JEFFERSON, Iowa — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama likes to joke about getting seasoned and stewed.

In speeches across Iowa in the final days before the state’s Jan. 3 caucus that kicks off the 2008 presidential nominating contest, Obama regularly gets laughs and applause when he makes a clear dig at opponents like Sen. Hillary Clinton who say the first-term senator from Illinois is too inexperienced to be president.

“There have been some who say … ‘He may be inspiring and you like his ideas but you know what, he has not been in Washington long enough,’” Obama said.

“‘We need to season him a little bit more. We need to stew him and boil all the hope out of him so he can sound like everybody else.’”

Obama then leads into one of the speech lines that generates the most applause, focusing on how he is the candidate that represents change.

“I have to admit that some people have even said that electing me right now without that Washington longevity that that would be a gamble, a roll of the dice,” he said.

“But let me tell you something … the real gamble right now would be to have the same old folks do the same old things over and over and over again and somehow expect a different outcome,” Obama said.

– Photo credit: Reuters/Keith Bedford

Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee has tried to seize the moral high ground by telling a news conference on Monday that he had made a TV spot to respond to rival Mitt Romney’s attacks on him before deciding at the last second to pull them.

The announcement fell flat with much of the press corps who questioned whether the ploy was perhaps contrived, particularly because he was standing flanked by signs attacking Romney’s policies on everything from his record as a non-hunter to abortion.

He also showed reporters the brief clip which hammered at Romney on abortion, fiscal policy and other issues. Huckabee has been complaining loudly on Romney’s ads which he has told supporters  are plain dishonest.

“We often talk about changing the tone of politics … and sometimes we talk about it and we end up doing the same things,” he said, noting that for him the “tipping” point was the Romney attacks on another Republican rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

It remains to be seen if Huckabee’s ploy finds resonance with his supporters, some of whom have said they admire him for among other things what they perceive to be his integrity, honesty and sense of fair play.

And the Romney campaign seized on that point.

“To say one thing one minute and then turn around and show an attack ad to reporters the next will, obviously, leave folks with a very cynical view of Mike Huckabee and his message,” said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden.

– Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young

If you don’t already have your ticket out of Iowa on Jan. 4, you’re probably too late.
 
The Des Moines International Airport sent out an advisory warning travelers that traffic on the two days after the Jan. 3 caucuses will be 50 percent busier and they can expect long lines at security. (An average of 5,600 passengers pass through each day.) 
 
A quick check of Expedia.com and there were no flights on Jan. 4 available from Des Moines to hubs like Chicago’s O’Hare, Dallas/Forth Worth, and Cincinnati. The only seats available that day appeared to be on a United flight to Denver and a Northwest flight to Minneapolis, both at 7 p.m.
 
Jan. 5 looks better with several flights to major hubs available.
 
Oh, and airport officials are expecting some 2,000 rental cars to be returned over the two days.
 
“Many national and international media personnel will be attempting to leave central Iowa. It will take the cooperation of everyone to ensure this happens efficiently and that the nation gets a good picture of the capability of central Iowans,” the advisory said.
 
Don’t worry about the candidates, well most of them anyway. They have chartered their own planes to carry them (and some press) out of Des Moines as soon as the results from the caucuses are tabulated.

– additional reporting by Kay Henderson in Des Moines

– Photo credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani hasn’t put much effort campaigning in the early nominating contests of Iowa and New Hampshire, but he wants reporters to remember he’s been busy in other states where people already are likely voting.
 
The former New York mayor, seen as a moderate among the Republican contenders because of his support for abortion and gay rights, has largely focused his energies on states like Florida, California and Missouri.
 
For two days now Giuliani’s campaign has sent reporters reminders about early voting for primaries beginning in numerous other states. Florida holds its primary on Jan. 29 while delegate-rich states California and Missouri vote Feb. 5 along with 20 other states.
 
Several states permit voters to cast absentee ballots when they know they cannot make it to the polls on the primary election day. And a handful of states allow broader early voting weeks before the election.
 
