The Des Moines Register Debate: Barack Looked Presidential

The highlight of the debate was when Barack took Hillary to task by saying, "Hillary, I will take advice from you as well." As in, you can be VP.

Hillary Is Not Losing, Barack In Winning

The meltdown in the Hillary 2008 camp has turned into quite a circus. Oh, the infighting, the tension, the finger pointing. Quite a sight. These people are not professionals if they don't realize Hillary's lead this year was never real. Ted Kennedy was also above 50% in 1980 to a point. It is called name recognition.

Beware Hillary's New York, California Strategy

That is her new gameplan. Screw January. Bet on NY and CA. Well, we are competing both those places.

• Watch the Democrat Debate and chat live.
• Watch Wednesday's GOP debate.

In The News

Hillary Clinton Gets The Jitters CBS a key member of her inner circle, Harold Ickes, warned that a crowd of Arlington-based operatives descending on the Plains en masse might set off alarm bells, triggering "campaign in panic mode" stories ....... In a symbolic twist, they met halfway -- in Chicago ........ the challenges in turning around a lumbering national organization as events unfolded to the benefit of their less experienced, and nimbler, rival. ....... her earlier aura of inevitability gone ....... If advisers were worried about appearing panicked in early October, some are less able to hide it now. Bill Shaheen, the Clinton co-chairman in New Hampshire, raised questions on Wednesday about Obama's admission that he had tried drugs, a risky tactic that telegraphed the nervousness within the Clinton campaign. ........ Some prominent Clinton supporters said that, while they expected the race to tighten, they are now being forced to scramble. "The level of worry is, they feel like they're in a damned close race," said James Carville, who was a strategist for Bill Clinton and maintains close ties to Hillary Clinton's campaign. ....... "I don't really think there's going to be any kind of, quote, shake-up or anything like that," Carville said. "But will there be some moving around? Sure." ....... Clinton simply did not visit Iowa enough over the summer and early fall ....... No one on her senior staff has ever been through the grueling caucus process, which emphasizes direct contact with voters and is difficult to measure through traditional polls. In one infamous incident, a campaign memo from deputy director Mike Henry floated the idea of skipping the caucuses altogether ......... sheer logistics. About 60 percent of her supporters say they have never been to a caucus ..... not until October that senior officials at Clinton headquarters realized there was something of a disconnect between the candidate and the sentiments of participants in Iowa's quirky system ....... "She got it before anybody else, and she dragged them kicking and screaming to take it seriously and to focus," said one person who has worked for both Clintons. "She recognized you couldn't manage a state from a thousand miles away. You had to get in there, you had to be on the ground, and see and feel what she was seeing and feeling." ......... the caucuses are "first and foremost about relationships ..... what the ramifications would be if she lost or finished third. ........ Former governor Tom Vilsack, a key Clinton surrogate in the state, was quoted the next month as saying the candidate had not initially understood the importance of relationship-building in Iowa - ....... "We were being out-organized," one person directly involved with the effort said flatly. ..... Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, said she never expected to glide to victory in Iowa; if anything, she was simply pleased that "at some point this became a competitive race."

