Democratic rivals rap Clinton in debate

Democratic presidential hopefuls Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., left, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., take the stage before a debate at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief Democratic rivals, concerned about her growing lead in the polls, criticized her candor and consistency Tuesday in a televised debate that promised more fireworks than earlier presidential forums.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama began immediately, saying Clinton has changed her positions on the NAFTA trade pact, torture policies and the Iraq war. Leadership, he said, does not mean "changing positions whenever it's politically convenient."

Former Sen. John Edwards chimed in, saying Clinton "defends a broken system that's corrupt in Washington, D.C." He stood by his earlier claim that she has engaged in "doubletalk."

Clinton shrugged off the remarks, saying she has been the focus of Republican candidates' "conversations and consternation" because she is leading in the polls.

She said she has specific plans on Social Security, diplomacy and health care.

"I have been standing against the Republicans, George Bush and Dick Cheney," she said, "and I will continue to do so, and I think Democrats know that."

Regarding Iran, Clinton said, "I want to prevent a rush to war."

It was the Democrats' first debate in a month, and during that time Clinton has solidified her position as the front-runner, gaining in polls, taking the lead in fundraising and dominating the agenda.

Obama has criticized her for failing to explain how she would save Social Security and for a vote on Iran. Edwards has turned to questions of honesty and integrity, areas where polling shows voters are divided on Clinton.

The Clinton campaign on Tuesday posted videos of Obama and Edwards in the past saying they would campaign on hope, not tearing down their opponents, next to news reports of their criticisms of her.

Candidates participating in the debate were Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich. Debate organizers excluded former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel on grounds that he did not meet fundraising and polling thresholds.

Before the debate, the senators in the race said they would oppose Michael Mukasey's confirmation as attorney general because he would not say that an interrogation technique called waterboarding amounts to torture.

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS....AND SOME MORE OF THAT

I am glad to see a convicted felon is having his moment of fame with Clinton foes score new YouTube hit
....................the "swift boat" liars are back at it again too helping with this production........hopefully this time Americans will not be fooled by this republican trash..........it is amazing how much time and effort these idiots are spending on anti-Hillary stuff........what are they really for??? and here is some bad news for Obama Similarities to Clinton land Obama in a tough spot they share alot of the same views....despite the Obama campagin rhetoric......

"Part of Obama's problem, analysts say, is that despite how hard his campaign is working to highlight its differences - he is vowing again this week to take her on more directly - he and Clinton are simply not far apart on major issues.

"It's Wal-Mart and Kmart - they're occupying the same space," said Benjamin Ginsberg, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore." .......meanwhile Bill is on the road again................

Bill Clinton Rallies SC Crowd he still has it....and bill is Hillary's number one campaign weapon against the republicans......................and out of the mouth of babe's ..comes this.... Romney Says Giuliani's Support Will Fade ...........

"At some point, the former Massachusetts governor said, the party's conservative base will coalesce around a single candidate, making it tougher for Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City.

"Those of us who represent that base will find that we can get that support and ultimately face up one-to-one with Mayor Giuliani," Romney said. "At that point he'll have a more challenging time because I do not believe the Republican Party is going to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House by acting like Hillary Clinton." perfect!!!!!!!!!! because America has just about had enough of this right wing theocracy....putting the mantle of God and religion on a very conservative right wing agenda................and finally.....the republicans have to literally raise the dead to attack the Clintons....what total trash...........

Ford's words from the grave to haunt 'sex-addict' Clinton

it must be Halloween......another republican trick.....................andy

Desperate times...call for desperate speeches......both campaigns are in trouble and they know it....they sound like it.....democrats are famous for this...ripping each other apart...too bad....andy

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October 30, 2007 NY TIMES

Rivals Go After Clinton Over Social Security and Donations

By CHRISTINE HAUSER

CONCORD, N.H., Oct. 29 — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton came under pointed attack Monday by her two main rivals for the Democratic nomination, who said she was not being direct on Social Security and also suggested she was too cozy with Washington lobbyists.

The rivals, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, in campaign appearances in Iowa and here, took on Mrs. Clinton by name, escalating their attacks on her a day before they were to share a stage at the Democratic debate in Philadelphia.

Mr. Obama, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said Mrs. Clinton had evaded a direct answer on the politically delicate question of how to strengthen Social Security.

“You might remember this came up at the last presidential debate,” Mr. Obama said. “And when Senator Clinton was asked about it, she wouldn’t say what she thinks we should do. And the other day, here in Iowa, she skipped another chance to give a direct answer on this.”

Mr. Obama has said the issue of the long-term solvency of Social Security needs to be addressed, and he has proposed having high-income earners pay more in taxes to the program.

“She’s not alone in ducking the issue, of course,” Mr. Obama said, according to a transcript of his remarks included in a campaign statement. “Because conventional thinking in Washington says Social Security is the third rail of American politics. It says you should hedge, dodge and spin, but at all costs, don’t answer.”

Mr. Obama said in a recent interview with The New York Times that he would start confronting Mrs. Clinton more forcefully, after concerns from supporters that he was not challenging her assertively enough.

A spokesman for the Clinton campaign, Phil Singer, said, “Senator Clinton has been clear about her position on Social Security.” She opposes privatizing it, Mr. Singer said, and if elected will work with Congress to develop long-term solutions.

Mrs. Clinton also found herself in the cross hairs of Mr. Edwards, who, fresh from registering in the New Hampshire primary, cited her fund-raising as reflective of a poisoned ethical culture of a Washington dominated by lobbyists.

Pointing to a $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser in Washington that Mrs. Clinton had with domestic security lobbyists and contractors, he said, “Senator Clinton’s road to the middle class takes a major detour right through the deep canyon of corporate lobbyists and the hidden bidding of K Street in Washington.”

“When I asked Hillary Clinton to join me in not taking money from Washington lobbyists — she refused,” he said, “not only did she say that she would continue to take their money, she defended them.”

Mr. Singer, the Clinton spokesman, said, “If John Edwards is so concerned about the influence of special interests, he should give back the hundreds of thousands of dollars he’s taken from health care, securities and insurance companies.”

Mr. Edwards was in New Hampshire registering for the primary along with several other candidates, including former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who announced his endorsement by Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire.

