agree with 'em and today you're benefiting from them -- that's not consistent." 

Obama and Edwards are in a tight race to present themselves as the candidate best able to enact change in Washington and Obama points to this episode as proof that Edwards "talks the talk" and doesn't "walk the walk."

"Part of what we need is some consistency when it comes to the positions we take, not just taking them when it's politically convenient," Obama told Radio Iowa. 

Later Satuirday afternoon the Edwards campaign issued a statement calling on the so-called "527 groups" to stop running ads.

"I do not support 527 groups. They are part of the law, but let me be clear: I am asking this group and others not to run the ads," Edwards said in the written statement. "I would encourage all the 527s to stay out of the political process."

On Friday, Edwards said during a news conference that he has no control over independent groups -- referred to as "527s" -- as by law candidates are not allowed to coordinate strategy with such groups. Edwards has not commented yet on the role his 2004 campaign manager has in heading up one of the groups planned to run ads on his behalf.

 

Blog Post: Will Latino caucus-goers break for Obama? <http://www.bleedingheartland.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=815> , Bleeding Heartland, 12-22

by: desmoinesdem <http://www.bleedingheartland.com/userDiary.do?personId=9> 

 

I don't read the Washington Times, but MyDD user Piuma noticed a piece there about El Latino, Iowa's largest Spanish-language newspaper, endorsing Barack Obama. Here is a link to Piuma's diary <http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/12/21/213543/72> . 

The El Latino editorial includes this line, which appears to be aimed at Hillary Clinton: 

No other presidential candidate, particularly divisive candidates, can unite Congress and secure the votes to finally pass comprehensive immigration reform.

(I would add that it's a fantasy to think that any presidential candidate will be able to unite Congress on any controversial issue, but that's a matter for another post.) 

In the comments below the diary, Piuma notes: 

The Obama campaign has made an outreach to the Latino community and he is endorsed by Perla A., the Vice-President of Siouxland Unidad Latina, the area's oldest and largest Latino organization, as well as City Councilmember Sara Monroy Huddleston, one of four Latino elected officials in Iowa.  This may be one of the many surprise groups Obama will turn out who have been ignored by polling.

Obama has several field offices in Iowa towns with significant Latino populations. 

I have felt all year that Obama is the candidate who would benefit most from a primary rather than a caucus, because his support appears to be more concentrated in some parts of the state. However if his campaign can turn out large numbers of Latino supporters, then he could get a significant number of delegates in towns and neighborhoods where there are a lot of Latino residents. 

This newspaper endorsement is a good get for Obama and has to be disappointing for Bill Richardson. 

I have seen national polling suggesting that Hillary Clinton has much more support among Latinos than Obama does. Jerome Armstrong recently argued that Obama would fare poorly against John McCain among Latino voters <http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/12/20/235334/67> . It will be interesting to see if Obama can win strong support among Latinos in Iowa. If so, that could help him in several of the states that will hold primaries on February 5.

 

Obama's Health Care Plan: 'Not Behind Closed Doors' <http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1706> , Iowa Independent, 12-22

By: Adam Burke

 

Yesterday in Washington, Iowa, Barack Obama took a question from a skeptical audience member who said there was "a certain unreality about listening to you [Obama] that's about like listening to George Bush..." 

Obama responded by addressing two parts of the man's question: "electability and governance." 

For the final part of his answer he drew a sharp distinction between his methods and the Clintons' work on health care in the 1990s. 

He said, "My plan is not that different from Hillary Clinton's plan or John Edward's plan or any of the other plans. The question is how do you move it forward ... I admire Sen. Clinton and Bill Clinton for having tried in 1993 but they did it the wrong way ... they went behind closed doors ... the Clinton plan was dead on arrival ... " 

He went on to say he would try to work differently: "This is all going to be on C-SPAN, the American people will be watching, so it's not behind closed doors, it's open." 

Obama was joined onstage by Rep. Dave Loebsack. He recently endorsed Obama for president <http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1660>  and introduced the Illinois Senator.

Obama fan Rachel McPherson teaches family literacy and ESL at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa City, Iowa. 

She told the Iowa Independent that Obama would make her proud to live in the U.S. again.  She said sometimes she tells people she is from Brazil and has had thoughts of moving to Spain to get out of the U.S. 

She met Obama at the 2007 Tom Harkin Steak Fry <http://www.iowaindependent.com/tag.do?tag=harkin+steak+fry>  and said that he was her "man" for the caucuses. 

In this video she describes that experience and her thoughts on his plan for education:

Another questioner asked him about funding for U.S. schools

Obama said before the crowd in the Washington Junior High School gymnasium that he said he would "change No Child Left Behind, which left the money behind."

Blog Post: Obama rakes Edwards over indie groups' ads, Radio Iowa, 12-22

By O.Kay Henderson 

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says rival John Edwards has an "inconsistent" message when it comes to promising to adandon the traditional, old-style politics. Obama points to outside groups which have purchased time on Iowa broadcast outlets to run ads promoting Edwards.

"Yesterday my understanding was is that (Edwards) said he did not approve of 527s, these independent groups where there's no disclosure so you don't know who's funding them and how much is being spent," Obama said today during an interview with Radio Iowa. "We find out today that a 527 run by his former campaign manager and political director is running three-quarters of a million dollars worth of ads on his behalf and it strikes me that if you say yesterday you don't agree with 'em and today you're benefiting from them -- that's not consistent." 

Obama and Edwards are in a tight race to present themselves as the candidate best able to enact change in Washington and Obama points to this episode as proof that Edwards "talks the talk" and doesn't "walk the walk."

"Part of what we need is some consistency when it comes to the positions we take, not just taking them when it's politically convenient," Obama told Radio Iowa. 

On Friday, Edwards said he has no control over independent groups -- referred to as "527s" -- as by law candidates are not allowed to coordinate strategy with such groups. However, Edwards did not comment on having his 2004 campaign manager heading up one of the groups running ads on his behalf.

Blog Post: Obama says Edwards "inconsistent", Radio Iowa, 12-22

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has opened up a line of attack against rival John Edwards and the issue is...campaign finances & ethics.  Here's the Radio Iowa story.  

Here are the key quotes on this subject from Obama's interview with Radio Iowa earlier this afternoon:  "Yesterday my understanding was is that (Edwards) said he did not approve of 527s, these independent groups where there's no disclosure so you don't know who's funding them and how much is being spent. We find out today that a 527 run by his former campaign manager and political director is running three-quarters of a million dollars worth of ads on his behalf and it strikes me that if you say yesterday you don't agree with 'em and today you're benefiting from them -- that's not consistent....Part of what we need is some consistency when it comes to the positions we take, not just taking them when it's politically convenient."

Obama discussed what he hoped "trickles down" from him as the leader of the campaign to his campaign operatives.  "I'm very proud of the fact that you haven't seen a lot of drama or a lot of back-biting in our campaign.  I think everybody is focusing on doing their job," Obama said.  "People generally left their egos at the door.  People take responsibility for their work and, you know, don't blame others when mistakes are made and people don't jump on people when mistakes are made.  We hold folks accountable, but there's a calm in our organization and a trust, I think, between people and I like to take a little bit of credit for that."

What is the most important decision you've made in Iowa?

"To put together and trust the best staff on the ground here.  I mean, we've got an organization that is just unbelievable.  You know, young people with energy and enthusiasm and, you know, we hired them early and so they got into these communities and made friendships and established relationships.  You know, they're not mercenaries.  They're here because they believe in the kind of change that I think most Americans are looking for and because they're sincere and here for the right reasons I think that communicates itself to Caucus-goers and that's, I think, our ace in the hole."

 

Blog Post: Obama: Government should Lift Barrier, Century of the Common Iowan, 12-22

Here's a clip of Obama campaigning in Sioux City where he is talking about the government's role in people's lives.

 

That's what our government should be doing - is lifting these barriers off the shoulders of people so they can live out their dreams and create a better country. along with a better life for themselves.

RICHARDSON

Richardson volunteers to stream into Iowa from New Mexico, Des Moines Register, 12-22

By WILLIAM PETROSKI 

Adel, Ia. - About 300 volunteers from New Mexico will arrive in Iowa after Christmas to help launch a final push for Gov. Bill Richardson, their states chief executive, in his Iowa caucus campaign, aides said today.

Richardson said after a campaign appearance here Saturday that he already has a solid political organization in Iowa with precinct captains in 85 percent of the states precincts. His New Mexico volunteers will strengthen the effort, knocking on doors, telephoning caucus-goers and doing other campaign work, aides said.

I feel like I have a very good chance of meeting my goal of being in the top three Democrats in the Jan. 3 caucus, Richardson said in an interview. The momentum right now is a quiet, silent momentum that is building. All of this grass-roots campaigning is paying off

Richardson, who has been running fourth in polls of Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa, has campaigned heavily the past week on ending the Iraq war. He has promised to withdraw all American troops within one year of being elected president.

He said today that his emphasis on the war is paying off because the three Democratic front runners - Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and former Sen. John Edwards - havent made such a strong commitment for withdrawal.

Richardson told almost 100 prospective caucus-goers on this morning at Hannys of Adel cafe that the United States has spent $500 billion on the war when that money could have been used to improve education, health care, create jobs and meet other needs. The nation cant make progress on critical domestic issues until the war is ended, he added.

We are going to continue to hit hard on that issue, Richardson said afterward. The fact that I am firm on the war in Iraq and that I want to bring all the troops home is resonating with people.

 

 The New Mexico volunteers who will be arriving in Iowa in the coming days are part of what the campaign has dubbed the Road Runner program, said Richardson aide Tom Reynolds. They are people who have supported Richardson, a former congressman, in past political campaigns in New Mexico and they want to see him elected to the White House, he said. They will be working throughout Iowa.

They are paying their own way and coming of their own free will, Reynolds said. 

Several top officials in Richardsons state cabinet in New Mexico have already been in Iowa to campaign on his behalf. In recent days they have included John Garcia, New Mexicos secretary of veterans services, and Reed Dasenbrock, New Mexicos secretary of higher education.

Richardson today wrapped up a week of intensive campaigning throughout Iowa with a series of appearances in Dallas and Polk counties. He said he was elated with his crowds, noting more than 300 people attended his Conversation on Iraq Friday night at Iowa State University in Ames.

Richardson was scheduled to fly home with his wife, Barbara, to New Mexico on Saturday night with plans to remain there through Christmas Day. He plans to resume campaigning on Wednesday with a trip to western Iowa, and he will stay in the state until the Iowa Caucuses are over. 

Richardson calls out Congress, CR Gazette, 12-23

By Rod Boshart 

 The Gazette 

  WEST DES MOINES - Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson on Saturday criticized Congress for being weak in challenging President Bush to set a timetable for bringing U.S. troops home and pushing a political reconciliation in war-torn Iraq.

  The New Mexico governor also took aim at his Democratic rivals who serve in the Senate, saying he is disappointed that the talk of leadership he hears on the campaign trail doesn't jibe with the reality he sees in Washington.

  "I think we're going to be stuck with this war because the Congress is weak and the president is persistent," Richardson told about 150 people at the city's public library.

  "I think the whole Senate and the whole Congress, their actions are very disappointing and there's an inconsistency between what they're saying on the trail and what they're doing," he later said in an interview, referring specifically to his presidential rivals.

  "I'm very disappointed that many of them don't even make the vote. They're out campaigning, so they should practice what they preach," he added. "They need to show up and filibuster. They should put timetables on legislation on the war. But instead they're staying home or they're campaigning." Richardson said he is upset that the focus of the 2008 campaign is shifting away from the war to domestic issues - issues that he contends will continue to languish in inactivity until the costly war in Iraq is brought to an end. He pledges to end it in his first year as president.

  Richardson also said it upsets him to hear pundits say the president's surge of U.S. troops in Iraq is working and that November's death toll of U.S. soldiers stood at 37. "That's 37 too many," he told the potential caucus goers in pledging to keep the focus on the war issue until Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses Jan. 3.

  "The surge is not working. There is no more movement to a political solution. Maybe there's a temporary lull in the violence."

Caucus Digest: Richardson health plan, WCF Courier, 12-22

By Courier Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES --- Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson on Friday presented his plan to improve mental health treatment.

Speaking in Newton, Richardson outlined a plan that would increase federal funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment. He would also take steps to improve community support for people with mental health needs.

"We need to stop treating people with a mental illness or substance use disorders like second-class citizens," Richardson said, according to a statement from his campaign.

He emphasized the need to improve mental health care for military personnel.

"We are going to treat mental trauma such as (post-traumatic stress disorder) the same way that we treat physical wounds-- like the battlefield injuries that they are," he said.

Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, had previously proposed a "Heroes Health Card" that would entitle all returning military personnel to government-funded health care wherever they want it.

OBAMA HITS BACK --- Barack Obama's campaign continued its pushback Friday against a union mailer that criticizes the candidate's health care plan.

At the campaign's behest, two members of the union --- the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees --- stepped forward to say the attack was unfair.

AFSCME has endorsed Hillary Clinton and has joined her in arguing that Obama's health plan is flawed because it doesn't mandate that all Americans receive coverage.

Carter Woodruff of Des Moines, an AFSCME member and a former top official for the union in Iowa, said the mailer is unfair. He said the union is being hypocritical in calling for an insurance mandate, when it had previously opposed such a mandate.

"It's a shame that they're stooping to this level to try to win an election," Woodruff said.

He was joined in a conference call by Henry Bayer, executive director of the AFSCME council in Illinois, Obama's home state.

Clinton and Obama have gone back and forth for weeks about their health plans. Clinton says Obama's plan is fundamentally flawed because it doesn't cover everyone, while Obama says the first priority should be lowering health care costs so it becomes possible to one day cover everyone.

ROMNEY CALLED MISLEADING --- Mitt Romney's most recent attack on Mike Huckabee is misleading, according to an independent analysis from FactCheck.org.

"Romney attacks Huckabee again with false and misleading claims," said the headline of the item published on the site this week.

FactCheck, a research group at the Annenberg Public Policy Center in the University of Pennsylvania, looked at the Romney ad dealing with anti-methamphetamine laws. Romney argues in the ad that he was tougher on meth as governor of Massachusetts than Huckabee was as governor of Arkansas.

Analysts for FactCheck said it's misleading for Romney to say he got tough on meth when he is referring to legislation that never passed.

However, Romney is accurate when he says Huckabee reduced some penalties for drug offenses. But the ad doesn't mention that the penalties in Arkansas were, and remain, much greater than they are in Massachusetts.

Finally, the analysts criticize Romney for the way the ad uses simulated news clippings to say things that don't appear in the actual news articles. For example, the ad uses the quote, "Tough on drugs like meth," and attributes it to the Berkshire Eagle newspaper, but those words don't appear in that order in the article.

While FactCheck is defending Huckabee in this instance, the group raked him over the coals last month when it accused him of misrepresenting his record for tax cuts as governor.

Richardson: War still big issue, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

By: Bob Zientara/The Tribune 

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson continues to stake his claim to military ground once monopolized by Republicans.

Ending the U.S. presence in Iraq, promising "a hero's health care" for veterans and even excusing college student loans in exchange for a year's service to the country (including the military or the Peace Corps) were among issues Richardson raised Friday evening in Ames.

A crowd of between 250 and 300 people drove through a heavy fog to fill the Great Room at the Iowa State University Memorial Union for the New Mexico governor's appearance.

Huxley resident Sue Dinsdale led off the evening. She said she'd come to oppose the war after watching her son serve two tours of duty there, and added she was impressed with Richardson's vow to extricate the United States from the struggle.

After three more warm-up speeches, including one by Richardson's wife, Barbara, Richardson admonished his listeners that talk about the war (among voters and the media) seems to be quieting down.

"People say the surge is working, (that) 'only 37 Americans died' during December. That's 37 too many," he said.

The war still is front and center among vital issues, Richardson said, not the least of which is the $500 billion it has taken to fight it - money that could have been spent on domestic problems. He vowed to remove all U.S. troops and private contractors within a year of being elected.

The war is affecting America's moral authority as well, he added.

"Now, we're a nation known for Guantanamo, and I'll get rid of that my first day in office," he said. 

Richardson was asked what he'd do to correct the alleged wrongs committed by private Iraq contractors like Halliburton and Blackwater.

"Simple. I'd fire them," he said. "They're paid three times as much as our troops and they have no accountability.

"If we leave (Iraq), we can focus on international terrorism, nuclear proliferation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Richardson.

He said he would help to assure other countries that "we are not the world's policeman, but the world's conscience."

And he'd go to work on other issues, like guaranteeing health care for everyone "from a ditch digger to a professional," and on ending the No Child Left Behind program - which drew one of the evening's biggest rounds of applause.

The run-up to the Dec. 3 Iowa Caucuses has been a marathon for both the candidate and his staff. But Richardson said it has also endeared him to the state where he hopes to do well in less than two weeks.

Richardson said he'd learned to put a long "a" in Nevada and accent the first syllable for Madrid, but he's still struggling with pronouncing Keokuk and Maquoketa.

Blog Post: Richardson says Iowans Can Deliver Win over "Smarty Pants Set in Washington," Iowa Politics, 12-22
By Chris Dorsey

WEST DES MOINES -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Saturday made the case Saturday that there's room for him in that supposedly "three-person race" in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.

"Here in Iowa, we are moving up," Richardson told about 150 people. "We are going to win this thing -- just watch. Look where John Kerry and John Edwards were four years ago at this stage. I can feel this surge."

Since entering the presidential fray in May, Richardson has admitted he doesn't boast "rock star" or celebrity status. Instead, he has focused on his experience as a governor, congressman, UN ambassador and secretary of energy. Along the way in visiting all 99 Iowa counties, Richardson faced the daunting task of overcoming the perception he wasn't a frontrunner. That perception came from a deficit in many polls -- trailing behind the Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards.

Yet, Richardson still trudges forward. He campaigned Saturday in central Iowa despite strong winds and significant snow fall. He has his eye on the prize, and told the crowd at the West Des Moines Public Library that he can win Iowa -- with their support.