Live-blogging the Democratic debate in Des Moines USA Today
Live Blogging the Democratic Debate New York Times
Stakes High Going into Final Democratic Debate Washington Post
Five questions for Democratic debate Boston Globe
High stakes for Clinton in Democratic debate AFP
Clinton enters debate with race wide open CNN
Democrats battle in Iowa debate BBC News
Live Blogging The Iowa Democratic Debate CBS News, NY
Presidential hopefuls vote for US farm subsidy cap Reuters
Democratic Debate in Iowa Begins Wired News
Last debates could have 'seismic impact' DesMoinesRegister.com most meaningful of the dozens already held this year ...... more than 200 news organizations plan to cover the Register's debates, which will be nationally televised as well as carried live on the Internet, giving them wide reach. ....... The GOP debate will be the 10th this year, while the Democrats' Thursday is the 16th. ...... Romney has put together the Republican field's most extensive campaign organization in Iowa and spent millions of dollars on advertising since February, making the stakes high for him in the state. Romney, on Tuesday, launched the first ad of the 2008 campaign in which a candidate criticizes another by name. ........ moderated by Carolyn Washburn, vice president and editor of The Des Moines Register. ...... Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter said she expects the Democrats to lay out contrasts Thursday but remain wary of coming across as negative. ...... "The caucus winner is always the candidate with the strongest closing argument, the person who best sets up the choice. That choice includes a contrast, but more importantly it includes a vision for the future," said Cutter, 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's communication director. "The candidate who can articulate that will likely emerge from the debate best positioned to win."
Live Blogging the Iowa Democratic Debate Newsweek
Democratic Debate: First Take Atlantic Online But who did best? The audience is undecided Democratic caucus goers. Who stood out? Who was different? Who seemed most presidential? Who parlayed their strengths? Who gave people reasons to believe in the negative stereotypes about them? ..... He wasn’t angry Johnny. He was nice Johnny boy, although he did snip at the moderator at one point and couldn’t resist a jab at Bill Richardson. ...... Iowans don’t like lines. They like nice. Saccharine even. Pure rhetorical glucose, though, and not a sugar substitute. ...... Biden turned a tricky question about his penchant for gaffes into a very good moment wherein Obama personally attested to his hard work on behalf of racial justice. Iowa nice.
Live Blog Of Des Moines Register Democratic Debate (December 13, 2007) Donklephant