Fred D. Thompson also registered for the primary and tried to dispel suggestions that he was not focused on winning the state. Mr. Thompson said the demands of a national campaign had prevented him from spending more time here. “You have to travel around the country a lot,” he said “But we are doing that. It’s all a part of the big picture. The name of the game is to win the primaries. And New Hampshire is a very important part of that.”

FOX News Poll: Large Democratic Base Lifts Perceptions of Clinton

Thursday , October 25, 2007

By Dana Blanto

Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton is at the top of voters’ minds. More people are familiar with Clinton and her positions on the issues than any other candidate, she is the most mentioned when people are asked who they would want in the White House in the event of a national crisis and she is also the candidate seen as having the most passion and enthusiasm to be president.

In addition, Clinton and Rudy Giuliani maintain their front-runner status, and both are seen as the best spokesperson for their respective parties.

In the Democratic contest, Clinton has a 17-percentage point advantage over Obama, leading 42 percent to 25 percent; Edwards comes in third with 13 percent.

Click here to view the full results of the poll. (pdf)

Earlier in the month, Clinton had a 32-point edge over Obama (Oct. 9-10); the current results are more in line with where the race stood last month when Clinton was up by 19 points (Sept. 11-12).

“All the talk of Clinton’s ‘inevitability’ over the past few weeks may have pushed some Democrats away,” comments Opinion Dynamics CEO John Gorman. “With the first voting still more than two months away, voters want to have a say in the choice. They may end up voting for Clinton, but they don’t like hearing that she’s already won.”

The top three candidates remain the same on Republican side: Giuliani leads with 31 percent, followed by Fred Thompson at 17 percent and John McCain at 12 percent. Mitt Romney is currently at 7 percent and Mike Huckabee who captures 5 percent.

“The Huckabee ‘boomlet’ is still small,” comments Gorman. “But is significant that he is statistically tied with Romney who has spent oceans of money — much of it from his personal fortune — and doesn’t seem to be getting much traction.”

The national telephone poll was conducted for FOX News by Opinion Dynamics Corp. among 900 registered voters from Oct. 23-24. The poll has a 3-point error margin.

The candidates have been sparring about which one best speaks for their party, spurred, at least in part, by Romney’s recent comment that his experience and values represented the “Republican wing of the Republican Party.”

What do Republicans think? They say Giuliani (24 percent), McCain (18 percent) and Thompson (12 percent) are the top three candidates who speak “most clearly” for what their party believes, although 25 percent of Republicans are unsure. Romney (8 percent) comes in fourth ahead of Mike Huckabee (6 percent).

For Democrats, 43 percent Clinton best represents their party -- more than twice as many as think one of the other candidates does; one of five Democrats says Obama (20 percent) speaks most clearly for the party, followed by Edwards with 11 percent.

Fire in the Belly

More people think Clinton (35 percent) has “the most passion and enthusiasm for wanting to be president” than any other candidate from either party; she’s followed by Obama (18 percent) and Giuliani comes in third (10 percent). No other candidate receives mentions in the double digits.

Among Democrats, more see Clinton as having fire in the belly, as 44 percent say they think she has the most passion to be president, which is nearly twice as many as think Obama does (24 percent). Republicans also think Clinton (28 percent) has the most enthusiasm for the presidency, followed by Giuliani (18 percent) and then Obama (10 percent).

Handling a Crisis

If the United States were in a crisis, a 23 percent plurality of voters say they would want Clinton in the White House, followed by Giuliani at 19 percent, McCain at 11 percent and Obama at 9 percent.

Not surprisingly, Democrats are most likely to pick their front-runner and say they would want Clinton as president and Republicans are equally likely to pick their front-runner Giuliani. What about swing voters? Among self-described independents, 22 percent would want Clinton in the White House, 17 percent McCain and 12 percent Giuliani.

Candidate Attributes

In the upcoming presidential election, voters say the top attributes in deciding their vote will be for the candidate to be “a strong leader” (24 percent), someone who “can bring about change” (22 percent) and someone who “shares my values” (11 percent).

For Republicans, voting for a strong leader (26 percent) is the most important trait, although several other qualities are also important in making a selection, including for the candidate to “share my values” (15 percent), “be personally moral” (15 percent), have “clear stands on the issues” (13 percent) and have the ability to “bring about change” (12 percent).

The priorities for Democrats are slightly different: “can bring about change” (25 percent) is first, narrowly edging “strong leader” (24 percent). These are followed by followed by “shares my values” (10 percent) and “has the right experience” (9 percent).

THE NOTE: A Kinder, Gentler Hillary

THE NOTE: A Kinder, Gentler Hillary

Tongue-Tied: On a day filled with gaffes and flubs, a remade Hillary Clinton continues to emerge

By RICK KLEIN with NANCY FLORES

October 24, 2007 —

Sometimes politicians say things that sound like gaffes and are. (Ask Mitt Romney.)

Sometimes they say things that sound like gaffes but aren't. (Right, John McCain?)

Sometimes they send things out with typos that are hyped into being gaffes. (Was Barack Obama's mailing was a rush rush job job?)

Sometimes candidates shamelessly pander and hope that Yankee fans chalk it up to a gaffe. (Now you're an American League fan? Seriously, Rudy, how could you?)

And sometimes their spouses do the talking for them -- and there may or may not be gaffes involved when you get them going. (Let's let Elizabeth Edwards speak) for the entire political class: "If it ended up on the front page of Drudge, I didn't say it right."

But when you get a candidate talking about his or her spouse, some things that sound like possible gaffes aren't. In the case of the scripted candidacy of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., where little is left for chance, the actual gaffes are few and far between. So when Clinton told Essence magazine that her husband is "so romantic" -- "He's always bringing me back things from his trips" -- it's a good bet that a larger strategy was at work.

Bill Clinton bought her a Chanel watch because the white cubes reminded him of her teeth? That's just weird enough to actually happen in a real-life marriage. And this is Clinton as we've rarely seen her before: "I never doubted that it was a marriage worth investing in even in the midst of those challenges and I'm really happy that I made that decision. Again, not a decision for everybody. And I think it's so important for women to stand up for the right of women to make a decision that is best for them."