One issue Richardson can distinguish himself from the Democratic field is on Iraq. Richardson has stressed while other issues are emerging as the Iowa caucuses near, candidates can't overlook Iraq. He says the war should end with no residual troops behind.

"I am upset at the fact the media is saying this is one of the issues," Richardson said. "I have the clearest plan. We get out in one year."

Richardson's plan resonates with Ken Briggs, a retired Vietnam veteran.

"I was at a function in June or May," Briggs said. "Every veteran question I asked him, he answered right."

The New Mexico governor contradicts statements made by Republican presidential candidates and the White House that the surge in Iraq is working. Thirty-seven U.S. soldiers died in December in the war-torn region; that's 37 too many, he added.

Richardson spent Saturday afternoon at central Iowa house parties hosted by military families. As the caucus nears, Richardson -- like all presidential candidates -- is taking his message to as many Iowans as he can before Jan. 3.

He asked Iowans determine his fate, not the media or Washington, D.C. insiders.

"It is Iowa that is making the decision," he said. "Not the smarty pants set in Washington, not the national media and T.V. that tell you this is a two-person race. This is a race that should be who can bring this country together."

GOP

Huckabee: Caucus clout stays - if you support me, Des Moines Register, 12-23

By PAULA LAVIGNE

Council Bluffs, Ia. - Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee promised Iowa voters Saturday that they can maintain their influence as the leading caucus state if they support his campaign.

The former Arkansas governor pointed out that he was able to come from behind in the polls to become Iowa's GOP front-runner despite "being outspent 20 to 1" by the other candidates on fliers, TV ads and consultants.

 

 "This election is going to be an opportunity to prove that, in America, the presidency is not so much a matter of money. It is about the message, and it is about the direction this country is going to take," he said. "It would forever enshrine Iowa's role and significance in having the caucus."

Huckabee spoke to about 120 people who came to the downtown civic center on a blustery morning. He was scheduled to continue his western Iowa tour later in the day at stops in Sioux City, Orange City and Sheldon.

Steve Jacobsen, his wife and their 13-year-old daughter, who helped make several pro-Huckabee signs, were among those who waited to talk to the candidate. Jacobsen, a 47-year-old information technology director from Glenwood, said Huckabee's appeal shows that his message has strength beyond all the other candidates' "glitzy ads."

"I just like him because I know he has a basic value he'll use in any decision," Jacobsen said. "I don't have to worry about where he's going to come from when he makes a decision."

Jacobsen said Huckabee's position on taxes appealed to him because the system is too burdensome.

Huckabee spoke for about 30 minutes on a variety of issues, including his desire to replace federal income and payroll taxes with a national sales tax, for which people below the poverty line would receive a full rebate.

"Imagine how much of a difference it will make to small-business owners who now spend so much time and energy just trying to comply with the tax code," he said, adding that his plan "gives us the best way to revitalize our economy and particularly untax the poor and give them a chance to meet the next rung on the economic ladder."

Huckabee also touched on his proposals to invest more in preventive health care, spend more to better equip the military, secure the nation's borders against illegal immigration, and oppose amnesty for people already here illegally.

He reaffirmed his stances against gay marriage and abortion, and spoke more about the latter issue after a woman asked him to pray with her group in front of a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic.

"Either we value human life or we don't," he said. "In many ways, I got into politics because I'm deeply pro-life and I believe that, on this issue, the future of our civilization will live or die."

Not all of Huckabee's promises dealt with such weighty topics. At the start of his speech, he apologized to the crowd for being a half-hour late and blamed the delay on "the world's longest train," which generated laughter among the crowd.

"When I'm president, we're going to fix that," he said. "We guarantee short trains in Council Bluffs."

In Sioux City, Huckabee said he'd "love to win" in Iowa.

"Obviously, we've been playing to win, not show," he said. "If we do win, it will be a true upset of the classic form to win having been outspent as we have, and outmanned. To win would give us great momentum going into the next several contests."

Analysis: Can Thompson's late effort pay off?, Des Moines Register, 12-23

By WILLIAMS THEOBALD

Mason City, Ia. ? Even his harshest critics would likely concede that Fred Thompson had a good campaign swing through Iowa this week.

But as he headed home to Virginia on Saturday for a three-day Christmas break before returning to Iowa for the second half of his Iowa bus tour, the question that this last-minute effort began with still stands.

Will it make any difference?

Sure, Thompson won the endorsement of influential conservative Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King of Iowa. And despite losing out on Rep. Tom Tancredo's endorsement when the Colorado congressman dropped out of the presidential race and backed Mitt Romney, the next day Tancredo's Iowa campaign chairman endorsed Thompson.

Yes, Thompson's five-stop-a-day schedule answers critics who say he is a lazy campaigner. And the press coverage has been more positive, the crowds larger, the candidate sharper yet more relaxed and sometimes even appearing to be having fun.

But politics, in the end, is about concrete things like fundraising dollars and votes. And in those empirical categories it is difficult to see any impact yet.

Some polls have shown slight improvement but others have shown him dropping slightly among voters in Iowa and nationally. The Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll found Thompson at 11 percent nationally at the start of the week and the same number at the end of the week. That left him tied for third behind Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

While staffers say there have been no pay cuts or layoffs, the financial leanest of Thompson's campaign is obvious. Romney launched three new TV ads in the past week and was on a jet. Thompson was on a bus, albeit a large, tricked-out one, and left to stopping at small newspapers, doing radio "town hall meetings" and posting pleas for money on his Web site.

Thompson aides say that they have seen increases in donations and in traffic on the candidate's Web site, but would not give specific numbers. And they point to the pile of commitment cards signed by voters at this week's events promising to go to the Jan. 3 caucus and support Thompson.

Thompson said Saturday at the only event he held before a snowstorm forced him to cut short his campaigning and head home that he sees improvement in the reaction of the audiences, the polls, and the comments of prominent conservative political pundits.

"It's also the feeling I have as a person who's won elections," Thompson said.

In the end, however, Thompson supporters in Iowa are left to hope there are more people like the woman in Fort Dodge, who came to see Thompson speak at the Webster County Republican headquarters. As her husband stood outside in the Iowa cold smoking a cigarette, he looked through the window at his wife chatting with members of Thompson's staff.

His wife, he said, had attended a Romney event the night before and had decided to support him. "Now, I bet she's in there changing her mind," he lamented.

Sure enough, when she came out the door she was a committed Thompson supporter who had even sat for a video interview to the posted on the campaign Web site.

Huckabee: My campaign proves it's not about the money, Des Moines Register, 12-22

By PAULA LAVIGNE 

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Ia - Mike Huckabee promised Iowa voters Saturday that they can maintain their influence as the leading caucus state by supporting him for president.

Huckabee pointed out that he was able to come from behind in the polls to become Iowa's Republican front runner despite "being outspent 20 to 1" by the other candidates on fliers, TV ads, and consultants.

"This election is going to be an opportunity to prove that, in America, the presidency is not so much a matter of money. It is about the message, and it is about the direction this country is going to take," he said. "It would forever enshrine Iowa's role and significance in having the caucus."

The former Arkansas governor spoke to a crowd of about 120 people who came to a downtown civic center on a blustery weekend morning. He was scheduled to continue his Western Iowa tour later in the day at stops in Sioux City, Orange City, and Sheldon.

Steve Jacobsen, his wife and their 13-year-old daughter Sarah, who helped make several pro-Huckabee signs, were among those waiting to talk to the candidate after the event. The 47-year-old IT director from Glenwood said Huckabee's appeal shows that his message has strength beyond all the other candidates' "glitzy ads."

"I just like him because I know he has a basic value he'll use in any decision," Jacobsen said. "I don't have to worry about where he's going to come from when he makes a decision."

Jacobsen said Huckabee's position on taxes most appealed to him because the current system for filing taxes is too burdensome and difficult.

Huckabee spoke for about a half hour on a whole slate of issues, including his support for replacing all federal income and payroll taxes with a progressive national sales tax, from which people below the poverty line would receive a full rebate. 

"Imagine how much of a difference it will make to small business owners who now spend so much time and energy just trying to comply with the tax code," he said. "....The FairTax gives us the best way to revitalize our economy and particularly untax the poor and give them a chance to meet the next rung on the economic ladder."

Huckabee also touched on his proposals to invest more in preventative health care, spend more money to better equip the military, secure the nation's borders against illegal immigration, and oppose amnesty for people already here illegally.

He reaffirmed his stance against recognizing gay marriage and abortion, and spoke more about the issue after a woman asked him to pray with her group protesting that morning in front of a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic.

"Either we value human life or we don't," he said. "In many ways, I got into politics because I'm deeply pro-life and I believe that, on this issue, the future of our civilization will live or die."

Not all of Huckabee's promises dealt with such weighty topics. At the start of his speech, he apologized to the crowd for being a half-hour late and blamed the delay on waiting for "the world's longest train." 

"When I'm president, we're gonna fix that," he said, generating laughter among the crowd. "We guarantee short trains in Council Bluffs."

Huckabee: My campaign proves it's not about the money, Des Moines Register, 12-22

By PAULA LAVIGNE 

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Ia - Mike Huckabee promised Iowa voters Saturday that they can maintain their influence as the leading caucus state by supporting him for president.

Huckabee pointed out that he was able to come from behind in the polls to become Iowas Republican front runner despite being outspent 20 to 1 by the other candidates on fliers, TV ads, and consultants.

This election is going to be an opportunity to prove that, in America, the presidency is not so much a matter of money. It is about the message, and it is about the direction this country is going to take, he said. It would forever enshrine Iowas role and significance in having the caucus.

The former Arkansas governor spoke to a crowd of about 120 people who came to a downtown civic center on a blustery weekend morning. He was scheduled to continue his Western Iowa tour later in the day at stops in Sioux City, Orange City, and Sheldon.

Steve Jacobsen, his wife and their 13-year-old daughter Sarah, who helped make several pro-Huckabee signs, were among those waiting to talk to the candidate after the event. The 47-year-old IT director from Glenwood said Huckabees appeal shows that his message has strength beyond all the other candidates glitzy ads.

I just like him because I know he has a basic value hell use in any decision, Jacobsen said. I dont have to worry about where hes going to come from when he makes a decision.

Jacobsen said Huckabees position on taxes most appealed to him because the current system for filing taxes is too burdensome and difficult.

 

 Huckabee spoke for about a half hour on a whole slate of issues, including his support for replacing all federal income and payroll taxes with a progressive national sales tax, from which people below the poverty line would receive a full rebate. 

Imagine how much of a difference it will make to small business owners who now spend so much time and energy just trying to comply with the tax code, he said The FairTax gives us the best way to revitalize our economy and particularly untax the poor and give them a chance to meet the next rung on the economic ladder.

Huckabee also touched on his proposals to invest more in preventative health care, spend more money to better equip the military, secure the nations borders against illegal immigration, and oppose amnesty for people already here illegally.

He reaffirmed his stance against recognizing gay marriage and abortion, and spoke more about the issue after a woman asked him to pray with her group protesting that morning in front of a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic.

Either we value human life or we dont, he said. In many ways, I got into politics because Im deeply pro-life and I believe that, on this issue, the future of our civilization will live or die.

Not all of Huckabees promises dealt with such weighty topics. At the start of his speech, he apologized to the crowd for being a half-hour late and blamed the delay on waiting for the worlds longest train. 

When Im president, were gonna fix that, he said, generating laughter among the crowd. We guarantee short trains in Council Bluffs.

Fred Thompson events canceled, Des Moines Register, 12-22

Two meet-and-greet campaign events for Republican Fred Thompson scheduled for today have been canceled due to the weather. 

Thompson will not appear at either the 1 p.m. Ames event, nor the 5:10 p.m. Urbandale event. Campaign staff are working on rescheduling, but do not yet have concrete details, a spokeswoman said.

Romney says McCain flunked 'Reagan 101', Omaha World Herald, 12-23

NORTH CONWAY, N.H. (AP) - Taking aim at a rallying John McCain, New Hampshire frontrunner Mitt Romney said Saturday that his GOP presidential rival had failed "Reagan 101" by twice opposing President Bush's tax cuts.

  Romney also sought to turn McCain's well-known maverick streak - a central theme in his campaign ads - against the Arizona senator. McCain's go-italone attitude, Romney suggested, will breed more divisiveness in Washington if he wins.

  "Anyone who's run something, whether it's a small business or a big business, knows that the No. 1 ingredient for success is building a remarkable team of people around you, motivating them, guiding them, insisting on them drawing out their best capacities," Romney told a crowd of more than 100 people at an elementary school. Taxes, a major focus in a state without an income tax, also came up in Romney's criticism of McCain.

  "He voted against the Bush tax cuts - twice," Romney said. "That's failing Reagan 101. (Ronald) Reagan taught . . . almost all of us in the Republican Party that lowering taxes would grow the economy and was good for our economy and good for individuals. And I believe that the Republicans are going to nominate a tax-cutter to become president of the United States."

  The McCain campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In 2000, McCain beat Bush in the New Hampshire primary, and the two later squared off over the president's tax-cut policy. Romney's criticism could open him up to a line attack about his own position on the tax cuts, given a report from the Boston Globe about a meeting in Washington in 2001 with the Massachusetts congressional delegation. The Globe said Romney, governor of Massachusetts at the time, was asked about Bush's tax cut plan, and Romney replied that he "won't be a cheerleader" for proposals he did not agree with. "But I have to keep a solid relationship with the White House," the Globe reported him as saying. 

 Giuliani downplays hospital stay 

  HOPKINTON, N.H. (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Saturday that he is glad to be back campaigning after canceling some events last week because of illness.

  The former New York mayor spent Wednesday night at a hospital in St. Louis and was released Thursday.

  On Saturday, Giuliani downplayed the episode. "I am in good health," he said. "This is just something that came about because I was tired, not sleeping, who knows exactly why, but I had a very bad headache. They were concerned it might be other things, (but) they ruled out just about every other possibility. It was just a bad headache." 

 Clinton pledges help for working women 

  MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Sen. Hillary Clinton on Saturday tailored her messages and appearances to female voters, with whom she enjoys a sizable lead in this state's contest for the Democratic nomination.

  Clinton, speaking at a YWCA here, said her agenda for families and children is the most aggressive among the candidates. She touted her plans for familycare and child-care tax credits that she said would ease the burden on working women.

  "We can do a better job in supporting families than we do right now," Clinton said. "We give a lot of lip service to family values, but we've never really valued families in a way that we can."

Huckabee: Stronger Military, Families, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

By LIBBY QUAID 

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee appealed to Iowa conservatives on two fronts Saturday, calling for a stronger military and stronger families.

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who jumped to a lead in Iowa polls earlier this month, wants a drastic increase in regular forces to ease the strain on National Guard and reserve units being called up for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We need to have a larger regular force to make sure we are capable if we do have to go into battle, and let's pray to God that we don't," Huckabee told about 120 people in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Huckabee acknowledged the criticism leveled at him last week for his negative comments about President Bush's foreign policy, although he mischaracterized the criticism.

Huckabee said detractors don't like his opinion that a larger force should have invaded Iraq. In fact, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice disagreed with a separate Huckabee complaint, that Bush has an "arrogant bunker mentality" toward foreign policy that is offensive to other countries.

"Mistakes were made in how things were handled; we all understand that," Huckabee said of the Iraq war. "Now I'm getting criticism because I'm suggesting there were mistakes in the light-footprint concept."

He repeated his complaint that Bush should have listened to military commanders who said more troops were needed for the initial invasion.

"Once you engage in battle, you do not let the politicians second-guess and mess with the decisions of the battlefield commanders who have the blood on their boots and the medals on their chest," Huckabee told around 300 supporters later in a high school auditorium in Sioux Falls.

Huckabee's foreign policy views were also criticized by GOP rival Mitt Romney, whom Huckabee knocked out of the lead in Iowa polls earlier this month.

The ascent of Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, has been fueled by Christian conservatives who share his evangelical faith and, in many cases, say they are uncomfortable with Romney's Mormon faith.

On his final stretch of campaigning before the Christmas holiday, Huckabee underlined his lifelong opposition to abortion and gay marriage, issues that will likely drive many churchgoers to the Jan. 3 caucuses in Iowa. He spent Saturday traveling the western edge of Iowa, the most conservative part of the state.

"It's not because I don't like them," Huckabee said of gay people. "It's because I like even more the idea that the heart and soul, the essence of our civilization is in the family. It's not in the government. It's not even in some institution, not even the church. Before there was the church, and before there was government, there was family.

"When you mess with the design, you end up messing with results," he added. "We can't afford to do that. That's why you will never hear me waver."

His emphasis on consistency calls attention to Romney's inconsistency. Romney favored abortion rights and gay rights when elected governor of Massachusetts, but has since changed his mind on abortion and in his presidential campaign has played down his support for gay rights, while playing up his opposition to gay marriage.

Huckabee also thumped Romney for spending millions of dollars to organize and boost his profile in Iowa. Huckabee runs a tiny campaign on a shoestring budget and, even with significant help from outside groups and pastors, is vastly outgunned in the state.

"But what would happen in this country if money couldn't buy the presidency?" Huckabee asked. "What would happen if Iowa said we're not for sale, and we're not even for rent?"

In Orange City, he joked about mailboxes stuffed full of campaign mailings: "I know you normally look forward to Christmas cards this time of year. This time, you go and _ Huckabee's a bum, Huckabee's a bum, Huckabee's a bum, Huckabee's a bum.

"My wife could've told you that and saved the postage," he said as a packed auditorium laughed and clapped.

It wasn't all talk for Huckabee, who despite his conservative image likes to rock out on bass guitar. In Sioux City, to illustrate what he needs to do over the crucial next few days, Huckabee played "Takin' Care of Business," the 1970s hit by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

 

Romney Takes on McCain Over Taxes, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

By GLEN JOHNSON 

NORTH CONWAY, N.H. - Taking aim at a rallying John McCain, New Hampshire front-runner Mitt Romney said Saturday that his GOP presidential rival had failed "Reagan 101" by twice opposing President Bush's tax cuts.

Romney also sought to turn McCain's well-known maverick streak _ a central theme in his campaign ads _ against the Arizona senator. McCain's go-it-alone attitude, Romney suggested, will breed more divisiveness in Washington if he wins.