How Obama Won a NH Legislator's Support Washington Post, United States he got an extra bounce just before he took the stage. It was in the bowels of the Verizon Center in Manchester, N.H., just moments before Obama joined Oprah and his wife before a crowd of 8,000 ...... first-year congresswoman ..... "He had no idea when he came to the arena. I kept it quiet from everyone," Shea-Porter said in an interview Tuesday. "I told him I believed that he'd bring people out and bring the change we want." ......... Shea-Porter, a social worker by profession, won a following among liberal New Hampshire Democrats with her out-of-nowhere victory last year on an antiwar, grassroots platform over the far-better funded incumbent ..... perhaps the most unexpected of the party's many pickups across the country. ....... a rapid withdrawal from Iraq, single-payer health care in the form of "Medicare for all," and the elimination of the income cap for Social Security taxes. ....... Obama now has in his camp the two newest -- and highest-level -- Democrats on the state scene. ...... President Clinton, who has been known to call to try to head off key endorsements ....... some of Shea-Porter's strongest supporters. "They would walk through water for her" ..... "You aren't helping Hillary when you attack [Shea-Porter] ...I am co-chair of the Hillary Clinton campaign here in New Hampshire, and no, attacking [Shea-Porter] like this is not acceptable to the campaign or to me... If you want to do tough issues comparison on Obama or other candidates, have at it, but this is baloney." .......... self-interest: a belief that she would fare better in her reelection bid next fall with Obama at the top of the ticket. ...... "There's a kinship there," she said. "It's the idea that all the people matter and that the answer comes from getting people involved in the process. ....... Obama was equally effusive in his introduction of Shea-Porter in the arena crowd on Sunday night, which is not surprising in hindsight knowing that he got the word from her just minutes before. "This woman is doing the right thing each and every day, every step of the way," he said.
Shea-Porter: Compelled to endorse Obama Boston Globe Not only was Obama surprised to have her endorsement, Shea-Porter said in an interview she surprised her staff, her supporters and even her own husband. "I kept my own counsel the whole time," she said. ...... Obama's approach for "grassroots" campaigning is what impressed her the most. ....... Asked if Obama's recent momentum in Iowa and New Hampshire was that "compelling reason" and that she could help put in over the top she replied, "What do you think?"
Putting words in Obama's mouth Los Angeles Times, CA
Community role at heart of Obama's run Chicago Sun-Times, United States While many have scoffed at this, thinking community work is not in the making of a U.S. president, it has helped Obama feel comfortable reaching out to individual voters in Iowa. .......... Here's what he told the Chicago Reader in 1995, before he ran for the Illinois Senate: "The political debate is now so skewed, so limited, so distorted. People are hungry for community; they miss it. They are hungry for change." ........ "What is unique about America is that we want those dreams for more than just ourselves -- we want them for other people, as well" ...... Twelve years ago, he told the Reader: "What if a politician were to see his job as that of an organizer, as part teacher and part advocate, one who does not sell voters short but who educates them about the real choices before them? ....... "As an elected public official, for instance, I could bring church and community leaders together easier than I could as a community organizer or lawyer. ...... "We must form grass-root structures that would hold me and other elected officials accountable for their actions." ......... a local organization based on local relationships ..... Clinton didn't really "get" these vagaries of campaigning in Iowa ...... This became clear to me as I have toured the state, noting how many Obama people and John Edwards' helpers were on the ground compared with Clinton's. ...... Clinton thought name recognition would be enough. ....... and he continues to reach out to individual voters, offering precinct parties tonight after the debate sponsored by the Des Moines Register. ........ The Obama team has logged all 30,000 names they collected after Oprah Winfrey's weekend appearances into a database and contacted Iowans on the list with invitations to one of the 1,000 precinct parties. ...... If Obama wins Iowa, it will not be because of arguments about experience or electability. It will be because of his grass-roots efforts. John Norris, an Obama supporter and John Kerry's Iowa state director in 2004, told reporters in a conference call Wednesday that "anytime momentum occurs in the last three weeks [of an election], it's hard to stop." And that's what Obama has now. Momentum.