It's another step in the great softening of Hillary Clinton. She has never been the touch-feely emotional type, and she isn't now, either. But she's reaching out to female voters, and marveling at how much attention a 60-year-old woman (OK, 50-something for two more days) is getting from all these men. Her pollster is predicting a seismic shift in voting patterns if a woman is nominated. She talked recently about her struggles as a young working mother, as she learned to master the basics of parenting while pursuing her legal career.

Clinton has her gaffes, too. As ABC's Jake Tapper asks, did she really intend to dis Mississippi? (Some in Mississippi think so.)

But this kinder, gentler Clinton on the trail appears to be having an impact on perceptions many thought were too baked in by 15 years of the public spotlight to melt during a campaign. "Clinton has neutralized the political fallout from some of the most difficult moments of her eight years as first lady, with Democratic voters looking favorably on her failed effort to revamp healthcare and either supporting or having no opinion of her decision to remain loyal to an unfaithful husband," Peter Wallsten and Janet Hook write in the Los Angeles Times.

She's up 15 points since June in the Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll, while Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has dropped 5. That's another 30-point advantage in a national poll for Clinton, who is running up scores like the old Chicago Bulls.

"Nearly two-thirds of Democrats and nearly half of all voters say Hillary Clinton's famously unsuccessful effort in the 1990s to provide health coverage for all Americans makes her better able now to deal with healthcare as president," Wallsten and Hook write. "And 42% of Democrats agreed it was the 'right thing' for Hillary Clinton to stick with her husband after his affair with a White House intern, compared with 5% who said it was the wrong choice."

Clinton is relying on her husband's old team every step of the way. Newsweek's Howard Fineman reports that she's set to receive the endorsement of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

"And so the Clinton Family Machine grinds on," Fineman writes. "Lord knows Hillary's campaign could still implode . . . but with each passing day the evidence mounts of just how methodical her campaign is, and just how much it is built on the legacy and contacts of her husband's career."

And her fund-raising advantage is in red states as well as blue -- sorry, former senator John Edwards, D-N.C. "Clinton expanded her donor pool during the summer into states that previously favored Obama -- like Iowa, Colorado and Connecticut -- to beat his third-quarter cash haul, $27.3 million to $20.6 million," Michael McAuliff writes for the New York Daily News. "Other early Obama states that flipped to Clinton in the latest quarter include Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and South Carolina -- states many experts would consider tough for Clinton to win in a general election, but where party faithful are apparently now more willing to put their money on her."

As for Obama, he's pressuring Clinton on Iran to get at her over Iraq, and last night he celebrated an endorsement of a prominent former Clinton administration official who lives awfully close to New Hampshire.

At a massive rally last night on Boston Common, Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., "offered a forceful argument for Obama, casting the presidential election as one of historic proportions in which merely a change in party would be insufficient," Scott Helman reports in The Boston Globe. Said Patrick: "You see, this election is not just about who we want. It's about who we are."

Helman writes, "Last night's event underscored the potential value of Patrick's support. Before Patrick and Obama spoke, field workers on Obama's campaign were recruiting people from the crowd to canvass in New Hampshire, even as early as this weekend. And in a measure of Obama's organizational strength, his Boston-area supporters have been receiving text messages, e-mails, and personal phone calls over the past several days urging them to come to the rally."

But it was Obama's interaction with Patrick's predecessor -- or, at least, his predecessor's tangled tongue -- that drew the biggest headlines yesterday. Former governor Mitt Romney, R-Mass., unfurled a classic clunker in South Carolina: "Just look at what Osam . . . Barack Obama said just yesterday. Barack Obama calling on, on radicals, Jihadists of all different types to come together in Iraq."

He's not the first politician to make that mistake, and he won't be the last. Obama said he didn't really care, but his campaign denounced the "fear-mongering" it claims is "at the heart" of Romney's campaign, ABC's Matt Stuart, Teddy Davis, and Sunlen Miller report. "Apparently, Mitt Romney can switch names just as casually as he switches positions, but what's wrongheaded is continuing a misguided war in Iraq that has left America less safe," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

"Mitt Romney might have still been a bit bleary-eyed on Tuesday morning," The New York Times' Michael Luo reports. "The comment set off some confusion among reporters, with at least one going online to search frantically for comments made by Mr. Obama, another Democratic presidential contender, about Iraq."

Romney's problems may be deeper than a slip of the tongue, The Washington Post's Dan Balz writes. "He has had many messages throughout the year -- competence, freshness, conservatism, a three-legged stool. Lately, because of the jumbled nature of the Republican race, he has been focused on persuading Republicans he is the true conservative," Balz writes. "But it is difficult to sum up exactly what his candidacy is based upon and exactly who he is. . . . So the issue raised about whether Romney wears well may be the critical question for the candidate and his advisers at this stage of the race."

Another whoops in Romney land: The endorsement of pastor Don Wilton, a former president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, was a "personal error," Wilton said yesterday, per the Baptist Press Website. "While I did give my consent to the local campaign to use my affirmation of the Governor's stance on family values in my capacity as an individual citizen, I made the mistake of not realizing the extent to which it would be used on a national basis."

Romney has a new ad up in South Carolina, this one featuring Business Man Mitt. "I come from the business world -- where turning around companies taught me how to manage budgets. That's what I did at the Olympics and as governor," Romney says in the ad. "As president, I'll audit Washington -- top to bottom -- and cut spending."

Elsewhere in the race, could former senator Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., be stirring? He's talking substance on the trail, and he rolled out a get-tough immigration plan yesterday -- a topical topic with the Senate taking up the DREAM Act today.

Thompson at least one some much-needed active verbs. "Thompson sharpened the mood of the Republican presidential debate when he unveiled his anti-immigration policy in Collier County, Fla., yesterday, flashing a rare glint of steel at his closest rivals," Nicholas Wapshott writes for the New York Sun. "The former Tennessee senator's proposed measures to curtail illegal immigration exploited a perceived weakness in his main opponents by drawing attention to their more generous approach to an issue that excites the Republican base like no other."

"The former Tennessee senator's plan is meant to appease the conservative wing of the party, which lashed out earlier this year against legislation to steer illegal immigrants toward citizenship," Beth Reinhard and Alfonso Chardy write in the Miami Herald. This is Thompson using down-home phrases to actual effect: "My opponents would like to focus in on a minnow and avoid looking at the whale, and the whale is that some of them have supported sanctuary cities, and as far as I know, still do."