"Anyone who's run something, whether it's a small business or a big business, knows that the No. 1 ingredient for success is building a remarkable team of people around you, motivating them, guiding them, insisting on them drawing out their best capacities," Romney told a crowd of more than 100 people at an elementary school.

"I've had occasions to run business, to run the Olympics and to run a state, and you don't do that by yourself," said Romney, a former Massachusetts governor.

Taxes, a major focus in a state without an income tax, drew Romney's attention in his criticism of McCain.

"He voted against the Bush tax cuts _ twice," Romney said. "That's failing Reagan 101. (Ronald) Reagan taught ... almost all of us in the Republican Party that lowering taxes would grow the economy and was good for our economy and good for individuals. And I believe that the Republicans are going to nominate a tax-cutter to become president of the United States."

The McCain campaign's state vice chairman, Chuck Douglas, said Romney had a tendency to change political positions depending on the circumstance.

"From his claims of being a 'lifelong hunter' to receiving the NRA's endorsement to marching with Martin Luther King Jr., it's clear that Mitt Romney has trouble with the truth," Douglas said. "His latest attacks are yet another example of his complete inability to level with the voters of New Hampshire. The facts are clear: Romney refused to endorse the Bush tax cuts he now claims to champion, maybe because he was too busy raising taxes in Massachusetts by over $700 million per year."

In 2000, McCain beat Bush in the New Hampshire primary, and the two later squared off over the president's tax-cut policy.

The attacks on McCain come as the latest public opinion survey shows the lawmaker gaining on Romney, who long held double-digit leads in the state. Those questioned in the USA Today/Gallup Poll said they liked McCain for standing up for his beliefs and being in touch with average people, but Romney for having new ideas to solve problems and sharing voters' values.

Romney's criticism could open him up to a line attack about his own position on the tax cuts.

McCain was one of two Republican senators to vote against a $1.35 trillion tax cut that Bush proposed in 2001. McCain also voted against similar plans in 2003, as well as a proposed repeal of the federal estate tax. McCain said they disproportionately benefited the wealthy.

"That sounds like Ted Kennedy and John Kerry," Romney later told a house party in Tuftonboro, referring to the two liberal Democratic senators from his home state.

At the time of the latter votes, Romney was in his first stint in elective office, leading Massachusetts.

The Boston Globe reported that year that during a meeting in Washington with the Massachusetts congressional delegation, Romney was asked about the tax cuts and said he "won't be a cheerleader" for proposals he did not agree with. "But I have to keep a solid relationship with the White House."

Now, Romney is solidly behind the cuts, arguing they should be made permanent before they expire in 2011.

A questioner at a town hall meeting Friday night in Rochester asked Romney about his apparent change of heart. The man refused to give his name, and Romney aides surrounded him afterward and accused him of being a Massachusetts Democrat who had challenged Romney about his tax record at another event.

Romney said that his first public comments were in support of the tax cuts, and that he campaigned on behalf of Bush in 2004.

Turning back to 2003, Romney told the man: "You see, I wasn't a U.S. senator. I didn't have to vote on this, didn't get a choice to. I was running my state, so I didn't have a comment on their position. And I said, `I'm not weighing in on federal issues.' But Senator McCain was a senator. He had to vote. He had to decide, `Am I in favor of pursuing these tax cuts or not,' and he voted against the tax cuts _ twice. That's a very different position."

Rivals: Huckabee Another Bill Clinton, AP/Quad City Times, 12-23

By: Liz Sidoti

DAVENPORT, Iowa - To hear Mitt Romney tell it, Republican Mike Huckabee shares more with Democrat Bill Clinton than a hometown in Hope, Ark., and a stint as Arkansas governor.

Both men, Romney suggests, have left-leaning governing philosophies, particularly on taxes and spending.

"Governor Huckabee's record is more liberal than our nation needs right now," the former Massachusetts governor said in Iowa last week, seeking to link his GOP presidential rival to the former Democratic president who is loathed by many Republican loyalists.

Retorted Huckabee: "This nonsense about being a liberal is pure nonsense."

Romney started giving Huckabee that brand _ and implicitly linking him to Clinton _ as polls started showing a tight race in the first state to speak in the GOP nomination fight. Romney had led in Iowa for months, but Huckabee's recent rise here and elsewhere has prompted Romney to go after his opponent.

The effort may be paying off. Polls show Huckabee's double-digit lead dropping to single digits less than two weeks before the caucuses.

Romney's aides argue Huckabee's record as governor undercuts his claim that he's the only authentic conservative in the race. Romney himself has stopped short of explicitly saying his rival is simply another Clinton, though he's less shy about it in campaign literature mailed to thousands of Iowa Republicans.

He wouldn't bite this past week when pressed on whether Huckabee and Clinton were one and the same.

"They're very different people, and obviously the area of concern relates to spending and taxation. We think of Bill Clinton as being a tax raiser and a spender," Romney said _ then mused that he had read somewhere that Huckabee had raised more taxes than Clinton when they were governors.

Asked whether Huckabee was more like him or Clinton, Romney sidestepped.

"I think you have to look issue by issue," he said.

 

Huckabee returns to city, now with front-runner status, Sioux City Journal, 12-23
By Bret Hayworth <mailto:[email-masked]>  Journal staff writer 

SIOUX CITY -- Campaigning July 11 in Sioux City, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee spoke to 35 people in a stop at Panera Bread.

Like a band growing in stature, sometime-bassist Huckabee has moved from small venues to the big halls. On Saturday, Huckabee drew roughly 10 times the amount of the summer stop when 330 people came to the North High School auditorium. In a Journal/Lee Enterprises Poll last week, Huckabee had vaulted to the lead in Iowa, surpassing Mitt Romney, who had been the polling leader for much of 2007.

Siouxlanders taking in the event heard Huckabee namecheck a wide variety of topics, including the Declaration of Independence, the prophet Isaiah and the 1972 movie "Billy Jack." The crowd was energized from the beginning, and a group of teen girls began a chant of "Huckabee, Huckabee" when he strapped on a bass and played a Bachman Turner Overdrive song prior to delivering a 35-minute speech.

"You guys are jazzed up, aren't you? I'm not sure if this is a political rally or the set for The Price Is Right," Huckabee said as he began.

He noted he was the 44th governor of Arkansas, serving for 10 years, and pointed to the numerical symmetry of what he's looking to become. "Ladies and gentlemen, with your help on Jan. 3, I'll be on the way to becoming the 44th president of the United States," Huckabee said.

Huckabee pointed with relish to his status at the top of polls, noting the difference from "the days nobody knew or cared about me."

At a time when there is increased back-and-forth between the Romney and Huckabee campaigns, Huckabee encouraged Iowans to listen to the candidates themselves, not what's coming out of opponent camps. He said he's gotten some advice on "going negative" against GOP candidates, but said he's not going down that path.

"I can't stop the negative attacks, and I can't equally spend what my opponents will spend," he said.

Rather, Huckabee said, "I've got a record I'm very proud to stand on -- more executive experience than any one else running, Republican or Democrat." He added that the nation needs a president who will take the country "not to the left or the right, but up."

On immigration reform, Huckabee said he supports beefing up border security and having illegal immigrants go "to the back of the line" for legal status. He also cited support for revising the tax system and for "traditional marriage," terming that as only between a man and a woman.

Romney ads have been critical of the number of pardons and commutations Huckabee gave Arkansas prisoners, and Huckabee noted some contend he's been "soft on crime."

Said Huckabee, "The 16 people who were executed when I was governor probably wouldn't agree with that statement."

The event was attended by three Kingsley, Iowa, natives now living elsewhere but home for the holidays, including one now living 20 minutes away from Huckabee's hometown of Hope, Ark. Sherri Kaneversky of Sioux City said she came to the event unsure of which candidate she would support.

"I liked everything I heard and, yeah, I'm going to support (Huckabee) for the caucuses. I'm going to my first caucus," said Kaneversky, who moved from California three years ago.

She's a former school teacher who now home schools her children. Homeschoolers have had a strong affiliation with Huckabee, and some from Iowa and Nebraska were in attendance.

"He's clear and concise and he answers the questions," Kaneversky said, and cited her agreement with Huckabee on tax policy, education and immigration reform.

"If the true conservatives will listen to him and get out to vote ... I think he can win," she said.

At the conclusion of the event, Sioux City councilman Jason Geary announced he was endorsing Huckabee. "He's a man of principle, a man who governs effectively," Geary said.

Huckabee touts poll climb, Dubuque Telegraph Herald, 12-22

Former Arkansas governor, appearing at Loras, says he is accustomed to being the underdog

By EILEEN MOZINSKI TH staff writer

Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee greets people during a campaign stop at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, Friday, December 21, 2007. 

Other candidates have shelled out a lot more cash, but Mike Huckabee said his recent climb in the polls is more than a fluke.

In an appearance Friday at Loras College, the former Arkansas governor and suddenly heavyweight contender for the Republican presidential nomination said he's used to being the underdog. Huckabee said he thinks his Iowa lead is destined to stick even though, by Huckabee's numbers, one opponent, Mitt Romney, has outspent him 20-to-1.

When questioned about what his thoughts were after the campaign took the lead among Republican candidates in Iowa, Huckabee said he has always believed in the possibility that big aspirations can sprout from humble roots.

It's a theme he said has been peppered throughout his life and presidential campaign.

"It's about all those people who grew up like me," Huckabee told a crowd of about 60 people at the Loras Alumni Campus Center. "With the odds stacked against them 20-to-1."

In a town hall-style question- and answer-session, the presidential hopeful defended himself against recent attacks questioning Advertisement 

 

his record of tax increases and pardons as governor.

Huckabee said the accusations have missed the big picture about his record.

"When you tell a half-truth as if it was a whole truth, it becomes an untruth," he said.

Huckabee touted his ability to improve and maintain the Arkansas budget and bolster the state education system.

"If I messed up that bad, I hid it really well from the people who voted for me," he said.

Huckabee added that the pardons he granted were typically situations that rectified a minimal offense so someone could attend college or get a job and came from a stack of more than 8,700 requests.

"The idea that I stood at the prison door and let people out en masse is ridiculous," he said.

The candidate also took questions on his views about gay marriage, gun control and illegal immigration.

After telling his personal story of losing more than 100 pounds and becoming healthy enough to participate as a marathon runner, Huckabee outlined his belief that health care needs to focus on "prevention and wellness."

He shared his "unabashed view" that the Second Amendment is as sacred as the First and said the illegal immigration issue is a complex one that can be remedied by establishing a firm border. "The first thing has to be a sealed border, and I mean a literal fence," he said.

To a young woman asking about same-sex marriage who said she strongly believes that "people can't help who they love," Huckabee asked the audience to applaud her candor. But the candidate demanded he supports a more "traditional" view of marriage.

"When you start redefining words like 'family' and 'marriage' it's a pretty big deal," he said, adding that he is not the candidate to count on to "change those rules."

Huckabee urged participants to help him win the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus. He said the move would reaffirm the importance of the caucuses by making them more than being about supporting the candidate who spends the most.

"It would create such havoc in the whole political world," he said, promising to honor the idea that elected officials are not supposed to be rulers. "We're elected to be servers."

Angela Warnke, of Dubuque, asked Huckabee about alternative energy and said she was pleased with his stance that the United States needs to become energy independent in the next decade. Warnke supported Huckabee in the summer straw poll.

"Every time I try to change candidates, I keep coming back to him," she said. 

 

'I dance to no man's tune', Ft. Dodge Messenger, 12-22

By BILL SHEA, Messenger staff writer

Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson came to Fort Dodge Friday and quickly staked his claim to being the true conservative Republican who can protect American values if he becomes president.

He defended his qualifications for that job by asserting that a resume loaded with administrative experience doesn't always make a good leader.

''Administrators are people who leaders hire,'' he said. ''There is a difference between administration and leadership.''

Speaking in the measured baritone that TV viewers came to expect on ''Law & Order,'' the actor-turned-politician recited what he views as the basics of conservative government.

Along the way, he enhanced his homespun Tennessee lawyer image with quips such as calling the signers of the Declaration of Independence ''the old boys.''

Of himself, he said, ''What you see is what you get. I dance to no man's tune.''

He spoke to about 80 people at the Webster County Republican headquarters, 900 Central Ave., winning over Linda Sorenson, of rural Webster County, who had been a Democrat for years.

''I was not at all a Fred Thompson supporter until tonight,'' Sorenson said. ''He's very straightforward. He doesn't hold back punches. He says what he thinks.''

Sorenson said she'll caucus for him because she believes he'll bring leadership and truthfulness to the White House.

Others in the crowd, like Howard Ortmeyer, of Fort Dodge, are still making up their minds about the candidates.

''I kind of liked him,'' Ortmeyer said. ''I do think he's a little conservative for me, but he has good ideas.''

He said he's still considering three candidates.

Thompson said he's committed to the ''sound conservative principles that have unified us for over 200 years.''

Topping the list of those principles, he said, is the idea that basic rights come from God, not government.

Smaller government and a federal court system that's limited to case law, not social policy, are also key, he said.

He called for tight-fisted budget policies.

''You don't spend money you don't have and you don't borrow money that only your children and grandchildren can pay back,'' he said.

Thompson said all those ideals are threatened by a ''liberal, big-government, high-taxes, weak-on-national-defense Democratic Party that is licking its chops to get back in power to lead us down the road to a welfare state.''

The candidate said that if he's elected he'll simplify the tax system, save Social Security, modernize the military and stop illegal immigration.

The security of the nation would be his No. 1 priority, he said. The United States, he said, is ''one terrorist plot away from nuclear disaster.''

A Thompson administration, he said, would permit an aggressive search for domestic energy sources that would include drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. He said he also supports ''clean coal,'' nuclear energy and alternative fuels such as ethanol.

While some of his competitors hit the campaign trail in 2006, Thompson entered the race in late summer 2007. He said presidential campaigns ought to be shorter. Long campaigns, he added, are ''certainly not adding to the intellectual capital of our nation.''

In Iowa, barnstorming Thompson aims to keep campaign alive, Muscatine Journal, 12-22

By LIBBY QUAID 

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Actor-politician Fred Thompson is making an eleventh-hour push to convince Iowa voters he is the only real conservative in the presidential race, contrasting his ideas and record on immigration and abortion with those of his leading rivals.

His job isn't getting any easier. Thompson suffered a stinging setback Thursday, when conservative Rep. Tom Tancredo dropped out of the presidential running and endorsed another rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Tancredo, a Colorado congressman, is a hero to many voters who are furious at illegal immigration in this country, and a lot of them are Iowa caucus goers. The endorsement was a disappointment to Thompson, especially since his week had begun on a high note with the unexpected backing of another anti-immigration hero, Rep. Steve King.

King, an Iowa congressman, said volunteers are frantically calling Tancredo supporters to try to recruit them for Thompson. Two senior officials came on board Friday, campaigning with Thompson in Sioux City in conservative western Iowa, which King represents and where he traveled with Thompson this week.

"I am convinced the majority of Tancredo people will end up with Thompson," King said in an interview.

Thompson is barnstorming across Iowa by bus to make the face-to-face contact that voters in Iowa have come to expect. The state begins the nominating process in just two weeks, on Jan. 3.

A long shot because of his late and sluggish entry to the race, Thompson is battling for third place to keep himself in the running. No one has gone on to win the nomination without a top-three finish in Iowa.

He shrugged off polls, saying he has the potential to come on fast in the final days of the Iowa campaign. If history is any guide, Thompson may be right.

"The experts don't know nothin'," Thompson said Friday in Sioux City. "It's the people of Iowa who decide these things, and momentum makes a whole lot of difference."

Later in Sioux Center, he laid out his conservative credentials for a community college audience: "We ought to be a nation with high fences and wide gates, but we get to decide when we open that gate and how long we leave it open."

Thompson wants to force employers to verify they aren't hiring illegal immigrants. And he says the government should yank federal dollars from "sanctuary" cities that don't report illegal immigrants, a dig at Romney and especially former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani sued the federal government to keep from having to report illegal immigrants. The reason: New York officials wanted to encourage people to report crimes, send their kids to school and seek medical treatment. And cities in Massachusetts had similar policies while Romney was governor.

Thompson also took a swing at Mike Huckabee, who has risen to the top of Iowa polls, for trying to make children of illegal immigrants eligible for scholarships and in-state college tuition when he was governor of Arkansas.

Thompson called for "stopping sanctuary cities or giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, which would lure people in, and lure them to bring innocent children in, in the future by the millions."

At the same time, Thompson is emphasizing endorsements from at least 10 anti-abortion groups, including the National Right to Life Committee and nine state groups. His record is not perfect to abortion foes _ he made conflicting statements in his Senate races and as a lawyer lobbied on behalf of an abortion-rights organization.

But Romney's and Giuliani's records are even less agreeable to abortion foes. Romney switched from supporting to opposing abortion rights before running for president, and Giuliani still supports abortion rights.

Thompson tries to close the deal with an appeal that is broader than those two issues, saying he is the best person to sit down at the negotiating table with the nation's worst enemies, an argument he made in a debate performance that won him praise earlier this month in Des Moines.

He argues his experience as a senator and on foreign policy is better than Romney's and Huckabee's experience as governors and Giuliani's as a mayor.

"When it gets right down to it, you're not electing a set of plans or position papers," he said. "You're going to be electing a leader for dangerous times. Nobody likes to be a fear monger, but I've been there. It is no exaggeration in this country to say that for a long time to come, I fear, we're going to be one terrorist plot away from nuclear disaster.

"This is not the time for on-the-job training."

A Rendezvous with Huckabee: Republicans' rising star lands in Muscatine for campaign appearance, Muscatine Journal, 12-21

By Melissa Regennitter Of the Muscatine Journal 

MUSCATINE, Iowa - About 50 people - and nearly as many media representatives and political crew members - were at The Rendezvous banquet facility in Muscatine Friday afternoon for an appearance by Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

Bob Vander Plaats, who ran for Iowa lieutenant governor in 2006, introduced Huckabee and reminded the crowd how things can change for candidates in this race.