Clinton Camp Points to Questionnaires From Barack Obama's Past to ... FOX News
Obama vs. Obama Huffington Post I've got to submit that this could get ugly. ...... David Axelrod, who has known Obama since 1992 and worked with him since 2002 ....... Obama's history is that he's been progressive and pragmatic and been able to work with both sides of the aisle and people across the ideological spectrum to get things done ........ "He comes to the table with a point of view, but he's not dogmatic or rigid. He's willing to compromise on details without sacrificing his principles."
Oprah: "I Was Hoping To Run Into Hillary At The Gym" Huffington Post Oprah: "I was hoping to run into her at the gym this morning, and I'd say, 'Hi, how's things going?' ........ Perhaps Oprah will readjust her thinkin' back to what it was in November 2005, when she told Hillary, "I hope you do us a privilege and run for office. ... [For] President of the United States."
Straddling black and white Los Angeles Times, CA I am a year younger than Obama and a shade or two darker, but I have been dogged by the same skepticism, the same "Stalinism of Soul," all my life. ...... In an essay I wrote 20 years ago, fresh out of college, I coined the term "cultural mulatto" to describe black kids like Obama and myself who, regardless of our DNA, were perfectly fluent in both black culture and the dominant American white culture. It's a lot like being bilingual. A typical day in junior high found me reading "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" while listening to Simon & Garfunkel. ......... back in the fifth grade when I was called "oreo" by another black kid before first period and the "n-word" by a white kid at recess. ...... For some black people, it seems that Obama's rock star popularity among whites might make them leery of supporting him themselves. ........ I'm blacker when I'm the black guy in yoga. I'm boojy when I ride the A train to Harlem. And I was never more American than when I was hitchhiking across Uganda. ....... When my blue-eyed grandmother, more white than black by blood, was a child, white society imposed blackness on her because back then, black was like Brylcreem: "A little dab will do ya." ...... I sincerely hope that the race police go the way of the East German Stasi and the KGB. Just a few years ago, however, they were still in full force. I remember when Mariah Carey first topped the charts, friends of mine groused, "Aw, that white girl thinks she can sing." Then it came out that Carey is biracial, and those same friends rushed to claim her as a soul-singing sister......... assistant professor of film at Columbia University
Let's shake fear of the possible Chicago Tribune Andrew Young, a civil rights veteran and former United Nations ambassador, should stay away from microphones. ...... He even hosted a fundraiser for her. But, with supporters like Young bringing up Hillary's least favorite part of her husband's presidency, she doesn't need critics. ...... the grumpiness of an aging crusader whose mind is stuck in the '60s. ....... His ominous tone appeals to a gloomy view of Obama's prospects that I find remarkably common in black conversations. ..... "they" won't let him. ...... "The Man." There's always that old standby devil, institutional racism. In this view, popular with barbershop philosophers and the academic intellectual set, America is too saturated with white supremacy to ever give a black presidential candidate an even break. ....... Michelle Obama, the senator's wife. She attributed the hesitancy she hears in some African-Americans to "the natural fear of possibility." ....... Such fear is a natural byproduct of our historical memory as an oppressed people whose hopes too often have been dashed. ......... I'm old enough to have heard the same pessimism expressed by my Roman Catholic friends about John F. Kennedy's chances in 1960. I heard similar pessimism expressed by some of my Jewish friends about Sen. Joe Lieberman in 2000. I hear it from countless women about Sen. Clinton's chances now. If you expect the worst, many now figure, you won't be disappointed. .......... "I freed thousands of slaves," Harriet Tubman, the great conductor on the Underground Railroad, is quoted as saying. "I could have freed thousands more, if they had known they were slaves." Many of us today are slaves to the past and don't know it. ........ Like other racial pioneers, he finds that he must run more than an ordinary campaign. He has to build a movement across racial lines that can tap into the same spirit of the civil rights movement. ...... he can build that new movement, especially if old movement leaders get out of his way.