“For the record, only 78 delegates will be picked prior to Florida whereas 1,039 delegates will be picked on January 29 and February 5,” Brent Seaborn, Giuliani’s strategy director, said in a memo sent to campaign workers and reporters.
 
“It is important to note that voting HAS ALREADY STARTED in Florida, Missouri, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey and New York - tens of thousands of people will have already cast their ballot by the time you are reading this note,” he said.
 
Giuliani has led national opinion polls but has trailed far behind rivals in Iowa and New Hampshire where he has recently made a late campaign effort.
 
Will the strategy work or be a tree falling in a forest?

– Photo credit: Reuters/Jessica Rinaldi

DES MOINES — Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee went for an early morning jog around an ice-covered Des Moines lake on Monday morning and couldn’t resist making some obvious campaign analogies.

“I’m not a fast runner but I can go distances,” he quipped to a shivering press corps that had gathered to cover his run in the frigid dawn. Huckabee has vaulted to the front of the pack in the Iowa caucuses that kicks off the 2008 presidential nominating contest on Thursday.

Warming to the theme, he said:

“It’s about endurance … it’s about really determination and not letting  yourself get spooked by what’s going on around you and it’s just following on the trail ahead,” he said. 

The affable former Arkansas governor famously shed 100 pounds and embraced the cause of exercise with all the ferver of a convert.  He now runs marathons.

After his fairly brief morning run with a few supporters, Huckabee was asked how he thought he would fare in a foot race with rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor with whom he is in a neck-and-neck race with in Iowa.

“Of course he’ll be running both ways the whole time,” Huckabee said in a dig at Romney’s changing views on big issues such as abortion rights. 

– Photo credit:  Reuters/Andy Clark

DES MOINES — Religion and politics are a common and potent mix in America and while preachers for tax reasons avoid endorsing specific parties and candidates, they can gently steer their flock in a particular direction.

At Cornerstone Family Church, a large evangelical church here, pastor Dan Berry reminded several hundred worshipers on Sunday morning that “next Thursday night is caucus night.”

He encouraged his flock to go to caucus regardless of their party affiliation and asked them to push their parties to adopt as part of their platform a state amendment preventing same-sex marriage.

This is a hot button social issue usually embraced by Republicans who in turn rely heavily on evangelical Protestants as a base of support. And in Iowa at the moment, the rising star in evangelical eyes is former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

“When you go to caucus I am going to ask you to take a plank for your party platform … this is a marriage amedment plank,” Berry said.

The proposed amendment on the issue, which was distributed in the church, read: “Iowa Marriage Amendment: Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in the State of Iowa…”

– Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young

VINTON, Iowa – Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton took the soft approach on Sunday in her fight to win the Iowa caucus, reminding voters she is both a mother and a daughter and advocating better support for people who care for others.

Heralded by a musical band of local family members that included a 5-year-old boy who plays guitar and kazoo, the U.S. senator from New York described herself as a member of the “sandwich generation,” with an elderly parent and an adult daughter, Chelsea Clinton, who stood behind her mother on stage.

“I think it’s important for the next president to know what it takes to care for our parents, to continue to do the work we have to do, and care for our children,” she told the crowd. The first caucus to choose the candidates for the November 2008 presidential election takes place in Iowa on Thursday and candidates are using every tool to win over voters.

Clinton proposed an array of measures to help caregivers, who may tend to elderly parents or handicapped children or an ailing spouse. She suggested a $3,000 tax credit for those who require long-term care or are caregivers, a tax credit to help defray the cost of  long-term care insurance and better programs that give respite to caregivers.

The softer image of Clinton came after three days of the candidate striking a tougher pose on the campaign trail where, in the wake of the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, she has been reminding voters of her experience in foreign affairs as former first lady and as a member of the Senate.

The gentler focus hearkens back to a move the Clinton campaign made earlier this month, launching videos and testimonials on a website called TheHillaryIKnow.com. The effort to warm up her image is seen as a way to fight off an image that she is cold and politically calculating, an impression her loyalists call unfair.