Thompson appears to be deemphasizing New Hampshire, at least according to a former aide who defected to Sen. John McCain's campaign yesterday. "I didn't want to be the token chairman of a token campaign," Dan Hughes, who joined McCain's campaign yesterday as a statewide vice chair, told ABC's Bret Hovell.

McCain, R-Ariz., is gunning for Thompson (apologies for that verb). He filed for his crucial primary yesterday -- in New Hampshire -- he toured a gun factory, the Concord Monitor's Margot Sanger-Katz reports. "During a talk with more than 100 of the company's employees, the Republican presidential candidate promised to 'bring Osama bin Laden to the gates of hell and shoot him with one of your products.' The line got a big round of applause," Sanger-Katz writes. McCain added a caveat that wouldn't slip by the plugged-in ear: "But only after he receives justice," he said

It's former mayor Rudolph Giuliani, R-N.Y., in firm control of the GOP race, according to the Bloomberg/LA Times poll. He's 32-15 over Thompson, with McCain, Romney, and former governor Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., rounding out the top five. "The former New York mayor leads among his party's moderates, conservatives, most income groups and both men and women," Bloomberg's Heidi Przybyla and Ed Chen write. "Among self-described Christian conservative voters, who make up almost 30 percent of Republicans, he runs about even with Thompson and well ahead of the other contenders."

Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures

Front Row: Clinton might turn to Rove’s playbook

ahhhh...that evil genius...Karl Rove....who got a republican fraud elected president......I wonder how that man can sleep at night knowing he set this country back 100 years by getting bush elected...knowing he was a complete empty suit.......andy




y Michael Tackett BALTIMORESUN.COM

There’s a lot of pent up demand on the campus here, with candidates, consultants, staff and reporters all wondering when this presidential campaign will end, even though it really hasn’t begun.

That has led to several cases of premature prognostication and some odd instances of Republicans and Democrats seeming to wear the other party’s clothes.

It is, after all, the Republican Party that has a tradition of anointing the candidate who has stood in line the longest to be the party nominee. Democrats prefer the messy process in which they train fire on each other. Now it is the Democrats, with Sen. Hillary Clinton playing the role of quasi incumbent, seen as invincible, while the Republicans are spending a lot of time violating Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment.

But the election of 2008 also presents another question: Will it be 1968 again, or 2004?

The 1968 election of Richard Nixon was among the first when a candidate consciously catered to the party base during the primary, then ran to the middle in the General Election to capture the coveted swing voter. From at least that time, most winning candidates have adopted that playbook. Perhaps none did it as skillfully as Bill Clinton in 1992, with a campaign that was surgically tailored to appeal to the middle.

And it worked. Until that is, when Karl Rove rewrote the strategy and delivered a winner for George W. Bush in 2004. Rove’s thinking was essentially that for every concession Bush made to the middle, he was in danger of losing support at the party base. And through brilliant microtargeting of GOP voters, Rove’s strategy wrung vote after vote out of his party, cementing Bush’s re-election.

This was particularly effective in Ohio, arguably the most pivotal state of the 2004 campaign.

Which brings us to this campaign. On the Republican side, at least one of the leading contenders, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, would like to return to the Nixon strategy. His positions favoring abortion rights and gay rights--anathema to party faithful--just happen to play well in megastates like California, New York and even Florida.

Giuliani’s dismal showing at last weekend’s straw poll among religious conservatives gathered in Washington was a powerful demonstration of why the Book of Rove would not work for him. The GOP base also seems highly skeptical of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and some have misgivings about Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts. In fact, only former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee can lay any real claim to the hearts and minds of a lot of social conservatives.

The question, though, is how many of those same conservatives are willing to compromise, particularly if the alternative would be to cast a vote for Hillary Clinton.

And that’s one reason why Clinton might be looking to the Rove model should she be the Democratic nominee. You can be assured that no other candidate so animates the animus of the Republicans than the junior senator from New York. At the same time, there is no reason that her campaign can’t do for her what Rove did for Bush, which is to make sure you have had a fierce debate during the campaign, made few accommodations to the other side, and stoked the enthusiasm of your own core supporters.

That would at least give the country a clear choice, not a blurring of distinctions like Bill Clinton offered in 1992 or George Bush offered in 2000. And the irony would be that Hillary Clinton took a page from Bush to win, and Giuliani would need one from her husband.

Michael Tackett is the Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Tribune. He has covered every presidential election since 1988 and served as the Tribune's chief political writer during the 1996 and 2000 campaigns. He also served as National Editor for U.S. News and World Report. And, don't hold this against him, he has a law degree.

Posted by Rhonda Stewart on October 24, 2007

Clinton Considers Giving Up Some Powers

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the annual Washington state Democrats Warren G. Magnuson award ceremony Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, in Seattle. Clinton was launching her Washington state campaign Monday with the appearance at the state party's largest gathering before the February caucuses. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton reacts as she is introduced at the annual Washington state Democrats Warren G. Magnuson award ceremony Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, in Seattle. Clinton was launching her Washington state campaign Monday with the appearance at the state party's largest gathering before the February caucuses. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Leave it to the Republicans to defend their own..by attacking Hillary.....funny there was no denial that Bush and Company acted more like a dictatorship than a democracy all in the name of national defense and security.....hell no...let's ignore that....in fact..Hillary will do the same thing once she gets in..right??? errrrrrrrrrrr not...........andy

NEW YORK (AP) — If elected president in 2008, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton would consider giving up some of the executive powers President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have assumed since taking office.

In an interview published Tuesday in Guardian America, a Web site run by the London-based Guardian newspaper, Clinton denounced the Bush Administration's push to concentrate more power in the White House as a "power grab" not supported by the Constitution.

Asked if she would consider giving up some of those powers if she were president, Clinton replied, "Oh, absolutely ... I mean, that has to be part of the review that I undertake when I get to the White House, and I intend to do that."

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Bush and Cheney have taken steps to expand presidential authority and diminish the role of Congress and the federal judiciary. Among other things, they have pushed for warrantless wiretapping of terrorist suspects and the use of "signing statements" to justify ignoring or defying laws enacted by Congress.

In the interview, Clinton noted that other presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, had taken on new presidential powers but had gone back to Congress later to ratify their actions.

Bush and Cheney had taken a different course, she said.