Oprah leads praise, and prayers, for Obama Financial Times, UK
Poll: Bill Clinton More Influential Than Oprah NewsMax.com
BLACK ENTERPRISE: Why Barack Obama will be President PR Newswire (press release), NY his platform and strategy. ...... six key reasons he has risen in the polls -- and how he will win the Oval Office this November. ...... Barack Obama first appeared on the cover of BE in October 2004 next to the headline The Next Big Thing in Politics. ...... With his galvanizing message of hope and change, Obama's campaign has created an excitement unmatched by any other, and it brings together diverse sectors of the electorate -- black, white, Latino, young, old, blue-collar, and white-collar. ......... A Message for All People. ..... Hollywood, the Bible Belt, and corporate America..... A Winning Team. Obama has assembled a multi-ethnic lineup of political strategists and an all-star team of more than 200 policy advisers, including heavy-hitters from the Clinton administration............ The Funds to Compete. ..... "We have more small donors than all of the Democratic candidates combined," says Obama. "These are people who will definitely show up to vote." ...... The Black Vote. ..... Support from White America. ... At events, Obama packs them in like a rock star: he drew 10,000 in Iowa City, 7,000 in Ames, and 4,500 in Davenport. ....... America is Ready for a Change. .... America is Ready for a Change. Obama offers the change in leadership that many are seeking: youth and vitality, an unyielding hope for the future, and a rejection of the Washington-inside mind-set. His independence also sets him apart as he is the only candidate who has taken less than 1% of his donations from political action committees and none from lobbyists. He is also pushing for a transparent presidency, one in which voters are more involved with and informed about government activities via the Internet and town hall meetings. "It will no longer be business as usual in the White House," says Obama. "There will be a new openness in Washington."
O'Reilly: "I think that Obama needs to answer some questions about ... Media Matters for America, DC Obama's comments led conservative media figures to question whether he "believe[s] in America"; to describe him as a "domestic insurgent"; and to suggest that he has "patriotism problems." ...... O'Reilly replied: "I always put my hand over my heart during the national anthem myself, but I know that that's not compulsory. But anyway, look, it's a little thing, I think. The bigger thing is that Barack Obama doesn't really want to answer a lot of questions. That's huge." ......... One of the things that I don't like about Senator Obama is that they've kept him away from everybody -- they, his handlers -- and they have. It's a strategy. It's a conscious strategy. Don't let Obama get into anywhere where he has to answer any questions that are tough. I don't like that. You know, if Giuliani can go in and sit with Tim Russert -- he knows Russert's gonna give him a hard time -- then why can't Obama come in and talk to me? ............ I mean, we asked him. He said he would, and he hasn't. Now, maybe, he will down the road, but, you know, look, this is -- it's unlike Hillary Clinton, who you know who she is. You know, I hope she'll come in for an interview someday; I'm not counting on it. But you know who she is. We don't know Obama. ........ look, just be careful of the Internet.
Clinton Basks in Buffett Glow Wall Street Journal Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are vying for the affections of legendary investor Warren Buffett, as the economy eclipses Iraq as a key election issue. ....... he is willing to throw his substantial fund-raising capabilities behind both Sens. Clinton and Obama. ...... "I told both of them that if they ran for president I'd support them, and here we are," Mr. Buffett said ........ an event for Mrs. Clinton in New York in June that raised at least $1 million. ....... "Warren Buffett is a dear friend and somebody I call frequently. He's proving to be an invaluable sounding board," Mr. Obama said recently. ........ "The super-rich have been getting a huge break," Mr. Buffett said, "and it hasn't trickled down." ...... In another effort to show she has the confidence of respected figures from the world of finance, Mrs. Clinton will hold a fund-raiser Friday for 750 attendees in New York during which she will make her first public campaign appearance with Robert Rubin, who served as treasury secretary under Bill Clinton. ..... will join Mrs. Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in a discussion about the economy and foreign policy. Tickets for the event range from $1,000 to more than $25,000.