"He went from second tier ... to front-runner in Iowa," Vander Plaats said of Huckabee's current ranking in the state.

Huckabee has focused on issues including how to improve the nation's infrastructure, education system, environmental policy and failing health-care system.

In Muscatine, Huckabee, the 44th governor of Arkansas, said he's more than ready to be the 44th president of the United States. He said that people are beginning to realize the importance of the upcoming caucus and that on caucus night, the rest of the world will be focused on Iowa.

Huckabee spoke of the hardships he faced in life, such as his wife's need for spinal surgery early in their marriage and how his father had to work hard to make ends meet.

He also wanted to remind young Americans to get out and vote because the decisions made by the next president will dramatically affect their future.

Sheila Blaskowski, 48, Fruitland, said she is leaning strongly toward Huckabee. She brought along her seven home-schooled children, ages 5-18, to hear his message.

"Our family is strongly pro-life and we are for his conservative ideas," she said. She added that it's important for her children to learn about politics and see candidates before making a decisions based on what they hear in person, not just on television advertisements.

Her oldest son, Bernard, 18, said he'll vote in 2008 for the first time and is also leaning toward Huckabee. After hearing the speech, he said that Huckabee had confirmed his previous beliefs in the candidate.

Immigration

Huckabee said he had a nine-point immigration plan that starts with securing the borders with a fence, no amnesty in sanctuary cities and requiring illegal immigrants get to the back of the line and earn their right to become an American citizen.

We have an "insecure border that the government has failed for more than 20 years to do anything about," he said. "When you come to the United States you come through the front door, not the back door."

He added that people who want to immigrate to the U.S. shouldn't have to live in hiding or in shame for breaking the laws. They should have the opportunity to become part of the nation through the proper means.

Curriculum

Huckabee said he's interested in "launching a curriculum of mass instruction" into the school systems. He believes that students are being taught with an 18th century model in a 21st century world and they are bored, not stupid.

"We need to make the curriculum about what they enjoy and excite them," he said.

He believes if teachers had the materials and curriculum to teach kids what they are interested in learning that it would be more productive than the "sit down, be quiet and be still, put your nose in a black-and-white book and hope you learn something from it" attitude.

Military

Huckabee said there should be strength in the U.S. military that no one wants to mess with, and that peace doesn't come through weakness.

We should have "a military that intimidates the rest of the world," he said, adding that if the U.S. military were feared because it was fully equipped and strong, there would likely never be a reason to use it.

But if it was necessary to engage the military, "do it in full-force ... no politicians interfering with military commanders," he added.

Huckabee was in Davenport before stopping in Muscatine and then planned to head to Iowa City and Dubuque.

Q&A: Inside the bus with Fred Thompson, Carroll Times Herald, 12-21

Daily Times Herald reporter and columnist Douglas Burns spent about 15 minutes speaking one-on-one with Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson on his campaign bus outside the Carroll Country Club Thursday morning.

Thompson, a former U.S. senator from Tennessee and accomplished actor, discussed the war in Iraq, his own campaign style, criticism of his admitted lack of "type A" personality, his chances against Hillary Clinton in a potential general election match-up and the recently held Des Moines Register GOP debate.

U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, a Thompson supporter, was present for the full interview, and the presiden-tial hopeful's wife, Jeri, stood in for some of the session aboard a bus bearing the slogan: "Clear Conservative choice: Hands down!" bus tour.

The following is a transcript of the Daily Times Herald exchange with Thompson.

 

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Daily Times Herald: We aren't hearing too much on the war in Iraq from the Democratic side of the presidential race right now. Perhaps they feel it is going well. Do you think at the end of the day the Iraq war becomes a good issue for the Republicans?

Thompson: Yeah, I think it is going well from all those whose opinions I value who have come back from over there. We have very close friends of ours who have kids over there who have re-upped and we get reports back from them from time to time and things are going on the provinces, just something that hasn't been going on before.

We saw some of these atrocities I think in the last day or two day, al Qaeda torch hospitals or whatever they call them. That's indicative of what's been happening out there and people are sick and tired of it. And they're coming to our side. Some of the Sunni leadership is coming to our side.

They're reaching some arrangements at the local level that has not yet made its way to the politicians in Baghdad.

And that needs to happen but it doesn't mean a lot of good things aren't happening. Violence is down. Car bombings are down. Ramadan was much more peaceful than it has been in a long, long time.

So all indications are good. I was amazed the other night at the Iowa debate when they took Iraq and immi-gration off the table to start with.

I said to myself, if there had been some bad news out of Iraq it wouldn't have been off the table.

 

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Daily Times Herald: Was that last Des Moines Register debate at Iowa Public Television the worst-run debate you've ever been involved with, senator?

Thompson: I'll have to think for a minute because I've been involved in some pretty badly run debates.

I don't think the format serves the people well. It's an exchange of sound bites and then when they come in and get even more officious than usual.

They set the ground rules and tell the candidates, "it's take it or leave it."

They wouldn't even give a break in the middle of that hour-and-a-half debate. Any other debate we've had there's been a break or two, usually two little breaks along the way.

They said "no." I said, "Wait a minute, this is kind of unusual." They said, "Take it or leave it."

So that's the attitude they have. This is our deal. You have to dance to our tune and do it our way.

Then when they take that extra added step when they say now we're going to have a show of hands like we're a bunch of trained seals waiting for a fish to be thrown to them there are some things that ought to be even beneath the dignity of a presidential candidate. When I basically said, "No," it kind of broke them and showed it for what it was.

And now they're getting an awful lot of bad comments about it and I think richly deserved.

It was a poorly conceived deal and they would have been a whole lot better off if they would talk to some people in the process a little bit about what might make a better debate, instead of being so officious about it.

 

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Daily Times Herald: On the Democratic side of the presidential race U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has admitted in his book and in different speeches that not only has he done marijuana in his past but that he has had some experience with cocaine. His campaign's explanation is that the honesty, the forthright element of that, is good. Some people have been critical of it, suggesting that it might red carpet the notion of experimentation for kids. Do you have any thoughts on that, that this is out there in the dialogue and it's not just marijuana, it's cocaine?

Thompson: Well, it's hard to comment on somebody else's personal revelations without knowing all the circumstances involved.

Obviously, that's not a good example for kids and it's very unfortunate, but I imagine Obama thinks the same thing. I imagine that's his own opinion about it. I wish it hadn't happened. He probably wishes it hadn't happened.

The political effect of that is for people to decide.

He's like every other human being. You have to live with the consequences of your actions.

 

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Daily Times Herald: With the fighting between GOP candidates Mitt Romney (former Massachu-setts governor) and Mike Huckabee (former Arkansas governor), do you see a dynamic at work here similar to the Democratic side in 2004 where you had (U.S. Rep. Dick) Gephardt and (former Vermont Gov. How-ard) Dean going at it and you had (U.S. Sen. John) Kerry emerge? You're just about as tall as Kerry. Do you see yourself playing that role?

Thompson: I think I'm ahead of where he was in the polls. I don't know. You just kinda got to follow your own game plan.

And, you know, my game plan is just to be who I am and what I am. It's a whole lot easier to remember. My positions on the issues are constants.

Some people say I'm not a Type A personality and they're right.

They want examples of me clicking my heels and things like that. That ain't me. It wasn't me in Tennessee when I got more votes than anybody in the history of Tennessee politics.

It's served me well all my life being who I am. A large part of what I am is that, you know, I don't mind telling it like it is.

 

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Daily Times Herald: You stayed in Carroll last night at the Super 8. Your first event started at 10 o'clock today. One of the knocks on you has been maybe that you're a little lazy. Why did you start your first event at 10 o'clock?

Thompson: First of all we had telephone interviews this morning in our room. We had briefings in our room. We got in last night from over in east Iowa. I don't know what time we finally got to bed but it was late last night. We've been doing I don't know how many events. We're going to do 50 towns and communities. You can catch us sometimes where there is a gap there. But if you look at the overall schedule you'll find it to be a very, very active one.

I don't have anything to prove to anybody.

I mean, you know, I actually like to read a little bit along the way. The first thing I do when I walk out is get asked about the president's news conference that he had this morning that I saw, and what's happened with the other candidates and comments that they've made, and sometimes disasters that have happened in various communities and shootings and so forth. I read and talk to people about that. Talk to them in the home office. Get my plan for the day and the information I need for the day.

You can't put yourself in another man's shoes, figure out well he got in this time that night so he ought to start this time the next morning in order to prove he's more energetic. That's the kind of thing they used to say about Ronald Reagan and he always said, 'They say hard work never hurt anybody but why take a chance?'

 

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Daily Times Herald: If Hillary Clinton is the nominee and you are, do you take the South off the table? Are you just going to destroy her in the South?

Thompson: That's a little premature. I think that we're going to need somebody who is a solid conservative who can unite the country. I think that I would match up very, very well with her in that regard.

 

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Daily Times Herald: By the way I saw "Hunt for Red October" four times in the theater when it came out.

Thompson: That's more times than me.

Republicans, Le Mars Daily Sentinel, 12-21

People registered as Democrats, Independents, or even unregistered eligible voters can still participate in the Republican Caucus. They will have to fill out the voter registration form at that caucus site. 

Choosing a presidential candidate will be the first order of business at the Republican caucus sites, starting at 7 p.m. sharp. 

"Instead of having a ballot, we will pass out a colored piece of paper and the people will write the candidate's name of their choice," said Don Kass, the county Republican chairman since 1994. 

Before the vote, one person for each candidate is allowed to speak on their behalf. After the ballots are cast, they will be immediately counted, with one representative from each candidate watching. 

Numbers from each precinct will be tallied, then Kass will call the total in to the state. 

"Precinct by precinct, people will know immediately," Kass said. "Lately, I've known easily by 9 p.m. what the county total is. I'll be calling the state as soon as humanly possible since they have 99 counties reporting. Having 99 counties is like herding 99 cats." 

Candidates, he said, might show up at a precinct in Des Moines or Iowa City. That would not be unusual. 

Next up, the Republicans will choose delegates to go to the county, district and state conventions. They will also pick people to serve on the county's Central Committee, what Don Kass calls the "nuts and bolts organization" that runs the party in the county. 

Separate from the Central Committee, county delegates serve for two years. If a county elected official would need to be replaced mid-term, they would convene to nominate one. There are usually 100 total county delegates for the Republican party, Kass said, and each precinct gets a certain number based on voter turnout in that precinct for the last general election. 

Finally, they'll discuss the local platform. 

"Let's say a person has a given issue that they feel very strongly about, they can write down what they believe -- "this is what we should stand for" -- bring it, submit it at the caucus, it can be discussed and voted up or down, and it will go to a committee set up by the new Central Committee to sort through those and compile them into a proposed county platform. 

"If you have a new platform plank, please write it as legibly as possible and in complete sentences," Kass said. "It might be the best thing in the world, but if we can't read it, we can't use it." 

If they have opposing views from two separate precincts on a platform plank, they will list both in a proposed platform and have the county convention decide which to go with. 

"And conceivably you could have a motion from the floor to through them both out," Kass said. 

On March 8, the county convention will ratify the county platform. 

"We will send representatives who will fight for what's in the county platform at the district level," Kass said. "Then we develop a district platform, and that evolves into the state platform." 

Some issues, he said, will move from the state level to define the party's national platform. Abortion has been one of those issues in the past. This year, he said, illegal immigration will likely be one of those topics. 

The caucuses will likely last about an hour or an hour and a half, Kass said. 

"We're in the national news so much -- you're kind of missing out on history not to participate," Kass said. "This is how you make your voice heard. This is Iowa's only selection process for the two parties. You're not entitled to have your way without doing something to get it." 

Kass said he'd like to see more people get involved, especially young people. 

"We need new blood," he said. "The most basic unit of government is the citizen, the individual." 

Republican Caucus Sites for Plymouth County 

Precinct I Akron & Portland Township., Precinct 6 Westfield, Westfield & Sioux Townships 

Location: Akron Public Library 

Precinct 2 Craig, Preston & Grant Townships, Precinct 4 Brunsville, Johnson & Washington Townships 

Location: Brunsville Legion Hall 

Precinct 3 Seney, Struble, Elgin & America Townships, Precincts 11, 12, & 13-City of LeMars 

Location: Prime Bank of Le Mars (Basement) 

Precinct 5 Remsen, Fredonia, Marion, Meadow, & Remsen Townships 

Location: Remsen-Union High-School Auditorium 

Precinct 7 Merrill, Liberty & Plymouth Townships 

Location: Merrill Civic Center 

Precinct 8 Hancock & Perry Townships 

Location: Ed & Sandy Fravel Residence 17073 C60 Sioux City 

Precinct 9 Hinton, Hungerford & Lincoln Townships 

Location: Hinton Community Center 

Precinct 10 Kingsley, Elkhorn, Garfield, Henry & Union Townships 

Location: Kingsley State Bank 

LTE: As candidate, Thompson is refreshingly honest, CR Gazette, 12-23

Fred Thompson's personal ambitions did not drive him to began preparations years ago for a run at the presidency.

  He never enlisted a staff of writers to formulate the perfect positions to attract the most support at each stage.

  He didn't think to memorize a litany of perfectly pat answers to all conceivable questions - as tested and rated by his focus groups. He didn't even start assembling a crackerjack marketing team as soon as the polls closed in '04.

  Thompson stepped up and entered the race only when called upon by those who saw the absence of any true conservative among the existing candidates.

  All the work that had to be done to put together a national campaign had to be accomplished in months, not years. No doubt it has slowed his start, but it hasn't changed his commitment. Thompson is here until we caucus.

  Are you looking for a candidate whose declared beliefs actually agreed with his history? Are you looking for a candidate who will answer your questions directly and honestly, without relying on a prepared script, designed to avoid any commitment? Look closely at Thompson because what you see is exactly what you will get - a refreshingly honest and remarkable man.

  Allan Stewart, Iowa City

LTE: McCain right to speak out about U.S. use of torture, CR Gazette, 12-23

I applaud the fact that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has courageously spoken out against the sadistic practice of torture the Bush administration has repeatedly used in violation of our values as a nation. There are other ways to get information without stooping to the level of our enemies. If we practice torture, how are we better than the cruelest regimes on Earth?

  The Rev. Don Hodson Coralville

Blog Post: Huckabee Delivers Populist Message in Iowa's Democratic Stronghold, Iowa Independent, 12-22

In the last couple of weeks, Iowans saw a new face atop the GOP polls, a dwindling campaign resurrected with the endorsement of Iowa's largest newspaper, and one contender throwing in the towel while simultaneously endorsing the former frontrunner.

Welcome to the Iowa Caucuses, where five months is a lifetime.

Just ask former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who, having recently usurped the position of former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney, now leads the latest polls in Iowa. However, this was not the case the last time Huckabee visited Johnson County, Iowa's Democratic stronghold, in July, when he delivered some good tongue-in-cheek news.

"A new AP poll shows I was actually the new leader in the entire race," Huckabee told a crowd of 45 gathered at the North Liberty Pizza Ranch. "The poll says that the new leader is 'none of the above.' I am none of the above, since I'm not those guys at the top. What a great day for me. The dynamics of this race are beginning to change. Our campaign has been on an upward trajectory. Iowa has a great tradition of telling the national media that maybe they didn't quite get it right and maybe their picks aren't quite America's picks."

Prophetic? Maybe so. Huckabee returned to Johnson County Friday, only this time he was greeted by over 250 people crammed into a meeting room at the Marriott Hotel in Coralville. A large contingency of the crowd, roughly a third, was comprised of younger people-college aged and younger. This observation was not lost on two elderly gentlemen standing by the media pit. "Boy, there sure are a lot of young folks here," one gentleman said to the other. 

T.M. Lindsey :: Huckabee Delivers Populist Message in Iowa's Democratic Stronghold  

Huckabee charmed the crowd with his populist message, disarming them with his sense of humor as took on his opponents' negative attacks, the ruling class, Congress, the IRS, and the Clinton machine. Pointing out a sign in the audience, "Chuck Norris Approved," Huckabee noted that this can't be done alone, and it helps to have Chuck Norris watching his back. (see pic of Hawkeyes for Huckabee holding signs)

Huckabee wasted no time appealing to Iowans and their coveted first-in-the-nation-caucus responsibility by bucking the national polls and media in the process. "Despite being outspent 20 to 1 in Iowa, we're seeing a tremendous amount of enthusiastic support across the state," Huckabee said. "What this is saying is much more than Mike Huckabee. It's saying something about the caucus process. It's saying Iowans can't be bought, or as I said after the Ames Straw Poll, `Iowans cannot be rented.'"

This message has appealed to UI student and Hawkeyes-for-Huckabee Chair Brad Brett: "Huckabee caught my attention a while back despite the fact he's not a money candidate. Now he's got everyone's attention and people are starting to take him seriously."

Alluding to recent criticisms launched against his campaign, more notably Romney's recent attacks, Huckabee commended Iowans for their resistance to wholeheartedly accepting negative critiques, especially if the source is one of the candidate's opponents "Iowa gets the first bite of the apple," Huckabee said. It's best for the country that a candidate who wants to be president has to come to the middle of America and talk to folks who understand what it's like to get the rent paid, put food on the table, and struggle with things that people in the real world where you live do. Sometimes people get elected to office and they forget that they were elected to the serving class, not the ruling class. And the average person is the ruling class."

Brett has been impressed by how Huckabee has handled criticisms from his rivals and has not gone to the negative side. "I hope this pays off at the caucuses," Brett said. "I'm tired of all the mudslinging and personal attacks, when we should be focusing on the candidates' substance and what they stand for."

Maintaining a positive approach has also resonated well with Coralville resident and grassroots organizer Lindsey Helpser: "Best of all, Huckabee has chosen to stay positive. I realize that negative attacks are part of politics, but this is also why a lot of people don't want to get involved."

Huckabee set his sights on Congress, arguing that they are so completely paralyzed, because they are so polarized. "They can't get anything done. The best thing they can do is go home. When they're in business, they're dangerous. When they go home, we at least have some relief for a little while.

"It doesn't seem to matter whether it's Republicans or Democrats in charge, they're more interested in defeating the other side than they are in winning something that will help our lives. Americans are tired of this and want to see change."