"There were a lot of actions which they took that were clearly beyond any power the Congress would have granted, or that in my view was inherent in the Constitution," Clinton said. "There were other actions they've taken which could have obtained Congressional authorization but they deliberately chose not to pursue it as a matter of principle."

Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Diaz doubted Clinton would give up any power.

"The reality is that Hillary Clinton, much like Bill, will say and do anything to win political office and will conveniently forget their promises in short order," he said.

SO HAPPY TOGETHER!!!!!!!

in September 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa. Hillary says she is happy she stuck out it out with her husband, the 42nd president, through "challenges" in their marriage.(AFP/File/Stan Honda)

Hillary Clinton seeks votes, not money, in San Joaquin Valley

Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally Monday, Oct. 22, 2007 in Fresno, Calif. Clinton spoke to students at Fresno High School about her future plans if elected president in 2008. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., shakes supporter hands at a rally Monday, Oct. 22, 2007 in Fresno, Calif. Clinton spoke to students at Fresno High School about her future plans if elected president in 2008. (AP Photo/Gary Kazanjian)

10-22) 16:20 PDT Fresno, Calif. (AP) --

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton touched down for the first time in California's farm belt Monday, seeking to sway voters and small town officials in the state's conservative interior pocket to her side.

Fresh from a fundraiser Sunday at the Los Angeles home of "When Harry Met Sally" director Rob Reiner, Clinton didn't arrive seeking cash.

Rather, the Democrats' presidential front-runner used the campaign stop to speak to hundreds of students, grandmothers and teachers outside Fresno High School about her proposals to pass immigration reforms and boost the farming economy.

"Everywhere I go, people feel like they are invisible to their government," Clinton said, speaking on a riser to the crowd waving signs before the school's main stone entrance. "None of these people are invisible to me and they will not be invisible to the next president of the United States."

Clinton, D-NY, has racked up endorsements from more than 50 San Joaquin Valley party leaders, including Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, and Assemblyman Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, her campaign announced Monday.

But Democratic presidential contenders have historically failed to attract much money or build a significant voting bloc in the region.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Clinton has raised $13,270,732 in California for her campaign, more than any other candidate has received in in-state contributions.

Just $11,130 of that came from the Fresno area, as opposed to the nearly $2.8 million Clinton collected in Los Angeles.

Her top rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, collected less than $7,000 in political contributions from the Fresno area, according to federal fundraising records. Former North Carolina senator John Edwards raised only about $24,400 there.

Still with February's presidential primary looming, swing voters in the valley and in the Inland Empire have more pull, political analysts said.

"Fresno has never been a place where you raise Democratic money," said Chris Lehane, a Clinton supporter who runs a Democratic consulting business in San Francisco. "But it's smart to have Hillary's feet on the ground there because you do well with women, you do well with Latinos, you focus on traditional swing areas like the valley and you'll do well in the state."

Clinton was playing to that Monday, when she emphasized her support for a bill that would allow the children of undocumented immigrants to attend college.

"The most important thing she could do is to get more help for children and fix immigration," said Esteban Espinoza, 17, a Fresno High School student whose class attended the rally. "They need to let people's parents stay here even if they don't have papers."

Clinton was scheduled to attend private receptions in the San Francisco Bay area and Seattle, Wash., later Monday, and planned to return to the valley in the coming months, said campaign spokesman Luis Vizcaino.

Debate Wrap-Up: Everyone vs. Clinton

THE CAUCUS POLITICAL BLOG NEW YORK TIMES

Here is some interesting commentary on last night's Fox Fest.....Fox is such republican trash....don't ya think???? andy

October 21, 2007, 10:09 pm

Debate Wrap-Up: Everyone vs. Clinton

By Katharine Q. Seelye

This debate makes it official: It’s open season on Hillary Clinton.

No votes have been cast yet, and none will be for another two and a half months (unless New Hampshire moves up to December). But who cares? Mrs. Clinton proved abundant fodder for the candidates, and focusing on her kept them from bloodying each other (too much).

They started out by weaving Mrs. Clinton into virtually every answer. Then the Fox moderators started mentioning her in their questions. Then they devoted an entire segment to her, allowing each candidate to bash her fully and directly, with Mr. Romney getting the ball rolling by asking
the audience: “Anyone here want to vote for Hillary?” A resounding “No!” rolled back across the stage.
Read more …

Giuliani woos religious right but loses poll

Giuliani is in big trouble with the Archie bunker division of the GOP......i guess his ex's vagina chronicles is finally catching up to him...no mayor of the city of new york has ever won another elective office...ever.....more like a circus tent here..with Giuliani trying to clean up after the elephants......it won't work....andy

Giuliani woos religious right but loses poll

By Ed StoddardSat Oct 20, 7:00 PM ET

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney narrowly won a Republican presidential straw poll of Christian conservatives on Saturday, while Rudy Giuliani persuaded few to look past his support of abortion rights.

The poll at a summit of self-styled values voters was largely symbolic but highlighted the continuing failure of ardent anti-abortion social conservatives to rally behind a single Republican candidate in the 2008 White House race.

Romney took 27.6 percent of almost 6,000 votes cast, just ahead of Mike Huckabee, the folksy former governor of Arkansas, who gained 27.1 percent at the conference organized by the Family Research Council.

Maverick Texas Congressman Ron Paul was third with almost 15 percent while former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson got under 10 percent, a major disappointment for his campaign.

Giuliani was eighth with 107 votes -- under 2 percent.

The victory was a lift for Romney, struggling to overcome the distrust and hostility that many evangelical Christians feel toward his Mormon faith.

Romney appears to have been making inroads among religious conservatives as he portrays himself as a committed opponent of abortion, despite his relatively recent conversion to their cause. He told the gathering on Friday night that he would be a "pro-life president."

In his speech on Saturday, Giuliani appealed to his audience to look beyond his support for abortion rights and focus on shared values, such as fighting crime and his vow to relentlessly pursue the war on terror.

"I truly believe that what unites us is greater than any of the things which divide us," Giuliani, a former New York mayor, said to the crowd of mostly white evangelical Protestants who comprise a key segment of the Republican base.

Stridently anti-abortion and anti-gay rights, this movement known as the "religious right" has watched with dismay as Giuliani, who shot to national prominence after the September 11 attacks in 2001, grabbed the lead in the race for the Republican 2008 presidential nomination.

