IOWA CAUCUS PREVIEW EDITION

Quick Clips

Democrats Try Various Styles, and Pronouns
Warning of Threats, Clinton Sells Clinton
Edwards Fights to the Finish
Edwards defends tough insurance company talk
Dennis Kucinich: A peace-seeking idealist to the core
Obama on Language
This Could Be The Last Time
Obama's phone banks gear up already for California's absentee voters
Huckabee Fights Back Against Romney
Huckabee casts Romney campaign as 'dishonest'
Shake, Rattle and Roil the Grand Ol’ Coalition
Huckabee: Winning Iowa would be a 'miracle'
Ron Paul's War Chest Swelled in 4th Quarter
With Friends Like These …
Bipartisan Group Eyes Independent Bid
Bloomberg Moves Closer to Running for President
Bloomberg leads 'unity' challenge
Forbes expects third-party bid by Bloomberg
McCain losing votes to Obama in N.H.
Pace quickens as candidates storm Iowa
As Volunteers Swamp Campaigns, Hospitable Iowans Pitch In
Candidates' Returns From Early Primaries Aren't Easy to Predict
World Trade Talks in Geneva Keep One Eye on Iowa Caucus
With New Poll Results, Candidates Scramble for Edge in Caucuses
Candidates Digging for a Deeper Pool of Iowa Voters
Iowa's many undecided voters hold the key to caucuses
From Iowa cornfields, a left-tilting tradition
Huckabee Battered With Attack Ads, While Romney Climbs Back in Polls
Democrats May Get Boost From Fervor of Their Voters
Best Bet for Next President: Prediction Markets
More Power for Executive: Will It Last?
How to Divine Foreign Policy of Candidates
Immigration Is Defying Easy Answers
Sorting Truth From Campaign Fiction
Nuclear power gets boost from candidates
Polls Indicate Voter Anxiety on Economy
Bhutto’s Son, 19, Chosen to Lead Her Party
New Questions Arise in Killing of Ex-Premier
Bhutto's Son Chosen As Eventual Party Chief
U.S. Strives to Keep Footing In Tangled Pakistan Situation

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THE FIELD

Democrats Try Various Styles, and Pronouns

By Mark Leibovich
New York Times
December 31, 2007

The flavor and substance of the performances of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards reveal a basic thematic divide in their campaigns…

CLINTON

Warning of Threats, Clinton Sells Clinton
Ex-President Emphasizes Wife's Experience

By Anne E. Kornblut and Alec MacGillis
Washington Post
December 30, 2007

NASHUA, N.H. -- Former president Bill Clinton yesterday delivered in stark terms a version of his wife's central campaign message: that her experience in Washington better prepares her to "deal with the unexpected."

EDWARDS

Edwards Fights to the Finish

By Dan Balz
Washington Post
December 30, 2007

DES MOINES -- For the final days in the Iowa contest, John Edwards has shed his blue jeans and open-collar shirt and put on a suit and tie -- and a pair of brass knuckles…

Edwards defends tough insurance company talk

By John Chase
Chicago Tribune
December 30, 2007

BOONE, Iowa -- While trying to make his case that if elected president he will provide health care to all Americans, John Edwards on Sunday was forced to defend his tough talk on the stump that he won’t compromise with insurance companies and drug firms…

KUCINICH

Dennis Kucinich: A peace-seeking idealist to the core

By Amanda Paulson
Christian Science Monitor
December 31, 2007

The congressman from Ohio makes his second run for the White House, wanting healthcare for all Americans and peace for the world…

OBAMA

Obama on Language

By Mark Leibovich
New York Times
December 30, 2007

The Democratic candidate boasts about his use of salty words…

This Could Be The Last Time

By Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
December 30, 2007

Why are Senator Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, suggesting to voters that this campaign could be Mr. Obama’s best — or, possibly, his only — shot at the office?