Huckabee took aim at the current tax system, which he contends is dysfunctional, to pitch his Fair Tax proposal. Citing a poll conducted by FOX news, Huckabee said, "The average American is more afraid of being audited than being mugged. This didn't make sense at first, but when you think about it, it does make sense. When you get mugged it only lasts a few seconds, Huckabee quipped. "When the IRS comes after you, they don't quit until they have every last dime and it could take years."

"I'm the only person running for president who has done something that might have to be done next year, and that's run against and win against the incredibly, formidable force of the Clinton machine. I've done it four times, I've won four times, and I would like to round it out by doing it just one more time."

Huckabee ended his stump speech by pitching for support at the caucuses and reminding Iowans that "You can't but the white house, you'll have to earn it the old fashioned way."

After his speech, the Iowa Independent caught up with former Iowa Rep. Danny Carroll of Grinnell, who is serving alongside Bob Vander Plaats as Huckabee's state co-chair. Carroll touched on Huckabee's latest surge and viability. "People across Iowa have responded to Huckabee's sincerity and genuineness and we're starting to see the press converge on his campaign. People are seeing that he's a viable candidate," Carroll said. "There's always been a reservoir of willingness to support Huckabee in Iowa, but people were holding off their support to see if he would be viable.

Pressed as to why this was the case, Carroll told the Iowa Independent, "Holding off before committing is typical for a lot of Iowans. They don't want to commit to candidates early, knowing they may want or have to retract later for another candidate," Carroll said. "Iowa voters are not easily swayed by the early polls and the lack of media coverage for some of the lesser-known candidates. Huckabee is the perfect example of the Iowa caucuses doing what they are supposed to be doing." 

Blog Post: Doing Mitt's Bidding in Des Moines, Des Moines Register, 12-22

On a recent evening at People's Court, a bar in downtown Des Moines, the former most powerful woman in the world sat down at a table with 20 young professionals. Then the former most powerful woman in the world sipped her white wine and waxed eloquent on this year's presidential race.

 Was she Hillary Clinton?

 Nope.

 Oprah Winfrey?

 Not quite.

 Er, Martha Stewart?

 Getting closer. Joining the Young Professionals Connection's Candidate Conversations event was Meg Whitman, the CEO of eBay and the 2005 "most powerful woman in business," according to Fortune magazine.

 "I'm in Iowa for the same reason everyone is right now who isn't living here," Whitman said.

 Er, the pork chops?

 Ah, yes. The upcoming caucuses, of course. Whitman is a close personal friend of presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and was dispatched by the campaign to Iowa to lobby voters on behalf of the former Massachusetts governor and wildly successful businessman.

 "He's the best business executive we had on either side of the aisle, and he has the ability to work with the other side of the aisle," Whitman told the intimate group after she detailed the meteoric rise of eBay since she started there during the company's infancy in 1998. (The company now employs 16,000 worldwide and had $7.6 billion in revenue this year.)

 Whitman also worked at Bain and Co., the consulting firm, with Romney for a decade.

 "Even back then, Mitt was the one you wanted to work for at Bain," she said.

 So why vote for him for president? It's simple, Whitman said. There are plenty of parts of America that needs reinvestment: schools, health care, roads, bridges, airports, the military. And that money has to come from somewhere. A president could raise taxes. Or a president could look at the basic cost structure in the federal government and eliminate waste and duplicated efforts and make the government efficient, run like a corporation.

 "I think we should try that before we start raising taxes on corporations and individuals," she said. "Mitt would be the best at doing a stem to stern review of the cost structure of the federal government."

Blog Post: Huckabee Delivers Populist Message in Iowa's Democratic Stronghold, Iowa Independent

by: T.M. Lindsey

In the last couple of weeks, Iowans saw a new face atop the GOP polls, a dwindling campaign resurrected with the endorsement of Iowa's largest newspaper, and one contender throwing in the towel while simultaneously endorsing the former frontrunner. 

Welcome to the Iowa Caucuses, where five months is a lifetime. 

Just ask former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who, having recently usurped the position of former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney, now leads the latest polls in Iowa. However, this was not the case the last time Huckabee visited Johnson County, Iowa's Democratic stronghold, in July, when he delivered some good tongue-in-cheek news. 

"A new AP poll shows I was actually the new leader in the entire race," Huckabee told a crowd of 45 gathered at the North Liberty Pizza Ranch <http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=632> . "The poll says that the new leader is 'none of the above.' I am none of the above, since I'm not those guys at the top. What a great day for me. The dynamics of this race are beginning to change. Our campaign has been on an upward trajectory. Iowa has a great tradition of telling the national media that maybe they didn't quite get it right and maybe their picks aren't quite America's picks." 

Prophetic? Maybe so. Huckabee returned to Johnson County Friday, only this time he was greeted by over 250 people crammed into a meeting room at the Marriott Hotel in Coralville. A large contingency of the crowd, roughly a third, was comprised of younger people-college aged and younger. This observation was not lost on two elderly gentlemen standing by the media pit. "Boy, there sure are a lot of young folks here," one gentleman said to the other.

 

Huckabee charmed the crowd with his populist message, disarming them with his sense of humor as took on his opponents' negative attacks, the ruling class, Congress, the IRS, and the Clinton machine. Pointing out a sign in the audience, "Chuck Norris Approved," Huckabee noted that this can't be done alone, and it helps to have Chuck Norris watching his back. (see pic of Hawkeyes for Huckabee holding signs) 

Huckabee wasted no time appealing to Iowans and their coveted first-in-the-nation-caucus responsibility by bucking the national polls and media in the process. "Despite being outspent 20 to 1 in Iowa, we're seeing a tremendous amount of enthusiastic support across the state," Huckabee said. "What this is saying is much more than Mike Huckabee. It's saying something about the caucus process. It's saying Iowans can't be bought, or as I said after the Ames Straw Poll, `Iowans cannot be rented.'" 

This message has appealed to UI student and Hawkeyes-for-Huckabee <http://hawks4huck.com/>  Chair Brad Brett: "Huckabee caught my attention a while back despite the fact he's not a money candidate. Now he's got everyone's attention and people are starting to take him seriously." 

Alluding to recent criticisms launched against his campaign, more notably Romney's recent attacks, Huckabee commended Iowans for their resistance to wholeheartedly accepting negative critiques, especially if the source is one of the candidate's opponents "Iowa gets the first bite of the apple," Huckabee said. It's best for the country that a candidate who wants to be president has to come to the middle of America and talk to folks who understand what it's like to get the rent paid, put food on the table, and struggle with things that people in the real world where you live do. Sometimes people get elected to office and they forget that they were elected to the serving class, not the ruling class. And the average person is the ruling class." 

Brett has been impressed by how Huckabee has handled criticisms from his rivals and has not gone to the negative side. "I hope this pays off at the caucuses," Brett said. "I'm tired of all the mudslinging and personal attacks, when we should be focusing on the candidates' substance and what they stand for." 

Maintaining a positive approach has also resonated well with Coralville resident and grassroots organizer Lindsey Helpser: "Best of all, Huckabee has chosen to stay positive. I realize that negative attacks are part of politics, but this is also why a lot of people don't want to get involved." 

Huckabee set his sights on Congress, arguing that they are so completely paralyzed, because they are so polarized. "They can't get anything done. The best thing they can do is go home. When they're in business, they're dangerous. When they go home, we at least have some relief for a little while. 

"It doesn't seem to matter whether it's Republicans or Democrats in charge, they're more interested in defeating the other side than they are in winning something that will help our lives. Americans are tired of this and want to see change." 

Huckabee took aim at the current tax system, which he contends is dysfunctional, to pitch his Fair Tax proposal. Citing a poll conducted by FOX news, Huckabee said, "The average American is more afraid of being audited than being mugged. This didn't make sense at first, but when you think about it, it does make sense. When you get mugged it only lasts a few seconds, Huckabee quipped. "When the IRS comes after you, they don't quit until they have every last dime and it could take years." 

"I'm the only person running for president who has done something that might have to be done next year, and that's run against and win against the incredibly, formidable force of the Clinton machine. I've done it four times, I've won four times, and I would like to round it out by doing it just one more time." 

Huckabee ended his stump speech by pitching for support at the caucuses and reminding Iowans that "You can't but the white house, you'll have to earn it the old fashioned way." 

After his speech, the Iowa Independent caught up with former Iowa Rep. Danny Carroll of Grinnell, who is serving alongside Bob Vander Plaats as Huckabee's state co-chair. Carroll touched on Huckabee's latest surge and viability. "People across Iowa have responded to Huckabee's sincerity and genuineness and we're starting to see the press converge on his campaign. People are seeing that he's a viable candidate," Carroll said. "There's always been a reservoir of willingness to support Huckabee in Iowa, but people were holding off their support to see if he would be viable. 

Pressed as to why this was the case, Carroll told the Iowa Independent, "Holding off before committing is typical for a lot of Iowans. They don't want to commit to candidates early, knowing they may want or have to retract later for another candidate," Carroll said. "Iowa voters are not easily swayed by the early polls and the lack of media coverage for some of the lesser-known candidates. Huckabee is the perfect example of the Iowa caucuses doing what they are supposed to be doing."

 

 

Huckabee Disavows Anti-Catholic Sentiments At Church Where He Will Speak,  Iowa Independent

by: Jay Wagner

During an interview at his last campaign stop in Iowa before Christmas, Republican front-runner Mike Huckabee disavowed anti-Catholic comments and teachings made by the senior pastor of a Texas church where he will be speaking on Sunday. 

Huckabee wrapped up an ambitious pre-Christmas tour of Iowa on Saturday with four appearances in the Fifth Congressional District, home to more than half of the state's registered Republicans. He returns to Iowa after celebrating Christmas with his family in Arkansas. But on the way home, Huckabee will make a stop in San Antonio where he will speak to members of the Cornerstone Church. 

Cornerstone is one of the nation's largest churches, with nearly 17,000 members. John C. Hagee, senior pastor at the church, has told his congregation in the past that the Beast referred to in the Bible is actually the Catholic Church and the so-called Anti-Christ is the Pope. 

"I have to say that I don't agree with those teachings," Huckabee told the Iowa Independent following a speech in Sheldon. "Several members of my staff are Catholic and  have marched shoulder to shoulder many times in pro-life marches with people of the Catholic faith." 

When he was asked if he was aware of Hagee's teachings about the Catholic Church, Huckabee said he wasn't. "There are things that he believes that I wouldn't agree with and I am sure there are things that I believe that he wouldn't agree with." 

Hagee has also been criticized by some Evangelicals because of the large salary he collects for the work he does, more than $1.25 million in 2005, according to the San Antonio News-Express. Hagee said at the time that he deserves the pay because of the long hours he works. 

Hagee has also said that the Catholic Church was implicit in its support of Adolph Hitler. "When Hitler became a global demonic monster, the Catholic Church and Pope Pius XII never, ever slightly criticized him," Hagee wrote. ".... In all of his [Hitler's] years of absolute brutality, he was never denounced or even scolded by Pope Pius XII or any Catholic leader in the world. To those Christians who believe that Jewish hearts will be warmed by the sight of the cross, please be informed-to them it's an electric chair." 

THE FIELD

The Tribune's guide to caucusing. Ames Tribune, 12-21

12/22/2007

What is caucusing?

It's a grassroots and largely informal method of determining who has the support to win the nomination of a given party. 

 

Who caucuses?

You have to be a registered Democrat or a Republican, and you have to be able to prove residency in Iowa. 

 

When is the caucus?

7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 3.

 

Where do I caucus?

Check the lists below. If you don't know your precinct, check the Story County auditor's Web site at http://www.storycounty. com. Also, some candidates have Web sites to direct you to your caucus location. Here are two good sites:

* For Democrats: www.iowafirstcaucus.org/caucus_finder.php.

* For Republicans:www.iowagop.net/countycontacts.asp.

(Note: If you're a Republican, you'll need to know your precinct first. You can find that by entering your address here: www.sos.state.ia.us/elections/voterreg/PollingPlace/search.aspx.)

If those don't work, you can call the Story County Democrats at (515) 268-0313 or the Story County Republican Party at (515) 282-8105. If all else fails, call the local headquarters of your candidate and ask. Chances are, they'll be happy to help you out. 

 

How do I caucus?

If you're a Republican, it's easy; you show up, you cast your vote for the candidate of your choice, and the one with the most votes wins. Then you elect delegates to the county caucus. They, in turn, elect delegates to the district caucuses and the statewide convention. 

If you're a Democrat, the process is a bit more complicated. Caucus goers will establish "preference groups" to determine the viability of a candidate. Basically, the more people in a preference group, the more delegates they can send up to the higher levels. They also allow for "realignment" of preference group members whose groups don't have enough people, allowing them to be taken in by other candidate groups. This is why it's a good idea to have a second choice when you caucus.

 

What about the party platform?

Both Republicans and Democrats take time in the caucus process to examine platform planks suggested by attendees. These in turn are taken to higher levels and eventually presented before national committees. 

 

Where to caucus

Ames Democrats

W1-P1, Scheman Building, Rooms 167 to 179, Iowa State Center

W1-P2, Heartland Senior Services, 205 South Walnut Ave.

W1-P3, Ames Public Library, Farwell T. Brown Auditorium, 515 Douglas Ave.

W1-P4, Ames City Hall, City Auditorium, 515 Clark Ave.

W1-P5, Meeker Elementary School, Auditorium, 300 20th St.

W2-P1, Ames High School, Commons, 1921 Ames High Drive.

W2-P2, ISU Memorial Union, Great Hall, Union Drive.

W2-P3 Fellows Elementary School, Multi-purpose Room, 1400 McKinley Drive.

W2-P4, Ames High School, Auditorium, 1921 Ames High Drive.

W2-P5, ISU Memorial Union, Sun Room, Union Drive.

W3-P1, Ames Middle School, Commons, 3915 Mortensen Road.

W3-P2, St. John's Episcopal Church, Parish Hall, 2338 Lincoln Way.

W3-P3, Ames Middle School, Rooms G103/104, 3915 Mortensen Road.

W3-P4, Ames Middle School, Sixth Grade Commons, 3915 Mortensen Road.

W3-P5, Scheman Building, 195 Benton Auditorium, Iowa State Center.

W4-P1, Edwards Elementary School, Gymnasium, 3622 Woodland St.

W4-P2, Sawyer Elementary School, Gymnasium, 4316 Ontario St.

W4-P3, ISU Memorial Union, South Ballroom, Union Drive.

W4-P4, ISU Memorial Union, Campanile Room, Union Drive.

W4-P5, ISU Memorial Union, Gallery, Union Drive.

 

Ames Republicans

W1-P1, Kate Mitchell Elementary, Gym, 3521 Jewel Drive.

W1-P2, Coldwater Golf Links, 615 S. 16th St.

W1-P3, Public Library, 515 Douglas Ave.

W1-P4, High School, Multi-Purpose Room, 1921 Ames High Drive

W1-P5, Meeker Elementary School, Gym, 300 20th St.

W2-P1, Ames High, Band Room 1, 1921 Ames High Drive.

W2-P2, Ames High, Band Room 2, 1921 Ames High Drive.

W2-P3, Fellows Elementary, Gym, 1400 McKinley Drive.

W2-P4, Stonebrook Church, 3611 Eisenhower Drive.

W2-P5, Bethesda Lutheran Church, 1517 Northwestern Ave.

W3-P1, Middle School, Room B112A, 3915 Mortensen Road.

W3-P2, Middle School, Room B111A, 3915 Mortensen Road.

W3-P3, Middle School, Room E205, 3915 Mortensen Road.

W3-P4, Middle School, Room F204, 3915 Mortensen Road.

W3-P5, Middle School, Room F206, 3915 Mortensen Road.

W4-P1, St Andrews Church 209 Colorado Ave.

W4-P2, Middle School, Room G203, 3915 Mortensen Road.

W4-P3, St Andrews Church, 209 Colorado Ave.

W4-P4, St Andrews Church, 209 Colorado Ave.

W4-P5, St. Andrews Church, 209 Colorado Ave.

 

Mid-Iowa Democrats 

Collins, Collins Community Center, 212 Main St., Collins 

Franklin/Gilbert, Gilbert High School, Commons, 103 Mathews Drive, Gilbert 

Grant, Mitchell Elementary School, The Forum, 3521 Jewel Drive, Ames 

Howard/Roland, Roland-Story Middle School, Cafeteria, 206 S. Main St., Roland 

Indian Creek/Maxwell, Collins-Maxwell High School, Lunch Room, 400 Metcalf St., Maxwell 

Kelley, Kelley City Hall, 1111 Grace St., Kelley 

Lincoln/Zearing, Security State Bank, 103 E. Main St., Zearing 

Milford, Story County Conservation Center, McFarland Park, 56461 180th St., Ames 

Nevada 1, Nevada Middle School, Cafeteria, 1035 15th St., Nevada 

Nevada 2, Nevada Elementary School, Cafeteria, 925 Ninth St., Nevada 

Nevada 3, ISU Extension Bldg., Christy Hall, 220 H Ave., Nevada 

Nevada 4, Nevada High School, Cafeteria, 1001 15th St., Nevada 

Nevada Township, Nevada High School, Library, 1001 15th St., Nevada 

New Albany/Colo, Colo Community Center, 309 Main St., Colo 

Palestine 1/Huxley, Ballard Community High School, Auditorium, 509 N. Main Ave, Huxley 

Palestine 2/Slater, Nelson Park Log Cabin, Nelson Park, Slater 

Richland, Nevada Middle School, Library, 1035 15th St., Nevada 

Sherman, Colo Community Center, 309 Main St., Colo 

Story City 1, Roland-Story High School, Auditorium, 1009 Story St., Story City 

Story City 2/LaFayette, Story City City Hall, Community Room, 504 Broad St., Story City 

Union/Cambridge, Ballard East Elementary School, Commons, 505 W. Fourth St., Cambridge 

Warren/McCallsburg, Colo-Nesco Elementary School, Music Room, 400 Latrobe Ave., McCallsburg 

Washington, Ames Middle School, Chorus Room, Room B109A, 3915 Mortensen Road, Ames 

 

Mid-Iowa Republicans 

Collins, Collins Elementary-Lunch room 416 Fourth St., Collins 

Franklin, Gilbert High School, Media Center, 103 Mathews Drive, Gilbert 

Grant, Cornerstone Church, Activity Room, 56829 U.S. Highway 30, Ames 

Howard, Roland-Story Middle School, 206 S Main St., Roland 

Indian Creek, Collins-Maxwell Middle School, 400 Metcalf St., Maxwell 

Kelley, Kelley City Hall, Council Chambers, 111 Grace St., Kelley 

Lafayette, Roland-Story High School, 1009 Story St., Story City 

Lincoln, Colo-Nesco Middle School, Lunch Room, 407 N. Center St., Zearing 

Milford, Cornerstone Church, 56829 U.S. Highway 30, Ames 

Nevada 1, Gates Hall, 825 15th St., Nevada

 

Nevada 2, Gates Hall, 825 15th St., Nevada

 

Nevada 3, Gates Hall, 825 15th St., Nevada

Nevada 4, Gates Hall, 825 15th St., Nevada

Nevada Township, Gates Hall, 825 15th St., Nevada

New Albany, Colo-Nesco High School, 919 West St., Colo

Palestine 1, Huxley, Community Center

Palestine 2, Senior Center, 301 Tama St., Slater

Richland, Gates Hall, 825 15th St., Nevada

Sherman, Colo-Nesco High School, 919 West St.