Some have spoken of backing a third party candidate to fly their anti-abortion banner should he become the nominee.

Opposition to abortion has become an almost sacred Republican plank because of the religious right's influence but Giuliani threatens to break that taboo.

The thrice-married Giuliani, a Roman Catholic who also supports gay rights, dismissed charges that he was an "activist for liberal causes" and told the crowd that Christianity was a religion of inclusion in a speech that drew warm applause but no thunderous ovations.

Saying he felt his faith deeply but privately, Giuliani stressed his record of reducing crime in New York, reiterated his staunch support for Israel and said that victory was the only option in the war on terror.

Giuliani also told them he would appoint conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court -- a key policy plank since the Holy Grail of the social conservative cause is getting a bench that will overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision granting women a constitutional right to an abortion.

Giuliani also pledged to work to increase adoptions and decrease abortions -- a stance which hardliners, who say they could never bring themselves to support a pro-choice candidate, regard as far too soft.

"The party has always been a big tent but it's not that big a tent," said Michael Scully, a Romney supporter.

ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN./WOMAN

Joe BIDEN

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U.S. Senator, Del.

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Hillary CLINTON

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U.S. Senator, N.Y.

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Chris DODD

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U.S. Senator, Conn.

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John EDWARDS

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Former U.S. Senator, N.C.

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Mike GRAVEL

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Former U.S. Senator, Alaska

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Dennis KUCINICH

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U.S. Representative, Ohio

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Barack OBAMA

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U.S. Senator, Ill.

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Bill RICHARDSON

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Governor, N.M.

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Sam BROWNBACK

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U.S. Senator, Kan.

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Rudy GIULIANI

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Former Mayor, New York City

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Mike HUCKABEE

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Former Governor, Ark.

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Duncan HUNTER

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U.S. Representative, Calif.

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John McCAIN

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U.S. Senator, Ariz.

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Ron PAUL

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U.S. Representative, Texas

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Mitt ROMNEY

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Former Governor, Mass.

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Tom TANCREDO

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U.S. Representative, Colo.

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Fred THOMPSON

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Former U.S. Senator, Tenn.

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COURTESTY CBS NEWS

Is Clinton's Campaign Overconfident?

Democratic Presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks at the National Women's Finance Council Summit in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007. (AP)



It amazes me how all the presidential candidates complain about Hillary's Campaign and how smug and confident they are.....it almost seems they are confirming what we all know already...that Hillary Clinton will be the next President of the USA.....ironically the more they complain and give her this kind of attention...the more everybody is starting to see the light.............andy


s Clinton's Campaign Overconfident?

Oct. 18, 2007

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(Washingtonpost.com) This story was written by Dan Balz in washingtonpost.com's blog The Trail.

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Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's chief strategist, sat down with a large group of reporters Thursday morning for a status report on the presidential campaign. "We are taking absolutely nothing for granted," he said soberly. Everything else Penn said during the hour-long session pointed to a campaign that feels increasingly confident of its position.

Penn's appearance at the Christian Science Monitor breakfast came about 12 hours after Barack Obama joined Jay Leno in Burbank for the Tonight Show. Asked by his host about how the campaign was going, Obama invoked one of the more embarrassing moments of the Bush presidency to tweak the Democratic frontrunner.

"Hillary," he said, "is not the first person in Washington to declare 'Mission Accomplished' a little too soon."

Penn may have had those words echoing in his ears when he showed up for his breakfast. Time and again, including in his opening statement, he went out of his way to underscore the Clinton's is a campaign at full battle stations, no matter what the national polls may show: "We are running a primary campaign. We are taking every primary seriously. This race is not over. Iowa is very competitive."

In between, Penn had difficulty concealing his sense of confidence, even pointing out that the increased attacks by Edwards and Obama reflect their nervousness rather than her vulnerabilities. "That is a spin that people have," said David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist.

Penn's most provocative moments came not when he talked not about Clinton's Democratic rivals but when he focused on the rising power of the women in politics and Clinton's potential to attract what would be a historic female turnout -- including Republican women and younger women.

"I think you'll see a tremendous influx into the political process of women who weren't as politically oriented," he said.

Women now make up about 54 percent of the electorate and Penn predicted this number could go higher if Clinton is the Democratic nominee. If that were to happen, another five or six states could open up on the electoral map that have been off limits to the Democrats in recent elections.

Republicans, he said, could be in for a nasty surprise if Clinton is the nominee. "I think the Republicans are not prepared for the loss of a substantial group of their Republican women voters," he said.

Penn argued that Clinton has an opportunity to produce sizeable defections -- as much as 24 percent of Republican women could end up voting for Clinton in a general election race. That, he said, would make "a major difference nationwide because of the emotional element of having the first woman nominee and that actually will be a major unexpected factor here that will throw the Republicans for a loop."

He cited one poll in which Clinton leads Rudy Giuliani in a hypothetical general election match up. In that survey, Clinton has an 18-point lead over Giuliani among women -- which he interpreted as almost insurmountable, given that women make up more than half the electorate.

John Edwards continues to argue that he is the most electable Democrat in 2008, that he can campaign effectively in places that Clinton cannot. When Penn was asked about resistance to Clinton's candidacy in the South, he said, "She's very strong in Arkansas." He also said she has a very good shot at winning Florida and noted that she is ahead in current general election polls in swing states like Ohio.

What about the West, where there also appears to be nervousness among Democratic officeholders about Clinton as the Democratic nominee? The race is in the early stages of development in those states and will look better later, he predicted. He added that western-state polls that may show her in trouble are probably lagging indicators.

Nor did Penn seem daunted at the prospect of a Clinton-Giuliani race. After all, he said, Giuliani is the one Republican she's run against (briefly) already. Giuliani's success to date in the Republican nomination battle is as much a reflection of the dissatisfaction among GOP voters with their entire field as with the former mayor's strength as a candidate. "I don't think Republicans have any real stars as candidates," he said.

He argued that Clinton is the one Democrat who could neutralize Giuliani's potential strength in the northeast and industrial battlegrounds. "She wipes him out in New York," he said, and would beat him in Pennsylvania. As for battleground states in the heartland, Penn predicted that Giuliani would not travel well from his New York roots.