Obama's phone banks gear up already for California's absentee voters

By Don Frederick and Andrew Malcolm
Los Angeles Times
December 30, 2007

Also, Hillary Clinton has her own 'don't ask' policy and John Edwards buys votes with doughnuts…

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THE FIELD

Huckabee Fights Back Against Romney

By Perry Bacon Jr. and Michael D. Shear
Washington Post
December 30, 2007

DES MOINES, Dec. 29 -- Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee launched an aggressive series of attacks against Mitt Romney on Saturday, signaling a forceful new offensive designed to blunt the former Massachusetts governor's critiques of Huckabee's record…

Huckabee casts Romney campaign as 'dishonest'

By Scott Martelle
Los Angeles Times
December 30, 2007

DES MOINES -- The tone of the already nasty Republican campaign for the presidential nomination took an even sharper edge this morning as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee accused rival Mitt Romney of waging a "dishonest" campaign…

HUCKABEE

Shake, Rattle and Roil the Grand Ol’ Coalition

By David D. Kirkpatrick
New York Times
December 31, 2007

No one knows whether Mike Huckabee’s approach to the Republican presidential primary will succeed much beyond Iowa…

Huckabee: Winning Iowa would be a 'miracle'

By Rick Pearson
Chicago Tribune
December 30, 2007

DES MOINES—Republican Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, defended the role that faith plays in his life and said by his personal definition, it would be a miracle for him to defeat rival Mitt Romney in Iowa's lead-off caucuses…

PAUL

Ron Paul's War Chest Swelled in 4th Quarter

By Mary Jacoby
Wall Street Journal
December 31, 2007

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul may lag behind in public-opinion polls. But after raising about $19 million for the final three months of the year, he is now among his party's front-runners in the race for campaign cash…

ROMNEY

With Friends Like These …

By Michael Luo
New York Times
December 30, 2007

"I consider these guys friends," said Mitt Romney of his Republican rivals…

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Bipartisan Group Eyes Independent Bid
First, Main Candidates Urged To Plan 'Unity' Government

By David S. Broder
Washington Post
December 30, 2007

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a potential independent candidate for president, has scheduled a meeting next week with a dozen leading Democrats and Republicans, who will join him in challenging the major-party contenders to spell out their plans for forming a "government of national unity" to end the gridlock in Washington…

BLOOMBERG

Bloomberg Moves Closer to Running for President

By Sam Roberts
New York Times
December 31, 2007

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is growing increasingly enchanted with the idea of making an independent presidential bid…

Bloomberg leads 'unity' challenge

Los Angeles Times
December 30, 2007

Sets a bipartisan meeting for oklahoma to discuss seeking a national unity government, possibly with a third-party run…

Forbes expects third-party bid by Bloomberg

USA Today on Politics
December 30, 2007

"I think it would be highly unlikely that he wouldn't run," former Republican presidential candidate and media magnate Steve Forbes said today of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg…

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McCain losing votes to Obama in N.H.

By Maeve Reston and Doyle McManus
Los Angeles Times
December 30, 2007

Nonaligned voters in New Hampshire have their pick of parties. This time around, they lean toward a Democrat…

Pace quickens as candidates storm Iowa

By Mark Z. Barabak and Michael Finnegan
Los Angeles Times
December 30, 2007

This contest is like no other, caucus-watchers say. Politicians are on the air, on the phone and maybe at your door…

As Volunteers Swamp Campaigns, Hospitable Iowans Pitch In

By Amy Chozick
Wall Street Journal
December 31, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa -- When Lily West left her Manhattan TV-station job for Iowa to help with Barack Obama's presidential campaign, she had a great feeling of patriotic duty and optimism about America's future. What she didn't have was a place to sleep…

Candidates' Returns From Early Primaries Aren't Easy to Predict

By Ana Rivas
Wall Street Journal
December 31, 2007

During the longest, earliest, and most expensive primary election campaign America has witnessed, the top 10 contenders spent at least $28 million and campaigned more than 775 days in Iowa and New Hampshire, two states representing less than 2% of Americans…

World Trade Talks in Geneva Keep One Eye on Iowa Caucus

By John W. Miller
Wall Street Journal
December 31, 2007

BRUSSELS -- On Thursday, some of the most avid observers of the U.S. presidential caucus in Iowa will be a group of trade officials from around the world, meeting 4,600 miles away in Switzerland…

With New Poll Results, Candidates Scramble for Edge in Caucuses

By Patrick Healy and Julie Bosman
New York Times
December 31, 2007

New polls suggested tightening races in both the Democratic and Republican fields as the candidates made their last weekend appeals before the Iowa caucuses…

Candidates Digging for a Deeper Pool of Iowa Voters

By Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
December 31, 2007

The turnout effort among Democrats has exploded into the most ambitious and costly in the history of Iowa’s caucus…