Story City 1, Roland-Story High School, 1009 Story St., Story City

Union, Legion Hall, 216 Water St., Cambridge

Warren, Colo-Nesco Elementary School, Lunch Room 400 Latrobe Ave., McCallsburg

Washington, Ames Middle School, Vocal Music Room, 3915 Mortensen Road, Ames

Together we caucus, ... Divided they can fall. The Iowa caucus, is the first big test of a presidential candidate's viability and popularity, and it's one where every person's involvement can reap big dividends - or losses - for a White House hopeful., Muscatine Journal, 12-21

By Connie Street Of the Muscatine Journal 

MUSCATINE, Iowa - Don't skip the Iowa caucuses on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008, just because you don't understand how they work.

Both the Republican and Democratic parties begin their caucus the same way. Business begins at 6:30 p.m. and the doors close at 7 p.m. To participate, you must be signed in or in line to sign in by 6:30 p.m. Latecomers can watch, but cannot participate.

At both caucuses, anyone can attend, but those who wish to participate must live in the geographic area of the caucus, be registered to vote and be registered as a member of the political party for which they are caucusing.

If you don't know what precinct you live in, call your county auditor's office (contact information for Muscatine and Louisa County auditors appears elsewhere in this article).

If you are not registered to vote, you can do so at the caucus. Becoming a member of a political party is simple and doesn't cost anything. When you register to vote, just check the box for the party of your choice and make sure you are at the right caucus. You may also be asked to sign a separate piece of paper for the party.

There is no rule that you have to stay in a political party for a certain length of time.

"You can go to the auditor's office the next day and change your party preference," said Don Foor, a Democratic caucus leader in Louisa County.

Youth who will be 18 by Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, may participate at caucuses.

In Muscatine County, the Republican caucuses are being held at two locations.

The reason is to make it easier for any candidates who want to stop and speak to party members, said Bob Bahn, co-chairman of the Muscatine County Republican Party.

Record-breaking numbers are expected since there are so many candidates, Bahn said. He said a typical number at a Muscatine County Republican caucus is anywhere from 300 to 500 people. He is predicting attendance of 1,200-1,500 people. Others in the party are hoping for up to 2,500.

"The candidates are trying to get supporters to go to the caucuses and have held caucus-training events," Bahn said.

Don Paulson, Muscatine County Democratic Party co-chairman, said caucus-goers in his party should come early and have patience while registering. Registration begins by 6 p.m.

"We are looking forward to a huge turnout this year," he said, adding that attendance at larger precincts is typically about 50 people.

 "We are expecting to triple our average  attendance this year," Paulson said.

 As for predicting the outcome, Bahn said, "May the best man win."

The caucus agenda

n A temporary chairman opens the caucus, then an election is held for the permanent chairman. Generally, the temporary chair is elected, mainly because he or she has had training on how to run a caucus, said Mike Hodges, chairman of the Louisa County Republican Party. A secretary is also elected to record the actions taken at the meeting.

n Letters from candidates will be read or made available, as will nomination petitions for candidates. You will be encouraged, but not required, to sign the petitions. You may also be asked to complete surveys and you will have the opportunity to donate to the party.

n The main item for the evening is choosing a candidate. That's what happens at 7 p.m. The way this is done differs between Republicans and Democrats.

The Republican Party carries out a straw poll, either by handing out a list with the names of the declared candidates and asking caucus-goers to circle the name of the candidates they prefer. Or, they are given a blank piece of paper and asked to write in the name of their favorite candidate.

The Democratic Party uses a more complicated system. A mathematical process determines the viability of the preference group for each candidate. To be viable, a group needs to have 15 percent of the total participants at the caucus.

If there aren't enough people in a group to be viable, you can approach members of other preference groups and try to persuade them to join your candidate's group.

Results are tallied immediately and phoned in to the state party and are considered to be a good barometer of the composition of Iowa's national delegation.

"These votes are non-binding," Hodges said. "It could be compared to a popularity poll. When delegates go to the state conventions, that's when they choose their candidate preference."

n Delegates and alternate delegates to the county convention slated for Saturday, March 15, 2008, are nominated from the floor and elected. The number of delegates is determined by the number of votes cast in the previous general election.

The Muscatine County Republicans will elect 300 delegates and 150 alternates. The Louisa County Republican Party will be seeking 120 delegates and 60 alternates.

Muscatine County Democrats will seek 150 delegates and 75 alternates, while Louisa County Democrats will seek 50 delegates and 25 alternates.

The county conventions in turn elect delegates to district and state conventions, and those conventions choose delegates to attend the national conventions.

Also elected are committee persons to organize the county convention, and members of the party's County Central Committee, which takes care of party business through the following two years.

n Attendees also have the chance to discuss and adopt party platforms or goals. A platform committee will be chosen to organize the proposed platforms and those will be presented at the county convention. Platforms that are approved at the county level will then be presented at the district convention, then at the state and national levels.

Reporter contact information

Connie Street: 319-527-8164 [email-masked]

Auditor Info

Muscatine County

Leslie A. Soule, Auditor and Commissioner of Elections

Address: 414 E. Third St. Suite 201, Muscatine

Telephone: 563-263-5821

Fax: 563-263-7248

E-mail: [email-masked]

Office hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday

Louisa County

Sylvia Belzer, Auditor

Address: 117 S. Main St., Wapello

Telephone: 319-523-3371

Fax: 319-523-3713

E-mail: [email-masked]

Office hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday

Caucus doors open at 6:30 p.m. Doors close at 7 p.m., sharp.

Muscatine County

n Republican precincts:

Wapsie Township and the City of West Liberty will caucus at the West Liberty Community Center

All other precincts and townships in Muscatine County will gather at Muscatine High School

n Democratic precincts:

Muscatine 1 - School Board Office great room, 2900 Mulberry Ave.

Muscatine 2 - West Middle School media center

Muscatine 3 - Washington School gym

Muscatine 4 - Muscatine County Courthouse

Muscatine 5 - Central Middle School cafeteria

Muscatine 6 - Grant School gym

Muscatine 7 - Franklin School gym

Muscatine 8 - Garfield School gym

Muscatine 9 - Colorado School gym

Muscatine 10 - Madison School gym

Bloomington /Lake - Mulberry School gym

Cedar 76 - Township Hall

Fruitland 1 - Fruitland Community Building

Fruitland 2 - Fruitland Community Building

Fulton - Stockton City Hall

Goshen - Atalissa City Hall

Montpelier - Varner's Bed and Breakfast, 201 E. Second St.

Moscow/Wilton Township - Wilton Elementary School upper commons

Orono - Conesville City Hall

Pike - Nichols City Hall

Seventy-Six - 76 Township Hall

Sweetland - Little Theater, Strahan Hall, Muscatine Community College

Wapsie - West Liberty Community Center

West Liberty - West Liberty Community Center

Wilton - Wilton Elementary School gym

Louisa County

n Republican precincts:

Columbus Junction (City of Columbus Junction) and Concord-Oakland (Concord and Oakland townships and City of Fredonia) - Columbus Junction American Legion Hall

Eliot (Eliot Township and City of Oakville) - Oakville City Hall

Grandview-North Port Louisa (Grandview and North Port Louisa townships and cities of Grandview and Letts) -Louisa-Muscatine High School

Morning Sun- Marshall (City of Morning Sun and Marshall and Morning Sun townships) - Morning Sun American Legion Hall

Wapello City I, II and III - Briggs Civic Center

Wapello-Jefferson-South Port Louisa - Louisa County Courthouse

West Louisa (cities of Columbus City and Cotter and Elm Grove, Columbus City and Union townships) - Columbus City Masonic Lodge

n Democratic precincts:

Columbus Junction (City of Columbus Junction) -Roundy Elementary School library

Concord-Oakland (Concord and Oakland townships and City of Fredonia) - Roundy Elementary

Eliot (City of Oakville and Eliot Township) - Oakville Community Building

Grandview-North Port (cities of Grandview and Letts and Grandview and North Port Louisa townships) - Louisa-Muscatine High School gym

Morning Sun-Marshall (City of Morning Sun and Morning Sun and Marshall townships) - Morning Sun School cafeteria

Wapello (all wards) - Wapello High School band room

Wapello Township-Jefferson-South Port (Wapello, Jefferson and South Port Louisa townships) - Wapello High School library

West Louisa (cities of Columbus City and Cotter and Union, Columbus City and Elm Grove townships) - Columbus City City Hall

Democrats, Le Mars Daily Sentinel, 12-21

People not registered as a Democrat can participate in their precinct's Democratic Caucus. They must simply register as a Democrat the night of the caucus at the site. 

For Democrats, the evening begins at 6:30 p.m. with party business but the actual caucus doesn't begin until 7 p.m. 

At that point, everyone will be invited to separate themselves into groups based on which presidential candidate they want to support. 

"That's one thing about the caucus," said Jon Neunaber, the county Democratic chairman. "It's not a secret ballot. You actually have to declare that you're for this candidate." 

Candidate's groups must have a certain number of people in them -- called a "viability number." This number is determined based on how many people attend the precinct caucus. If groups fall below that, they have to disband and join the group supporting another candidate that does meet that limit. 

"The campaigns that are viable try to recruit those that aren't," Neunaber explained. "They try to convince them, 'This is how our candidate is just like yours.' There usually is at least one unhappy group." 

The narrowing process continues until all groups are viable and there is at least one precinct delegate for each viable group. The number of delegates differs from precinct to precinct. 

"We're allowed to take up to 30 minutes for this, but usually we're done in a few minutes," Neunaber said. 

Depending on the presidential candidate's group size, a number of the precinct's delegates are assigned to that candidate. For example, if 10 out of 40 people support Hillary Clinton at a precinct that has four delegates, one of those delegates will be assigned to support her. 

Once the delegates are assigned, the precincts call the numbers in to Neunaber, who will put them together and call them in to the state hotline. 

After those numbers are in, the caucus-goers will elect people to hold those delegate positions, plus a few alternates. These delegates will represent the precinct at the county convention on March 15, where a second caucus will be held. 

They'll also elect precinct committee people to serve on the county central committee. 

"If we were to have an opening for a state legislator race, the precinct people would meet to nominate that person," Neunaber said. In general, the central committee meets once a month. 

Electing three convention committee members per precinct is next. One of these committee members will be on the platform committee, and the other two will be in charge of things like arrangements, credentials and rules for the upcoming convention. 

All the elected representatives will then have to be ratified, or voted upon and approved, by the whole group in attendance. 

Finally, the caucus will switch focus to the local Democratic party's platform. 

People can submit proposed ideas for the party to stand by -- called platform "planks." 

"For example, take the bottle/can return law. It's been the way it has for 30 years," Neunaber said. "One platform plank might be to raise the handling fee from one cent to three cents." 

The party platform is the last item for the night. 

"Around here, caucuses take around an hour," Neunaber said. "I've heard legendary stories of caucuses that lasted until midnight, but I've never seen one." 

Caucusing, he said, is pretty easy. It's simple, it's short and it's free. And, he added, with Iowa hosting the first caucus in the U.S., it's good for Iowa. 

"Apartments get rented, offices get rented, restaurants get customers. It's an economic boost to Iowa," he said. "A good turnout will be crucial to have Iowa continue to have the first in the nation title." 

Democratic Caucus Sites for Plymouth County 

Precinct # I City of Akron, Portland Township 

Location: Akron-Westfield High School 

Precinct #2 Preston, Grant Townships 

Location: County Line Bar and Grill, Craig 

Precinct #3 Elgin, America Townships minus city limits of Le Mars 

Location: Lally's Eastside Restaurant, Le Mars 

Precinct #4 Johnson, Washington Townships 

Location: Legion Hall Bar Area, Brunsville 

Precinct #5 Fredonia, Meadow, Marion and Remsen Townships 

Location: Remsen-Union High School Commons 

Precinct #6 Westfield Township minus city limits of Akron, SIOUX 

Location: Westfield Congregational United Church Of Christ 

Precinct #7 Liberty, Plymouth and Stanton Townships 

Location: Merrill Civic Center 

Precinct 48 Hancock and Perry Townships 

Location: Perry Township Hall, 22500 C60, Hinton, IA, 51024. 

Precinct #9 Hungerford, Lincoln Townships 

Location: Hinton High School Library 

Precinct 4 10 Union, Henry, Elkhorn and Garfield Townships 

Location: Kingsley Community Center 

Precinct#11 Le Mars #1 

Location: Le Mars Community High School Commons 

Precinct # 12 Le Mars #2 

Location: Le Mars Community High School Little Theater 

Precinct #13 Le Mars #3 

Location: Le Mars Community High School Commons 

Note: The three LeMars Precincts will have a common entrance. Entrance A. 

 

Iowa Caucus 2008: A how-to guide, Le Mars Daily Sentinel, 12-21

By Magdalene Biesanz

On Jan. 3, Iowans have the chance to help decide who will run for our nation's president in 2008. The Iowa caucuses, both Democratic and Republican, are the first in the nation, and eligible voters can have a voice not only in nominating a presidential candidate, but also setting up the platform for their party. Here's how it works: 

Who: 

(Advertisement)

Anyone who will be 18 by Nov. 4 

You do not have to be registered for the party you will caucus with. But in order to caucus with a party, you must register that day on-site or already be registered with that party. 

When: 

Thursday, Jan. 3 

Democratic precincts - 6:30 p.m. 

Republican precincts - 7 p.m. 

Caucuses will likely last an hour or an hour and a half. 

Where: 

Location depends on your party and your precinct. See the lists. 

Why: 

To nominate a presidential candidate. 

To pick local leaders for the party for the year. 

To set up the party's platform, their core values and beliefs, for the county. 

What to bring: 

Driver's license (Republicans) 

Ideas for party platform 

Names and addresses of people who might serve as delegates 

.

LTE: Caucus buddy, Burlington Hawk Eye, 12-22

As we wrap up 2007, it gives us time to think about what awaits us in 2008. All of us in Iowa are aware we will have caucuses where we will have an impact on how the rest of the nation will react to presidential candidates. While it is somewhat frustrating at times to be inundated with presidential campaigns and commercials, we are viewed with envy by many other states. That was obvious by the constant moving of the caucuses to an earlier date to be first in the nation to have a voice. 

Hopefully you are making plans to be part of that voice by participating in your local caucus. If you have never attended a caucus, make plans now to let this be your first. Jan. 3 is the date. Look in your local newspaper for caucus precinct places to vote. Bring your neighbor or friends. Bring a caucus buddy.

CELINE SCHULTE

West Point

LTE: Iowa college students are Iowans, DM Register, 12-23

David Yepsen seems to believe that out-of-state college students would "taint" the Iowa caucuses if they returned to exercise their democratic right at the Jan. 3 caucuses ("Parties, Candidates Must Make Sure Caucuses Are Clean," Dec. 11 column).

As a sophomore at Drake University, I have been working hard to make Iowa my home. I pay rent, I volunteer at a local school and I support local businesses. For eight months of the year, I live in Iowa; I consider this state my home. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been to my hometown in the past months. Why should I vote where my parents live instead of where I live?

Students are an increasingly important part of the electorate. Asking tens of thousands of us not to vote simply because we may or may not leave the state for three months of the year is blatant disenfranchisement. Would we ask the same of a homeowner in Des Moines who vacations in Florida for the winter?

Our leaders should be trying to figure out how to engage young people directly in this upcoming election - by talking to us about the issues we care about, such as global warming and college affordability.

We are the future of this country, and we will be making the big decisions for our country in years to come. Don't stifle our voices and tell us we are not welcome in our own state.

As the race heats up, cool heads should prevail - let students have their voices be heard.

- Stacey Wilson, sophomore, Drake University, student leader, Rock the Caucus, Des Moines.

David Yepsen's repeated insinuations that out-of-state college students should go home to vote are irresponsible. If we want to solve our brain-drain problem, out-of-state students should be welcomed into every aspect of Iowa life, including our caucuses. Caucuses are a distinctly Iowa experience, and for some students, they could be the symbol of Iowa's community and pride in civic responsibility that makes them decide to stay.

It is difficult to imagine a more unwelcoming gesture than to have Iowa's most noted columnist tell them they should go home to vote. As students at the University of Iowa law school, one supporting Clinton, the other Obama, we find our out-of-state classmates excited about being in Iowa when we talk about the caucuses.

We should encourage all young people in Iowa to become civically engaged and invested in their communities, because the more they do, the more likely they are to stay. This issue isn't about politics. It is about what is best for our state.

- Rob Sand and Josh Mandelbaum, Iowa City.

III. Op-Eds and Editorials

Voter's voices, DM Register, 12-23

Should the candidates take a timeout from campaigning in deference to the Christmas holiday? What do you think the consequences will be if they do or do not?