Could Bill Clinton become a liability to Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions. "He is a tremendously popular former president," Penn said, particularly among Democratic primary voters. "I could speculate on things all day," he added. "The reality is, he is a tremendous asset for this campaign and that's the way it has been for this last year and I believe will certainly continue to be that way."

His optimism was tempered seemingly only by the state of play in Iowa, but even there he sounded upbeat. Obama is a formidable opponent, he noted, and Edwards has had strong support there. But he added, "Iowans are less and less enthusiastic about Edwards and little by little they're gaining increased confidence in Senator Clinton and what kind of president she would be."

For a moment, he caught himself and started to back pedal. "There's no sense in this campaign in any way of taking anything for granted. We understand full well how quickly these things change." Then it was another surge of optimism. "The good news is that people are receiving her very well."

© 2007 The Washington Post Company

Hillary Clinton shrugs off her male rivals' attacks

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BY MICHAEL McAULIFF
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

Thursday, October 18th 2007, 4:00 AM

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Hillary Clinton says certain men have been noticing her - and hinted she kind of likes it.

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WASHINGTON - Hillary Clinton says certain men have been noticing her - and hinted she kind of likes it.

"The last couple of weeks I've been getting a lot of attention from the men in this race," she said, referring to the steady stream of jabs she's taken from rivals Rudy Giuliani, John Edwards and Barack Obama.

Edwards and Obama, her Democratic rivals, have ripped into her policy proposals and painted her as part of the problem in Washington.

Giuliani, the GOP front-runner, has increasingly used the former First Lady as a liberal prop to burnish his conservative bona fides.

"At first I didn't know what to make of it," Clinton, who turns 60 next week, quipped.

"And then a good friend of mine said, 'You know, when you get to be our age, having that much attention from all these men ...,'" she said, leaving the last line up to the imaginations of about 1,000 women filling a ballroom at the Capital Hilton.

The crowd, full of people who paid a minimum of $1,000 each to be there, roared with laughter.

Clinton has deployed coy quips before. In January, she let Iowa supporters draw their own conclusions about "what in my background equips me to deal with evil and bad men."

She offered arched eyebrows, a smile and a knowing nod, leaving many in the crowd to believe she was talking about the marital transgressions of her husband, Bill Clinton. She later said she was just trying to be "funny."

Wednesday, Clinton insisted she wouldn't be firing back at the sniping rivals, who trail her in recent national polls.

"I'm not interested in attacking anyone," Clinton said. "I'm interested in attacking the problems of our country and solving those problems and working together."

Her new high-road pledge contrasts sharply with an earlier promise: If anyone attacked her, she'd "deck 'em."

But she had no qualms about hitting Republicans who have criticized the 12-year-old Maryland boy who delivered a recent Democratic radio address calling for a beefed-up children's health insurance program - a contentious issue on Capitol Hill.

"I've obviously gotten used to being attacked myself, and I don't mind being attacked, but they should not be attacking children," she said, casting herself as a defender and uniter.

Clinton's rebuke mirrored the shots Giuliani took at her last month when he tried to link Clinton's critical congressional quizzing of Gen. David Petraeus to a MoveOn.org newspaper ad challenging the integrity of the U.S. commander in Iraq.

Giuliani accused her of injecting "political venom" into the war debate.

Clinton's female-focused fund-raiser pumped a whopping $1.5million into her already bulging campaign war chest.

mmcauliff@nydailynews.com

WHO'S THE REAL ARCHIE BUNKER??? Republicans fight over conservative credentials

Republican presidential candidate former Senator Fred Thompson shakes hands with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani after the Republican presidential debate in Dearborn, Michigan, October 9, 2007. (Jason Reed/Reuters)


Can't you just hear the opening song "Boy the way Glen Miller played........." too bad these folks have to pass the Archie Bunker Litmus test...it must be very humiliating and degrading for Giuliani and Romney to renounce their past and lie like a rug.........to make believe their past quotes and beliefs were all nonsense and aberrations .........oh well..........stiffle yourself Hillary........who are the real meat heads here????

Republicans fight over conservative credentials

By Ellen WulfhorstThu Oct 18, 11:02 AM ET(Reuters)

It's not enough for U.S. Republican presidential candidates to be conservatives. They've got to be bigger and better conservatives to win the hearts of right-wing America.

As Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and John McCain fight for votes, some of the hardest punches are from those accusing one another of being newcomers to lower taxes or opposing abortion.

"The Republicans have had to 'out-conservative' each other," said Lee Miringoff, pollster at the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, New York.

That contest heats up this week, when several candidates seeking the Republican Party's nomination in the November 2008 presidential election visit with conservative Christians at a "Values Voter Summit" in Washington.

But just being conservative isn't enough, said Doug Muzzio, professor of political affairs at New York's Baruch College. "It's how conservative are you, and how long have you been conservative?"

Appealing to the right is always a vital strategy for candidates seeking the Republican nomination, but the battle over conservative credentials is particularly sharp in this campaign because several of the top candidates have distinctly liberal-leaning records.

Thompson paraded his credentials this week before New York's small but vocal Conservative Party, recalling his first foray into politics supporting conservative Barry Goldwater in 1964.

"I was a conservative yesterday, I am a conservative today and I will be a conservative tomorrow," said the former U.S. senator from Tennessee, known to many Americans for playing a folksy district attorney on NBC's "Law and Order" drama.

Former U.S. Sen. Al D'Amato, who has locked horns for years with Giuliani on New York's political scene, chimed in to declare he liked Thompson because "he's not a panderer."

"Instead of like some of the leading candidates who will try to be whatever they can to try to get votes, he's consistent," D'Amato said.

Giuliani, who backed gun control and immigrant rights as mayor of New York, upsets conservatives with his personal life as well as his politics.

Twice-divorced, Giuliani dated the woman who is his current wife while still married to his former wife and lived with gay friends after leaving the mayor's mansion.

BATTLE OVER RECORDS

Romney catches grief for his record as governor of Massachusetts, when he was pro-choice, pro-gay rights and signed near-universal health insurance into law.

"His record is very clear that he ran in Massachusetts as a very liberal Republican," said Sen. John McCain on CBS television's "Face the Nation." "I think that my record is very clear of more than 20 years of being a conservative Republican.

"Isn't consistency on fundamental issues an important factor in this race?" McCain asked.