Iowa's many undecided voters hold the key to caucuses

By Linda FeldmannChristian Science Monitor
December 31, 2007

With the first major test for candidates days away, both party nominations are still wide open…

From Iowa cornfields, a left-tilting tradition

By Maria L. La Ganga
Los Angeles Times
December 30, 2007

Residents point to a progressive core, which has shaped history on desegregation, women's rights and other issues…

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Huckabee Battered With Attack Ads, While Romney Climbs Back in Polls
Tight Democrat Race Also Goes Negative; Obama, Clinton Feud Over Foreign Policy

By Laura Meckler
Wall Street Journal
December 30, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Mike Huckabee's surge in Iowa showed signs of retreat as three new polls found rival Mitt Romney climbing back. The former Arkansas governor again found himself playing defense Sunday, and he responded by saying Mr. Romney cannot be trusted to tell the American people the truth should he be elected…

Democrats May Get Boost From Fervor of Their Voters

By Jonathan Kaufman, Alex Frangos and Amy Chozick
Wall Street Journal
December 31, 2007

As presidential hopefuls from both parties rally support across Iowa ahead of Thursday's caucuses, Democratic voters are showing greater fervor for the race than their Republican counterparts, a difference that could have repercussions throughout the 2008 campaign…

Best Bet for Next President: Prediction Markets
A Wharton economist argues prediction markets can cut through the clutter of polls and pundits.

By Justin Wolfers
Wall Street Journal
December 31, 2007

As the 2008 presidential race heats up, voters are overwhelmed by a flood of new data: Who is ahead in the polls? Who is winning the "money race"? How are the dynamics of the race likely to respond as the candidates tack left and right, advertising strategies change, and we learn whose Web site is drawing more eyeballs?

More Power for Executive: Will It Last?

By Adam Liptak
New York Times
December 31, 2007

President Bush’s successor will have to decide whether to accept and perhaps build on his vision of a muscular executive power, or to relinquish parts of it…

How to Divine Foreign Policy of Candidates

By David E. Sanger
New York Times
December 31, 2007

How the candidates talk about embracing, changing or abandoning the Bush doctrine is a key indicator on how they would engage with the rest of the world…

Immigration Is Defying Easy Answers

By Julia Preston
New York Times
December 31, 2007

The immigration surge of the last decade has awakened tensions of unexpected intensity that have pervaded the campaigns in both parties and stirred voter anger…

Sorting Truth From Campaign Fiction

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post
December 30, 2007

Mitt Romney says he "saw" his father "march" with Martin Luther King Jr. Rudolph W. Giuliani claims that he is one of the "five best-known Americans in the world." According to John McCain, the Constitution established the United States as a "Christian nation." Ron Paul believes that a "NAFTA superhighway" is being planned to link Mexico with Canada and undermine U.S. sovereignty…

Nuclear power gets boost from candidates

By Judy Pasternak
Los Angeles Times
December 30, 2007

Except for Edwards, top contenders in the GOP and Democratic races consider it a possible energy solution…

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Polls Indicate Voter Anxiety on Economy

By David Leonhardt
New York Times
December 31, 2007

A likely cause of anxiety among those polled appears to be related to globalization and technology, and the failure of public policy to keep up with those changes…

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BHUTTO

Bhutto’s Son, 19, Chosen to Lead Her Party

By Somini Sengupta
New York Times
December 31, 2007

The move immediately created a new quandary for the government about whether to delay the Jan. 8 parliamentary election…

New Questions Arise in Killing of Ex-Premier

By JANE PERLEZ
New York Times
December 31, 2007

Indications that Benazir Bhutto’s doctors felt pressured to conform to government accounts of her death added to the pressure for an international inquiry…

Bhutto's Son Chosen As Eventual Party Chief
19-Year-Old's Father To Preside in Interim

By Griff Witte
Washington Post
December 31, 2007

KARACHI, Pakistan, Dec. 30 -- Pakistan's largest and most storied political party chose Sunday to continue its dynastic traditions, anointing the 19-year-old son of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to be her ultimate successor but picking her husband to lead for now…

U.S. Strives to Keep Footing In Tangled Pakistan Situation

By Robin Wright and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post
December 30, 2007

For the Bush administration, there is no Plan B for Pakistan…