It's unanimous: Give it - and us - a rest

Absolutely. The break would be a welcome relief from the volumes of horsefeathers being spewed out of each of them. It would be a miracle if they just shut up for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

- Wayne Dominowski, Republican, Sergeant Bluff.

Yes, candidates should take a timeout for the holidays. It is a time for family. The national problems can be picked up again on Dec. 26th.

- Mike Kennedy, Democrat, New Hampton.

I have been around all of the caucus campaigns since their inception and I have never witnessed such intensity among andidates, their staffs and supporters, nor as much frustration and mental fatigue among the citizenry. Let's all take the Christmas holidays off as a much-deserved reprieve from the hullabaloo of campaigning and refresh ourselves by celebrating the season. Perhaps the consequence of such a move would be to provide candidates and citizens alike the capacity to endure.

- Jim Wise, Independent, Des Moines.

Spending must be controlled, CR Gazette, 12-23

Rep. Ron Paul 

  An out-of-control federal government is the biggest problem confronting Iowans. They are joining other voters all over America in demanding a change.

  The federal government has long traveled two disastrous roads. First, Washington has pursued an interventionist foreign policy against the Founders' advice. Second, it has financed that and other extravagant expenditures with a fiat currency - money printed with its only backing being the promises of politicians that it is sound.

  Partisanship, political posturing and the failure of too many politicians to take seriously their oaths to the Constitution have stopped efforts to address these policies.

  Iowans know that our outof-control foreign policy is harming our national security. Our troops are spread all over the world, meaning we may have difficulty defending ourselves from threats. At the same time, our intelligence community tells us that our presence in Iraq is "rejuvenating" al-Qaida. Our policies damage our national security by serving as a recruiting tool for Osama bin Laden.

  While most Americans agree we should bring our troops home and out of harm's way, those who caution that leaving Iraq would be a disaster are the same "experts" who promised that it would be a "cakewalk." The lesson must be learned that we should never again go to war without a congressional declaration of war, as the Constitution requires.

  I would refocus the efforts of our intelligence services and military on locating those individuals who planned the terrorist attacks on the United States and who remain at large. It must be made clear that the United States cannot be attacked with impunity.

  As president, I would make securing our borders against a possible terrorist threat the top defense priority. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked.

  As off-track as our foreign policy is, it is ultimately the federal government's refusal to adopt a sound monetary policy that weighs most heavily on the backs of Iowans.

  Iowans feel this burden daily with rising costs at the pump, in the store and on mortgages. Meanwhile, government demands more of their money to continue these policies. The idea of an estate tax is especially an affront to our founding principles.

A plan to guarantee health care for all, CR Gazette, 12-23

By Hillary Clinton

When the next president takes office in January 2009, he or she will face challenges unlike any we've ever known: a war to end.

  An economy to revive. An energy crisis to solve. A homeland to secure.

  And a health care system in crisis. A system in which 47 million Americans are uninsured, and millions more are underinsured - they have health care, except when they need it most, and their insurance company refuses to pay. I hear their heartbreaking stories day af ter day out here in Iowa.

  I'm running for president because it's time for a new beginning on health care.

  That's why my health care plan doesn't just cover some Americans, or most Americans - but all Americans.

  Here's how it works: If you have private insurance you like, you keep that insurance - the only thing that changes is that your current coverage will become more affordable.

  But if you don't have health insurance - or don't like the insurance you have - you can choose from the same wide variety of private plans as members of Congress. And I'll ban insurance company discrimination, so people will never again be denied coverage because of preexisting conditions or other risk factors.

  Whatever plan you choose, your coverage will be guaranteed. Even if you lose your job. Even if you decide to start your own business, or stay home with your children for a few years. And you'll be able to take your plan with you as you move from job to job and state to state.

  Everyone will have a responsibility to get health insurance, and we'll provide tax credits to make sure everyone can afford it and tax credits to small businesses to cover more of their employees.

  I'm not new to this fight.

  As first lady, I fought for universal health care back when it was still considered a pretty radical idea. And I didn't give up when we didn't succeed. I helped create the State Children's Health Insurance Program to get health care for 6 million children. I won vaccinations for all our children and pediatric drug testing so kids could get the medicines they need. And I successfully pushed for mammograms to be covered under Medicare and for more funding for early cancer detection for all Americans.

  I continued my work on health care in the Senate, working to expand and improve health care for our veterans and troops, lower drug prices for our seniors, and help first-responders who got sick after Sept. 11.

  I know that insuring every American won't be easy.

  People have told me that Republicans and insurance companies would attack me for making my plan truly universal. Well, I wasn't afraid of the Republicans back in 1994, and I'm not afraid of them now. I'm not running to put a Band-Aid on this problem. I'm running to solve it.

  After eight years of incompetence, it's time for leadership that can get results. It's time for a president with the strength and experience to lead on day one. Someone who's beaten the Republicans and the special interests before - and will stand up and fight for our families every day in the White House. A president who doesn't just talk about change - but delivers.

  If you caucus for me Jan.

  3, I pledge to you that I will be that president.

  Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, is a U.S. senator from New York. Web site: www.

  hillaryclinton.com/

No. 1 duty: Protect nation from our enemies, CR Gazette, 12-23

By John McCain

As president, I would take all my responsibilities seriously and would work hard to secure the border, reform health care and entitlement programs, end reckless spending, keep taxes low and nominate judges who don't legislate from the bench. But I would have one responsibility above all that must be met from day one of my presidency and that is to protect the security of this great nation from all enemies. In particular, we must understand that we confront a lengthy struggle against Islamic extremism that will not be won quickly or easily. But we will win it.

  While our ultimate victory is not in doubt, the length and intensity of this struggle remain to be determined. It's up to us.

  We must recognize that our enemies are in this fight to win, and I assure you that I would employ all instruments of national power - military, intelligence, law enforcement, economic and political - to defend our nation and defeat them.

  Defeating radical Islamist extremists is the national security challenge of our time. At home, my administration will be fully prepared to deter, detect and respond to any attack. But we must stay on offense. The Sept. 11 attack highlighted a failure to adequately respond to a hostile global terror network.

  Before Sept. 11, al-Qaida was basically free to plan, train and conduct attacks from Afghanistan despite bombing U.S. embassies and attacking the USS Cole. As president, I will not allow such terrorist sanctuary. We must never again assume that the activities of extremists overseas do not impact our own security, which is why we must succeed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  But prevailing in this struggle will require more than military power. I would employ every tool possible to help moderate Muslims resist the well-financed campaign of extremism that is tearing their societies apart. I would also seek a Free Trade Area from Morocco to Afghanistan, open to all who do not sponsor terrorism.

  Secondly, I will act to break our dependency on foreign oil. Al-Qaida continues to plan attacks on oil facilities, hoping to skyrocket oil prices and nose dive the American economy.

  We cannot continue to enrich the foreign oil cartel and petro-dictators. In fact, some of our gas dollars flow to the very fanatics we are fighting. As president, I'll implement an energy strategy of diversification and conservation to break the dominance of oil in our transportation sector.

  For example, my agenda will include deploying more technologies to improve energy efficiency, developing alternative fuels, increasing electrical power generation from nuclear power and other sources and increasing domestic oil production in environmentally friendly ways.

  I also will push for a worldwide League of Democracies. It could act where the United Nations fails, principally because of the vetoes of autocratic states. The United Nations has proved to be ineffective in meeting the great challenges of our time. The league would not supplant the United Nations but would harness the political and moral advantages offered by united democratic action.

  Whether pressuring tyrants on human rights, uniting to impose sanctions on nations to stem nuclear proliferation, or supporting struggling democracies, the league would advance freedom and opportunity.

  As president, I would call a summit of the world's democracies in my first year - just as America led 60 years ago in creating the NATO alliance.

  John McCain, a Republican, is a U.S. senator from Arizona. Web site: www.explore mccain.com/

There's no U.S. military solution for Iraq, CR Gazette, 12-23

By Bill Richardson

Recently, I attended a funeral for Korean War veteran Clem Boody (Otterville), whose remains I was honored to bring back from North Korea. As such, I was unable to attend National Public Radio's Democratic forum. When I later read the transcript, however, I was shocked that there was almost no discussion of the single most important issue facing our county: Iraq.

  The conventional wisdom on Iraq is once again wrong.

  After three months of declining casualty rates, the Beltway consensus seems to be that Iraq is on a glide path to stability. The only problem with this rosy-eyed scenario is that it's not true.

  U.S. troops occupying Iraq for the long term would be a disaster for those troops, for Iraq itself and for American security around the world.

  It would lead to thousands of additional dead American soldiers; it would prevent Iraq from reaching a peaceful settlement; and it would continue to inflame Muslims around the world.

  Progress cannot be measured from body counts. I'm not sure who decided what an "acceptable" level of American troop deaths is, but 37 - the number who perished last month - is too many. After nearly five years of war, the only acceptable number is zero.

  Americans elected a Democratic Congress last year in order to end the war in Iraq. That has not happened.

  Some now say that we're finally turning a corner, and that the sacrifices of the few must continue for a few more years. And in the face of this sacrifice, other leading Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama, refuse to pledge to remove all troops from Iraq by 2013.

  We have heard this flawed reasoning before. From "Mission Accomplished" to "Last Throes," Americans have been told again and again that victory is just around the corner.

  Unfortunately, we have turned the corner so many times that we're walking in circles.

  Indeed, on nine previous occasions casualties have fallen three months in a row, and each time we were told that this represented a great step forward. On each of those nine occasions, however, casualties rose back to newer and more tragic levels.

  Washington insiders forget that the stated purpose of the surge was not to reduce violence mildly in certain parts of the country. It was to give Iraqi politicians the breathing room to effect real reconciliation. That has not happened.

  Iraq's Kurdish Deputy Prime Minister, Barham Salih, has flatly declared that "there will be no reconciliation. ... This is a struggle about power." Iraq's vice president and most influential Sunni politician, Tariq al-Hashemi, echoed these sentiments, stating: "There has been no significant progress for months." To truly reduce violence and pressure the Iraqis into making the hard choices necessary to create a functioning state, we must begin immediately to withdraw all of our forces.

  We face a choice. Our forces can stay for years, or even decades, trying to impose an outside resolution upon warring factions, having horrific months and less horrific months along the way. Or we can take the initiative to end this war now - by withdrawing all of our forces, and leaving no troops behind.

  The conventional wisdom on Iraq has been wrong every step of the way. It is wrong once more. There is no military solution to Iraq, and there can be no political solution while our military remains there. Until then, we can only look at the body counts that some tout as success, pray for our men and women overseas and work hard to change our leadership.

  Bill Richardson, a Democrat, is governor of New Mexico. Web site: www.

  richardsonforpresident.com/

Pause the PlayStation; focus on Iowa caucuses, CR Gazette, 12-23

This is one in a series of guest columns by Linn and Johnson county adult and student leaders involved in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.

What do Bill Richardson, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani have in common? Of course, they are all running for president, but more importantly, they have all made campaign stops at Coe College.

  These stops mean a lot to me.

  First of all, I have gotten to meet, shake hands and ask questions of people who may be the next president.

  Second, I hope this means that politicians are taking my generation seriously and that my generation is taking them seriously as well. The political apathy of my generation is disheartening. We don't understand that in numbers, we are a force that could demand significant attention.

  Unfortunately for some of us, playing PlayStation is a better use of our time than choosing our nation's leaders.

  When Obama visited campus, however, I was given hope.

  Students stood outside in line waiting for tickets, the theater was full, and those who didn't get in stayed outside and watched the event on a big-screen TV. Maybe people showed up because MTV was the host or because they got extra credit for a class, but, still, they went.

  Opportunities like this give students in Iowa exceptional access. Even though students were going for different reasons, they got to see a man who wants to be president, and maybe he inspired them. Maybe they fell in love and decided to caucus for him or maybe he upset them and they decided to caucus against him. I don't care; maybe they felt something!

  My friends and family who are into politics and live out of state send me jealous e-mails when I show them pictures of the candidates I've been meeting. They understand how important Iowa is in choosing the candidates for the next election.

  This important role that Iowa plays and my potential to be a part of shaping the outcome of national events has me excited.

  As the caucus nears, I'll continue to read the news and educate myself so I'm ready when the day comes. I'll be back at home in De Witt caucusing with my friends and family. I'll be looking to the guidance of family members who are veteran caucusgoers, and sharing the excitement with my friends who also are participating for the first time. I'm eagerly waiting to be in a room with people who care about democracy and share some of my political values.

  We will be a group doing what we think is important, what I think is important - exercising the right to select our future leaders. And if that opportunity isn't exciting, go back to your PlayStation.

  Mitchell Lincoln, 21, of De Witt, is a junior at Coe College, where he is president of the Coe College Democrats.

Poll-obsessed media focus on strategy over substance, CR Gazette, 12-23

By Peter Hart 

 Seattle Times 

With just a week and a half to go before the Iowa caucuses, polls are providing pundits and political junkies with fresh data to spin out a new round of the usual "who's up, who's down" campaign coverage. But while the press seems settled on a new narrative for the campaign, journalists should recall what the polls told them last time around about who would likely win the Iowa caucuses.

  The tone of coverage of the Democratic race seemed to shift when a Nov. 19 ABC/ Washington Post poll of likely caucusgoers showed a tight race among three candidates: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

  The difference from the previous survey was within the poll's margin of error, so the actual data said very little. Much of the media seemed to think otherwise. "The ground may be shifting," NBC anchor Brian Williams said. The Los Angeles Times called it "a shift in momentum in this crucial state" - in an article that boiled the race down to just two candidates, Clinton and Obama.

  The Washington Post's write-up was downright confusing - the Post mentioned the results were "only marginally different" from their poll several months earlier, yet nonetheless pointed to "significant signs of progress for Obama - and harbingers of concern for Clinton." On ABC, reporter Kate Snow mentioned something most of her colleagues seemed unconcerned with: the fact that these polls actually tell you very little about the outcome of the race. Snow recalled that "four years ago, John Kerry - who eventually was the Democratic nominee - he was polling in Iowa at 4 percent." Indeed, campaign reporters should all remember the lesson of the 2004 Iowa caucus. A little more than a month before Iowa Democrats actually caucused in January, the pollobsessed media had narrowed down the field to two "frontrunners": Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

  "Two see Iowa as crucial battleground," announced the Washington Post on Nov.

  29, 2003, billing the race as a "fight rich in substance and symbolism." A Nov. 9 Post report said that Dean was "for the first time, threatening to pull away from the pack," and even discussed his "opening for a quick-kill strategy" by winning Iowa and New Hampshire.

  The polling was presumably a key factor leading reporters to reach such conclusions. A December 2003 Pew poll of likely Iowa caucusgoers showed Dean leading the pack with 29 percent, followed by Gephardt at 21 percent.

  Kerry was in third with 18 percent, followed by John Edwards at 5 percent. A Zogby poll from around the same time had a closer race between Dean and Gephardt (26 to 22 percent), with Kerry and Edwards picking up 9 and 5 percent, respectively.

  And what happened when Iowa Democrats actually caucused? Kerry won with 37 percent, followed by Ed wards at 32 percent. "Frontrunners" Dean and Gephardt finished with 18 and 11 percent, respectively.

  The fundamental problem for the press - and for American democracy - is that the media's overreliance on polls encourages a kind of political conversation that prioritizes strategic consideration and tactics over substance.

  A recent study from the Project for Excellence in Journalism confirmed that much of what passes for campaign journalism focuses primarily on the tactical dimensions of the race (like poll results and fundraising) and not on the actual policy differences between the candidates.

  In a recent New York Times op-ed, former ABC News political director and current Time magazine editor-at-large Mark Halperin admitted that most political coverage is built around the notion that you can judge candidates' potential to be a good president based on how well they run their campaigns.

  Halperin admits he was "wrong" and suggests a change of course: Journalists "should examine a candidate's public record and full life as opposed to his or her campaign performance." What a concept. That's bad news, to say the least - and makes it hard to imagine journalists are going to change any time soon.

  Peter Hart is the activism coordinator at Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, www.

  fair.org , a media-watch group in New York. He wrote this for the Seattle Times.

Who elected Iowa?, CR Gazette, 12-23

IOWA CAUCUSES

KNOXVILLE, Iowa - It isn't until his seventh stop, almost two hours into his work on an icy Sunday afternoon, that James Ahn hits pay dirt, in the form of Jennie and Arvin Van Waardhuizen.

  Until recently, Ahn, a 31-year-old Columbia law school graduate, was working for a posh Boston law firm, structuring complex investment deals for venture capital funds.

  Today, computer printout in hand, he is trudging from house to house, seeking to explain to potential Hillary Clinton supporters a process that seems nearly as arcane: how to participate in the Iowa caucuses.

  The Iowa ground game is a game of centimeters.

  The universe of known caucusgoers is small and hotly contested: Just 122,000 Iowans participated in the 2004 Democratic caucuses.

  The victor this year will be the candidate who can lure more of those proven caucusgoers, or the one who succeeds in expanding the pool with new entrants.

  This is where Ahn comes in. The people on his printout have already been identified as Clinton prospects; his job is to seal the deal with these folks, who've never caucused before or haven't gone in years.

  So after a series of fruitless knocks at empty homes, after talking fast through a barely opened door to a woman whose commitment to Clinton - or to caucusing, for that matter - seems doubtful, Ahn has finally made it into the Van Waardhuizens' cozy living room, where Santa figurines line the mantel.

  Within minutes, Ahn has given his basic, don't-let-theprocess-scare-you spiel: Get there by 7, stand in Clinton's corner, make sure you're counted. He has jotted down that Arvin wants to see Bill Clinton and has delivered a requested yard sign.

  In a mass-media age, there is something charmingly anachronistic about the smalltown way presidential politics is practiced here. Iowa and New Hampshire are valuable in preserving the ability of voters, at least some voters, to get to know candidates as more than flickering images on a screen or talking heads in a televised debate.

  "This is our third followup visit since Hillary's come to town," says Jennie Van Waardhuizen, 55, who runs her parents' small manufacturing plant. "I got an e-mail from Hillary," offers Arvin, 60, an Air Force veteran.