The candidates who have been conservative longest need to remind voters that Giuliani and Romney are "flip-floppers," said Muzzio.

"They're not conservatives. If you look at their positions in the not-too-distant past, they were 180 degrees different than they are now," said Muzzio. "These guys are like beached fish, flip-flopping they way they do."

But critics note Thompson lobbied for a family-planning group that supported abortion rights, and McCain has paid dearly for once calling evangelicals "agents of intolerance."

"All four top-tier candidates have a history which is checkered, at least as far as conservatism goes," said Dante Scala, professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire. "So there's plenty of material to make the argument that, 'Yeah, I'm a conservative,' but also plenty of material to prove the opposite."

While Republican candidates need right-wing votes to win the nomination, their support has a downside when candidates need to move to the center of the political spectrum to win the general election, said Miringoff.

"The longer and the deeper the Republican candidate has to dig into the conservative base to win the nomination, the harder it's going to be to dig out quickly," he said.

Walk a day in my shoes: Hillary Clinton/Michelle Estrada

check this video out....another side of Hillary........andy

Romney, Clinton lead in latest Iowa poll

Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Romney, Clinton lead in latest Iowa poll

Mitt Romney continues to lead in Iowa, where he has invested the most time and money of the Republican presidential hopefuls, according to a new poll.

But the support for the leading candidates is not firm, with about 60 percent of backers for each saying they could change their minds before the caucus, which Iowa Republicans on Tuesday scheduled for Jan. 3.

Romney had support from 25 percent of likely caucus-goers, compared to 19 percent for Fred Thompson, 18 percent for Mike Huckabee, 13 percent for Rudy Giuliani, and 6 percent for John McCain, according to the Rasmussen Reports survey released today.

Huckabee leads among evangelical Christians, while Romney leads among other religious groups, the poll found.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton led with 33 percent, to 22 percent for John Edwards, 21 percent for Barack Obama, and 7 percent for Bill Richardson. Joe Biden, who said in Boston on Tuesday that he would need to finish at least fourth to stay in the race, is in fifth with 4 percent.

The poll was conducted Oct. 10-14 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points among 650 Republicans and plus or minus 3 percentage points among 1,007 Democrats, Rasmussen said.
Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor at 01:15 PM

How wooing pig farmers might stop Hillary Clinton hogging the votes

LONDON TIMES ONLINE


Edwards just doesn't get it...........Obama has a great grassroots organization.....unfortunately for him...this is not his year........andy

In a chilly barn, surrounded by supporters perched on bales of straw and with the smell of pig excrement in the air, John Edwards is making his pitch to be the next President of the United States.

“You don’t make a hog fatter by weighing it,” he says to knowing nods as he explains – hands thrust into the back pockets of his faded jeans – why testing in schools does not make children any cleverer. Casey, the dog at the Rosman family farm in Harlan, Iowa, stirs briefly at the mention of hogs and settles back to sleep.

A couple of hundred miles east across this bleak mid-western landscape, Barack Obama has – as usual – attracted a bigger crowd at a larger barn, this time decorated with seasonal pumpkins and fairy lights.

He combines a ritual appeal to local farmers – “what is good for rural America will be good for the rest of America” – with his distinctive brand of urban chic. “I want to make government cool again,” he says.

The two main rivals to Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination are making defiant stands in Iowa, traditionally the first state to pick a candidate.

National opinion polls suggest that Mrs Clinton, with a lead of more than 30 points, is heading for a coronation.

But Iowa remains locked in a tight three-way contest. Mr Obama and Mr Edwards hope that a victory will be the springboard to turn Mrs Clinton’s lead on its head.

If they cannot stop her here, goes the logic, they cannot stop her anywhere. David Plouffe, Mr Obama’s campaign manager, said recently: “Iowa – that’s the whole shebang.”

For Mr Edwards, a distant third in national polls, Iowa is perhaps even more crucial. Asked what would happen if he lost the state, he replies, with a shrug: “The same thing that happens to any campaign.”

The two pretenders to Mrs Clinton’s throne are, however, playing Iowa’s peculiar politics in very different ways. The state does not have an election but a caucus system with voters gathering in 1,784 different venues to reach a consensus on which candidate to back. In 2004 just 124,331 people took part in the Democratic caucus, just 6 per cent of those registered to vote.

Mr Obama hopes to expand this selectorate beyond Democrat activists by persuading young people – among whom he generates huge enthusiasm – and independents to take part in January. His core campaign message is that he can “bring America together again” and he has in general adopted a measured, cerebral approach even to his increasingly sharp criticisms of Mrs Clinton.

“I think she is a very capable person. She is sincere, she is tough, she cares about the Democratic party’s values,” he tells a meeting in Tipton, Iowa.

“But I also think that what is needed now is not what she has.” He dislikes Mrs Clinton’s “conventional approach” to foreign policy – including Iraq and Iran – and asks people to take “a little more of a risk with me”.

Mr Obama says: “She is a known commodity, Bill [Clinton] is there, we know pretty much what we’re going to get – but that’s the problem – we know what we’re going to get.” The Obama campaign is exceptionally well-organised in Iowa with 31 district offices. Aides insist they have learnt the lessons of Howard Dean – another Democratic candidate who tried to galvanise young voters – in 2004.

Mr Edwards, a veteran of that contest, is putting his faith in the traditional caucus-goers whom he has relentlessly courted over the past three years and describes as the “guardians” of the US presidency.

He is much shriller in his criticisms of Mrs Clinton and makes an old-fash-ioned populist appeal for support. Emphasising that “I’m the only candidate who grew up in rural America”, he evokes images of the “shared prosperity” in the 1950s and lambasts the Clinton White House for introducing free-trade deals which hurt farmers.

At meetings in western Iowa this week Mr Edwards is introduced by Ben Jones, a former congressman who played the character of Cooter in the TV series the Dukes of Hazzard.

The presence of “Cooter” aides say, embodies the “electability argument”, which has been roughly translated as saying that as a white male – and a southerner – Mr Edwards is the only top-tier Democrat who can win the White House from the Republicans.

Sometimes Mr Edwards appears to be trying just a little too hard. When he tries the weighing hogs line at a high school meeting, he is greeted with silence from children who, presumably, don’t like being compared to fattened pigs.

“C’mon,” he implores, “this is Iowa!”