“We sure do make it hard for us to do the most important job there is, which is caring for each other,” Clinton said on Sunday. “We would have to fill in what people do for love with $300 billion of paid care, so don’t you think it’s about time we actually did more than talk about family values and that we actually valued families and provided help for caregivers?”

On hand to boost Clinton’s family-oriented theme was a local band consisting of parents Vic and Michelle Schmidt and their three sons - 10-year-old Stephen on drums, 8-year-old Samuel on bass guitar and 5-year-old Gabriel, who plays guitar and, according to his proud family, a mean kazoo.

– Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, in tight contests with Republican rivals in Iowa and New Hampshire, is making the case that he is one of the few candidates who can run a national campaign.

“In Iowa it’s Mike Huckabee, in New Hampshire it’s John McCain who are the other top contenders,” Romney said Sunday at a press conference in Columbus Center, Iowa. “I guess I’m kind of proud of the fact that I’m a top contender in both of the two early big states, and recognize that to win the White House we’re going to have to win these two states.”

“The other guys are just picking one state. I’m working for both,” he added.

The latest Reuters/Zogby poll shows Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee in a dead heat in Iowa, while an average of New Hampshire polls compiled by RealClearPolitics.com show him leading Arizona Sen. McCain by about 5 points.

But Romney trails in other early-voting states and far behind in national polls. Campaign aides hope that strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire will propel him to the front of the pack, and say they consider McCain their biggest long-term threat.

Perhaps that’s why Romney lets his staff respond to attacks by Huckabee, while criticizing McCain himself. 

“I’ve said of Sen. McCain time and again he’s an honoroable man, he’s an American hero,” Romney said. “I think he’s proving that you can be honorable and be wrong.”

– Photo credit: Reuters/John Gress

With the Iowa caucuses set for Jan. 3 and no clear front runner among the Democrats or Republicans for the White House, so far it appears only a few candidates are planning big parties to celebrate the start of 2008 — and yes mainly aimed at convincing a few more undecided voters.
 
Democratic hopeful and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton unveiled a schedule of five different New Year’s-related events that she and her husband, popular former President Bill Clinton, will attend across Iowa starting at 3:30 p.m.
 
The Clintons, who were famous for staying out late during their time in the White House under his presidency, will host a 9:45 p.m. rally in Des Moines dubbed the “New Year, New Beginnings Celebration”.
 
Rival John Edwards plans to attend a New Year’s Eve party at his Mason City, Iowa office at the very sober 6:30 p.m. and he plans to make some remarks about his plans to help middle class Americans. He will then spend some time with his family in Des Moines when 2008 arrives.
 
The other Democratic front runner, Barack Obama, plans to criss cross the state during the day trying to pump up supporters and will spill over into the early evening. Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democratic long-shot, will ring in 2008 at an event in Dubuque, Iowa at 10 p.m., celebrating with family, friends and supporters.
   
But not everyone plans such public revelry.
 
Republican former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has seen his lead in Iowa evaporate, will not be attending any festivities while rival former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani will be headlining a fundraiser in Manhattan.

No word yet on plans by Republican up-and-comers Mike Huckabee and John McCain who are closing in on Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire, respectively.

– Photo credits: Reuters/Andy Clark, John Gress

KNOXVILLE, Iowa - When Democratic White House contender Barack Obama was asked to sum up the differences between himself and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, he focused first on swear words.

At a campaign rally, Obama took a question from a Republican voter who said she is thinking of switching her vote. But she wanted Obama to tell her what separates him from Romney.

“That’s a long list,” he said to laughter.

But then he thought of a big difference. He said he heard an interview of the former Massachusetts governor in which Romney was asked if he had ever cursed.

“He said well, of course, but not the real harsh ones,” Obama said, recounting the Romney interview.

“I have to tell you, I’ve used some really harsh curse words. the really good ones, the juicy ones,” he said to laughter by several hundred people packed into a school auditorium.

First marijuana, now bad swear words. Anything else?

– Photo credit: Reuters/Keith Bedford