How Iran's president is being undercut Christian Science Monitor

Live-blogging the Democratic debate in Des Moines USA Today
Stakes High Going into Final Democratic Debate Washington Post
Clinton enters debate with race wide open CNN
In Iowa, A Scrambling Lesson For Clinton CBS News
Clinton, Giuliani Out Front in NJ The Associated Press
Lonely holidays for Britney Spears? New York Daily News
Mars Rover Finding Suggests Once Habitable Environment New York Times
Clinton apologizes to Obama CNN
Obama NH chair to Clinton camp: 'Stop' the dirt Baltimore Sun
High stakes for Clinton in Democratic debate AFP
Democrats Tackle Budget Problems at Final Debate Before Iowa Caucuses FOX News
The audacity of a candidate who isn't ready for the job Seattle Times
Oprah confidant vs. Clinton's mom Los Angeles Times
Why bother voting? Coronate her now. Los Angeles Times Hillary Clinton's state poll numbers are heading south for the winter. Barack Obama reaped a publicity, fundraising, volunteer and poll bonanza over the weekend with his Oprah offensive. There are reports of internal Clinton staff dissension. The Republicans didn't even mention her in their debate yesterday. ....... She continues stonewalling over release of her first lady papers which would -- or perhaps would not -- support her claim of sufficient experience to become chief executive. Two Iowa staffers got canned for forwarding e-mails alleging Obama is Muslim. She got caught planting questions at a public forum. ..... Her popular husband keeps talking about himself on the campaign trail and stepping all over her campaign's messages and making corrections that dominate another day's news and then claiming, typically, that the press misconstrued what he said. After an emergency planning meeting in Chicago, she's pumping more staff into Iowa ....... the soapy, sloppy diversions from the past Clinton years that she proposes to bring back. ....... the good news for Hillary Clinton these days is her negative rankings are steady -- very high but steady. ........ the candidate told a private crowd in a closed fundraiser at a Sacramento restaurant the other night that it's only a matter of time until she wins the nomination. ....... "is all going to be over by Feb. 5." ..... Clinton already has her eyes on California. She told the crowd, which reportedly dumped another $300,000 into her coffers, that she was really going to need the state's support after she won the nomination. ........ "The state is critical," she said, "not only to my victory for the nomination, but for the general election." So she still thinks she's the inevitable victor. ..... Clinton pointed out that absentee ballots start going out tomorrow and she told her Sacramento donors that "more people will have voted absentee by the middle of January than will have voted in New Hampshire, Iowa and a lot of other places combined." ........ According to people who've attended both her forums and Obama's rallies, hers are just that, soporific forums. His, as anyone could see last weekend on C-SPAN, are energized rallies with screams and hundreds of cellphone flashes going off to capture the moment. She's so controlled, she does not talk to the press. Obama does regularly. And the coverage reflects that accessibility. ........ Polls show upwards of half the Democrats remain undecided.
Clinton insiders question top aide's approach Newsday Clinton campaign insiders are increasingly questioning the cautious, poll-driven approach taken by Mark Penn, Hillary Rodham Clinton's top political aide ......... dissatisfaction is growing with Penn, who some say has mistakenly run Clinton as a de facto incumbent. ....... "There are two people who have come up with this strategy - one Hillary Clinton and one Mark Penn" ...... "Mark wanted to run her, basically, for re-election, and we are seeing what happened." ..... "The heat's on Mark. ... He's got a lot of enemies." ..... Clinton's aides insist that no shake-up is imminent and that Penn still has her ear. But they concede Bill Clinton has taken a more active behind-the-scenes role as her campaign flags. ........ For months, tension has been building between the "Hillary" and "Bill" parts of the team ....... Bill Clinton - along with former White House hands, - have counseled her to adopt a far more aggressive approach with Obama. ...... the acrimony has grown as all those races have become toss-ups. ...... Clinton and Obama in a dead heat among New Hampshire Democrats, just weeks after polls in the first primary state showed her with leads approaching 20 percent. ........ Clinton had lost a surprising amount of support from women ....... "Forty-three percent of Democratic primary voters ... say they are still trying to make up their minds." ..... Clinton's Iowa swoon has also revived the internal campaign debate over whether she should have staked so much on Iowa - a mercurial state her husband bypassed in 1992. In addition, some insiders have complained about a lack of communication between campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle and the campaign's Iowa guru Teresa Valmain - one reason Solis Doyle relocated to Des Moines last week. ..... "The top officials on the campaign have never had a real understanding of Iowa"
Bill can't win it for Hillary Boston Globe VOTERS WILL never elect Bill Clinton's wife as president of the United States. They may yet elect Hillary Clinton - if she makes the case. ...... people don't always tell pollsters the truth. And they answer only the questions asked of them. ....... whether the former president once associated with the lyrics "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow" now reminds them of the past? ...... subconscious sabotage? ....... "I always tell people when I speak that you're entitled to discount what I have to say." ....... Hillary Clinton said she turned down his marriage proposals because she was uncertain about her future and scared of commitment and "of Bill's intensity." ........ for-better-or-worse campaign strategy? ....... she must be her own person. She can do that with daughter Chelsea at her side. Her husband comes with political baggage. ...... it's not about asking voters to judge Bill Clinton's two White House terms. It's about getting them to invest in Hillary Clinton's first term. She's the only one who can tell voters what she will fight for. ..... the second-place finish in New Hampshire that relaunched Bill as the comeback kid probably won't be enough to sustain Hillary's campaign. ...... Bill Clinton is alarmed by his wife's slide in the polls and anxious to do what he can to reverse the trend. ..... he should start thinking more like a political strategist, and less like a celebrity spouse. It's more than time for Hillary Clinton to show voters who she is, not remind them who her husband is.

If Hillary Goes Negative, She Finishes Third In Iowa

We are taking Iowa. We are taking New Hampshire.

Hillary's choice is to finish second in Iowa, finish second in New Hampshire.

Or she could let the bad boys of Clinton '92 take over the campaign and talk her into nosediving and letting her slip from bad to worse.

Remember that Bob Novak story? Novak was right. Those bad boys were busy cooking. Either Hillary did not know, or she acted like she did not know. I think she did not know. Only a few days later, the bad boys "hit" - mosquito bite to the Obama 2008 elephant, we did not even notice - with some little something on some PAC whatever.

The boys who made a career out of Clinton '92 need to wake up and realize that they are not going to go back into the mainstream any more than Bill Clinton is going to get a third term. Your time is passe. Make peace.

Yesterday they were talking about "electability" and I am thinking why are they doing our work for us? That is precisely the issue we want to raise against Hillary. Barack as nominee will carry 35 plus states. Hillary will barely win, if that. She is already trailing a-l-l Republicans in the polls.

Today they are digging "drugs," omigod. Drugs. Let me help you out here. I am a helping kind of guy. You are going to want to do some background research on this one to dig the dirt. I recommend flipping through the pages of the Barack Obama autobiography. I believe it is called Dreams From My Father, something like that. All the dirt's right in there. Go, be my guest.