  And yet, to join Ahn on his appointed rounds is also to reinforce doubts about a system of irrationality layered on irrationality.

  The caucuses draw a small, unrepresentative sample of a small, unrepresentative state. While nearly 30 percent of eligible voters participated in the 2004 New Hampshire primary, just 6 percent went to the Iowa caucuses, according to data compiled by George Mason University professor Michael McDonald. The 2000 turnout figures were even more skewed, 44 percent in New Hampshire compared with 7 percent in Iowa.

  This year's outreach may boost those numbers, but most Iowans view the caucuses as an obscure art practiced by an elect few.

  "Usually I don't go, because I'm afraid I'm going to get there and feel like a dummy," one man on Ahn's list confides.

  Candidates spend enormous sums - it could be as high as $20 million - to win this handful of votes. John Norris, the organizing guru who helped propel John Kerry to his 2004 victory here and is advising Obama, estimates that the top candidates will spend around $400 per caucus vote.

  All for a result whose significance resides largely in the fact that it is deemed significant. Political reporters, myself included, get misty over the notion of neighbors gathering on a cold winter night to hash out differences over who is the best candidate. But the caucus process also serves to disenfranchise - those who would rather not state preferences publicly or those who can't make it at the assigned hour. The bizarre rules of the Democratic contest further distort the results. Why should the final outcome depend on how those losing campaigns decide where to throw their backing when, in caucus-speak, nonviable preference groups realign for a second round?

  No wonder the caucus process makes ordinary people's heads hurt.

  Why should some votes - in precincts that had a good turnout in the last election, in rural areas - get more weight than others? Why aren't the raw numbers - how many voters supported which candidates - made available?

  And perhaps the most important question: Given all this, why do we in the media invest the caucuses with such make-or-break significance?

  Ruth Marcus is a member of the Washington Post's editorial page staff. 

 The caucuses draw a small, unrepresentative sample of a small, unrepresentative state.

  While nearly 30 percent of eligible voters participated in the 2004 New Hampshire primary, just 6 percent went to the Iowa caucuses.

The '70s live on in the '08 race through Arkansas connection, Omaha World Herald, 12-23

In a political season that has become like "That '70s Show," a Richard Nixon revival infects both parties' primaries. Even Spiro Agnew - Nixon's Nixon- is being reprised.

  Hillary Clinton attacks Barack Obama by recycling a slogan Nixon used in 1960 against John F. Kennedy: "Experience Counts." But is it prudent of her to invite remembrances of things past? She had two experiences of wielding power regarding important matters for her husband's administration. One concerned the selection of his first, second and third choices to be attorney general - all in just 50 days. The decisive criterion would be chromosomes: The attorney general had to be a woman.

  The first selection, Zoe Baird, crashed because a slipshod selection process did not discover that she and her husband had employed two illegal immigrants as domestic help and had not paid Social Security taxes.

  Then Kimba Wood failed because she once hired an illegal immigrant before such hiring was itself illegal, a nonoffense magnified by the Baird debacle.

  The third choice was Janet Reno, whose eight-year tenure was notable for three things. One was the botched assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in which 86 people died, 17 of them children the assault was supposed to rescue.

  Another was seizing, at gunpoint, 6-year-old Elian Gonzales from his Miami relatives and deporting him to Fidel Castro's Cuba, from which he and his mother had fled in an escape in which she drowned.

  The third was the optional appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the Whitewater land deal, an investigation that led to Paula Jones. When Hillary Clinton adamantly opposed a financial settlement with her, the investigation meandered to Monica Lewinsky and impeachment.

  The second of Hillary Clinton's important experiences was the drafting, in secret, of a national health care plan. It was so dauntingly baroque and ominously statist that a Congress controlled by her party would not bring it to avote.

  Her experiences that should matter most to primary voters reveal consistently bad judgment. Her campaign's behavior radiates bad character.

  Mark Penn, a senior campaign official, served as her Agnew after Bill Shaheen, co-chairman of her national campaign, made a Nixonian observation. Nixon specialized in mock-solemn tropes such as "It would be wrong to say" this or that, thereby getting this or that into the political conversation.

  Shaheen theatrically worried that if Obama, who in a book published 12 years ago acknowledged using drugs as a teenager, is nominated, Republicans will ask him when he last used drugs and if he ever gave or sold them to others.

  Penn then kept the story bubbling by talking about how uninterested the Clinton campaign is in talking about it: "The issue related to cocaine use is not something that the campaign was in any way raising."

  On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee's role in the '70s Show involves blending Jimmy Carter's ostentatious piety with Nixon's knack for oblique nastiness.

  "Despicable" and "appalling" evidence of a "gutter campaign" - that is how The Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, Mass., characterized this from a recent New York Times Magazine profile of Huckabee: " 'Don't Mormons,' he asked in an innocent voice, 'believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?' " Imagine someone asking "in an innocent voice" this: "Don't Jews use the blood of Gentile children to make matzoth for Passover?" Such a smarmy injection of the "blood libel," an ancient canard of anti-Semitism, into civic discourse would indelibly brand the injector as a bigot with contempt for the public's ability to decode bigotry.

  Huckabee's campaign actually is what Rudy Giuliani's candidacy is misdescribed as being- a comprehensive apostasy against core Republican beliefs.

  Giuliani departs from recent Republican stances regarding two issues - abortion and the recognition by the law of samesex couples. Huckabee's radical candidacy broadly repudiates core Republican policies such as free trade, low taxes, the essential legitimacy of America's corporate entities and the market system allocating wealth and opportunity.

  And consider New Hampshire's chapter of the National Education Association, the teachers union that is a crucial component of the Democratic Party's base.

  In 2004, New Hampshire's chapter endorsed Howard Dean in the Democratic primary and no one in the Republican primary. Last week it endorsed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary - and Huckabee in the Republican primary. It likes, as public employees generally do, his record of tax increases, and it applauds his opposition to school choice.

  Huckabee's role in this year's '70s Show is not merely to attempt to revise a few Republican beliefs. He represents wholesale repudiation of what came after the 1970s -Reaganism.

OP-ED: Obama, Romney best tap into America's desire for change, Sioux City Journal,12-23

Last weekend, the Journal published the results of a poll of Iowans done for all Lee Enterprises newspapers in the state, including us. Although Republicans, Democrats and Independents who responded to the poll differed in terms of how they prioritized issues, they shared an unhappiness with Washington. They all gave President Bush and the Democratic-led Congress approval ratings in the 20s.

It's clear people in this state want change. In that regard, we don't think Iowans are any different from anyone else in the country.

Americans, it seems, want a new face, a different voice. They want vision. They want someone to inspire and lead them. They want someone who will unite them. They want a positive, issue-oriented campaign. They want less poisonous partisanship and more cooperation in finding solutions to our challenges.

This election for president provides an opportunity for them to get exactly that. For the first time since 1952, no incumbent president or vice president is seeking the White House.

Over several months, we have interviewed, studied, watched and listened to candidates for president from both major political parties. Today we offer our opinion on who among the Democrats and who among the Republicans best combines a new face and voice; a strong vision; integrity and the potential for running a positive, issue-oriented general election campaign, and an ability to lead, motivate and forge consensus.

We understand Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are different men who possess different ideas and approaches. We neither agree nor disagree with either of them on all the issues facing our country.

We do, however, believe the Illinois senator and the former Massachusetts governor share a unique ability to tap into that need for change which most Iowans and Americans appear to want.

The country would be well-served by a contest between them.

OP-ED: Obama vs. Romney, Sioux City Journal, 12-23
'A common good and a higher interest' 

The morning of Jan. 20, 1961, dawned under a bright sky. Despite a heavy snow, the blinding sun's reflection forced poet Robert Frost, 86, to put aside the copy of the inaugural poem he had prepared and instead recite from memory "A Gift Outright."

The poem set aside soared, and John F. Kennedy epitomized Frost's "young ambition eager to be tried," delivering one of our finest political speeches.

This is not 1961.

There are striking parallels, however, between the landscape our country faced then and today, representing a challenge few generations are charged with answering, and "the trumpet summons us again."

Barack Obama is the Democratic candidate who best understands this critical moment in our nation's history. He is equipped to bring a fractured people together and possesses the gifts to move us forward, united with a common mission, ready to answer that call.

That is why we are endorsing the U.S. senator from Illinois in the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses.

Obama is a gifted orator. Yet, his skills extend beyond the stage of political theater. He has demonstrated a deep understanding of the challenges, home and abroad, our next president must confront. His record in Congress and the Illinois state senate indicates he has the ability to reach out to Republicans and Independents to identify sound, bipartisan solutions and take on special interests.

Obama's domestic priorities are similar to those of many of his opponents in the Democratic field. That doesn't mean he fits neatly into the traditional liberal mold.

His health care plan, for instance, is the only Democratic plan that does not require that all Americans have health insurance, only access. He supports merit pay for teachers, something that doesn't sit well with one of the party's key union supporters. The Obama energy plan includes a sensible cap on carbon emissions without sacrificing his demand for "big" rather than incremental change.

Obama's lack of experience is most notable in the realm of foreign policy. His assertion, however, that experience can't match sound judgment has merit. Obama opposed the war in Iraq early, predicting a scenario that closely resembles the situation today. Now, he understands the complexities prohibiting immediate withdrawal. Instead, he has called for a phased, responsible withdrawal that may not be completed until 2010.

He's been a hawk on the war on terror, criticizing the Bush administration for its failure to find Osama bin Laden and other key al-Qaeda leaders. There is no negotiating with these "hard-core jihadists," Obama maintains, "all we can do is hunt them down." He won't, however, abandon diplomatic efforts abroad and maintains we must enhance our image elsewhere in the world.

Still, Obama has been wise to surround himself with an impressive group of foreign policy advisers. A running mate with a strong foreign policy track record would be the perfect complement. If nominated, we recommend Obama consider one of his competitors n U.S. Sen. Joe Biden. An Obama-Biden ticket would offer an intriguing mix of fresh ideas and measurable achievement.

The experience of a respected politician like Biden can certainly be a blessing. Too often, however, beltway experience manifests itself in a political culture Obama describes as settling for "the constraints of the past."

The great hope embodied by a candidate like Obama is the promise of a new path. He has little patience for the "that's-just-the-way-it-is" mentality of Washington, D.C. It's a culture that increasingly relies on polling and special interests to guide policy and measures success by political points scored. Instead, Obama speaks of a change harkening back to moments in our nation's history when we shared "a common good and a higher interest. That's the change I'm looking for."

It's the kind of change America appears eager for. 

Opinion: Caucus 2008: Our Endorsements, Daily Iowan, 12-23

DEMOCRAT: Sen. Barack Obama 

From the start, Obama was viewed as charismatic but lacking in substance. Now, fewer than two weeks from our state caucuses, this is no longer the case. Obama's commanding oratorical abilities should not distract voters from his policy proposals, objectives that outline a return of "united" to the United States. We believe his judgment and ideas are the best fit, not just for a party but for a people. We believe Obama represents the best of our polity and a better future for our nation, which is why he is receiving The Daily Iowan's endorsement. 

REPUBLICAN: John McCain 

John McCain was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 after spending four years in the House of Representatives. A U.S. Navy veteran, McCain was captured while serving in Vietnam and spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. The Arizona senator has succeeded in two careers: as a courageous naval aviator who defended our country in war and a longtime civil servant. These accolades make him the most qualified Republican presidential-nomination candidate, and The Daily Iowan endorses McCain's candidacy. 

Guest Columnist: A plan to end the war, Council Bluffs Nonpareil, 12-22

One of the most important responsibilities of the next president is to restore the trust relationship between the president of the United States and the rest of the world. The war in Iraq has badly damaged our reputation in the world, decreased our national security and increased terrorism worldwide.

The world desperately needs America to show moral leadership again, but moral leadership is based on truth. America's leaders must tell the truth. I voted for this war, and I was wrong. I take responsibility for that vote. Now every American, including myself, who believes this war is wrong must make our voices heard loud and clear: It is time to end this war.

Unfortunately, President Bush refuses to level with the American people and admit his strategy in Iraq is not working. Earlier this year, instead of implementing a plan to bring about real change in Iraq, President Bush decided to escalate the war. And now Defense Secretary Robert Gates has proposed leaving our troops in Iraq for another decade in a "Korea-like" model. The actions of the Bush administration are wrong for Iraq and wrong for America. Our brave men and women in uniform have served heroically, and now it is time to bring them home to the heroes' welcome they deserve.

If President Bush won't end this war, then Congress must use its power and force him to end it.

We don't need more debate and non-binding resolutions to end this war - we need Congress to force a change of course. Congress needs to stand firm against the president and use their constitutional funding power and send the president a funding bill that stops the surge and implements a timetable for withdrawal. And if the president vetoes that bill, they should send it back to him, again and again, as many times as it takes for him to finally get the message. Congress has the power to end this war. They should use it now.

The American people deserve to know where I stand on the important challenges facing our nation, especially the war in Iraq. More than a year ago, I proposed a specific plan to end the war. I would immediately draw down 40,000 to 50,000 combat troops, require a complete withdrawal of combat troops within nine to 10 months and prohibit permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. After withdrawal, we should retain sufficient forces in Quick Reaction Forces located outside Iraq, in friendly countries like Kuwait, to prevent an Al Qaeda safe haven, a genocide or regional spillover of a civil war.

Additionally, Congress should prohibit funding to deploy any new troops to Iraq that do not meet real readiness standards. American tax dollars should be used to train and equip our troops, instead of escalating the war. It is disgraceful to send our brave men and women of the military into harm's way without the training and equipment they need.

Congress should also make it clear that President Bush is conducting this war without authorization. The 2002 authorization did not give President Bush the power to use U.S. troops to police a civil war. President Bush exceeded his authority long ago and now needs to end the war and ask Congress for new authority to manage the withdrawal of the U.S. military presence and to help Iraq achieve stability.

A stable Iraq should be a priority not just for the United States but also for the entire world. We must intensify our efforts to train the Iraqi security forces and step up our diplomatic efforts by engaging in direct talks with all the nations in the region, including Iran and Syria. The United States should convene a peace conference with the regional powers to discuss how all parties can work to bring about a peaceful and prosperous Iraq.

It is time for the Iraqi leaders to take responsibility for their country. We must show them that we are serious about leaving, and the best way to do that is to actually start to leave. 

The deteriorating situation in Iraq will only be resolved when the factions in Iraq engage in the search for a political solution that will end the sectarian violence and create a stable Iraq.

All of us who know this war is wrong have an obligation to speak out and tell Congress to bring our brave men and women home. Our silence enables this president to continue the war; our voices can bring it to an end.

- John Edwards is a Democratic candidate for president. 

 

Columnist: People's Business: Looking for a sure thing? Look elsewhere, Ames Tribune, 12-22

By: Charlotte Eby 

12/22/2007

Updated 12/21/2007 07:19:05 PM CST

Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendly

The one thing that's a sure bet is that nothing's a sure bet on caucus night. 

 

The Republican campaign is in flux, and it's hard to predict who will pull out a win on Jan. 3.

Although Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, has enjoyed a meteoric rise in Iowa, he could be in for a tough finale. 

His shoestring campaign might have difficulty capitalizing on his popularity in the Iowa caucuses, where organization and getting supporters to the caucus matters as much as message. 

Huckabee, who has led in recent polls, has been attacked from all sides on questions about his foreign policy experience and his record as governor. 

Rival Mitt Romney has been relentless in his criticisms of Huckabee's record on crime, pointing to commutations Huckabee granted to convicted criminals in Arkansas.

Huckabee took on the question of commutations head-on during an Iowa appearance. He said of 8,700 commutation requests he received during his time as governor, he denied 90 percent. 

But he highlighted a few that he was proud of granting. He talked of a 25-year-old who wanted to attend culinary school but had the black mark of joy-riding in a stolen car as an 18-year-old in his record. 

Huckabee said it was the right thing to do to grant him a clemency and give him a second chance. 

He also granted commutations to single moms who couldn't get a job in a nursing home years later after writing a "hot" check. 

Huckabee bashed Romney's decision not to grant clemency to a man who wanted to be a police officer but had shot someone with a BB gun when he was 13 years old, not even breaking the skin.

Huckabee said the best political decision is to deny every application.

"I think we ought to make decisions on what's best for the future of a young man, not what's best for the future of somebody who wants to run for a future office," Huckabee said. 

Polls show Romney, who once held a lead in Iowa, still coming in a close second. Romney packed a hotel ballroom with nearly 1,500 revelers for his Christmas party Wednesday night in West Des Moines.

Romney has one thing Huckabee lacks - a strong campaign organization that knows how to turn out supporters. They flexed that muscle in August at the GOP straw poll in Ames, busing in supporters from around the state who handed Romney a win. 

But don't call it a two-person race just yet. 

Fred Thompson has been trying to wrangle interest in his campaign by spending time in Iowa, although to less-than-stellar reviews. 

He's been labeled as a lazy, unenthusiastic campaigner, and it is starting to stick. 

Thompson has still managed to land the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Steve King, the king of right-wing true believers in Iowa. 

John McCain, riding a new wave of momentum after an impressive string of newspaper endorsements, is trying to breathe new life into his sagging campaign. 

But he's doing that in New Hampshire, not Iowa, where he hasn't shown his face much in recent months.

McCain isn't the only candidate running a drive-by campaign in Iowa. 

Public schedules for Rudy Giuliani don't show him making a stop in Iowa on his latest 10-day campaign stretch. His scattershot approach has him stopping in Missouri, hardly an influential primary state, but not crossing the border to meet voters in Iowa.

The X-factor this year could be Ron Paul if he can encourage his backers to log off their computers long enough to head to the caucuses. 

Even without a strong campaign structure in Iowa, Paul was able to surprise many by snagging fifth place at the GOP straw poll in Ames. 

And everybody likes a surprise on caucus night. 

Charlotte Eby is a reporter for the Lee Enterprises Des Moines bureau. She can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or [email-masked].

Christopher Chase
Press Assistant
Iowans for Hillary -- Hillary Clinton for President
715 E. 2nd Street
Des Moines, IA 50309
[email-masked]

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