These guys are unbelievable. They are getting desperate. And in their desperation they are sinking the Hillary ship faster than it deserves to.

One top Clinton aide yesterday was saying they would rather Edwards carry Iowa than Obama. Unbelievable. You mean you have so much leeway that you can decide if Obama or Edwards will carry Iowa. If you do have so much leeway, why don't you use it in Hillary's favor instead?

He even suggested doing a Gephardt to pull Barack down to make way for Edwards. Minus that Hillary finishes second. With that Gephardt play, Hillary is looking at third place or worse.

Hillary has to stay positive. If she has any chance of finishing first, that is the only way. If she has any chance of coming second, that is the only way. If she has any chance of becoming Barack's running mate, that is the only way.

If she goes negative now, I wish her all the best with her long career in the US Senate.

We are taking New York City on February 5.

But that is regardless of whatever happens.

We sure as hell are carrying South Carolina.

And while we are at it, we will also take Nevada. Thank you very much.

Hillary 2008 is daydreaming if it thinks it can lose the four January states and still carry February 5. We are taking Illinois, California and New York. Rudy thought of that strategy first, the February 5 strategy. He has since abandoned it. Smart guy.

The boys have been shifting the goal posts. First it was Iowa. Then they said they will make a final stand in New Hampshire. Mark Penn is now already talking about February 5 as the day when they make their final stand. He is right this time. Hillary 2008 is officially over on February 6.

In The News

GOP candidates strike optimistic tone in crucial Iowa debate CNN
ANALYSIS: Huckabee Shines in Lackluster Debate ABC News thoroughly uninteresting ..... nobody really engaged Huckabee, and he was able to speak (mostly unchallenged) in the forthright, plainspoken manner that's won him raves on the stump. ..... Iowans got an unfiltered, unchallenged look at this Huckabee guy who's been all over the news. ...... Mike Huckabee: Nothing happened to slow his momentum, and plenty happened to suggest that it will continue. ..... Alan Keyes: Seriously, why was he on the stage? ... The Des Moines Register: With apologies to my friends at this fine newspaper, the stilted format sapped anything interesting out of the room. A debate that could have gotten to the heart of the big divisions between the candidates instead devolved into a vessel for the delivery of pablum. And it was bad enough to let Keyes on the stage, but did they have to let him trample the time limits, too?
UPDATE 1-Republican rivals find lots of agreement in US debate Reuters
Clinton now faces tough path in New Hampshire Reuters after seeing a big lead slip there, and a top aide denied reports of turmoil in her camp. ..... the former first lady has seen her double-digit lead vanish in New Hampshire. ..... A WMUR/CNN poll showed the New York senator leading Obama 31 percent to 30 percent in the northeastern state ...... three weeks to go until Iowa, Clinton suddenly faced the possibility of losing both of the earliest states ....... Bill Clinton, was alarmed by his wife's poll slide and -- according to one source -- has "literally dozens of ideas" on how to right the ship. ....... "She's in big trouble and she knows it" ..... staff purges might occur. .... said she believed Clinton could survive losing both Iowa and New Hampshire because of her large national lead and strong organization, but that she would need to rebound in South Carolina on January 26. ...... when polls show movement like this in New Hampshire, it is usually attributable to the state's large bloc of independent voters breaking one way or another. ..... The Obama campaign was bracing for negative attacks from the Clinton side heading into the final weeks
Clinton and Obama Camps Both Cheered by Polls Washington Post Long seen as a Clinton stronghold, New Hampshire has suddenly become a second competitive battleground in the Democratic nomination contest. The new poll showed Clinton now in a statistical tie with Obama, 31 percent to 30 percent. .......... Clinton was at 53 percent to 23 percent for Obama and 10 percent for John Edwards ...... Obama's campaign sent out an e-mail highlighting the New Hampshire results and a story warning of an imminent Clinton attack. ..... national polls historically have been far less valuable indicators of the state of play than are polls in the earliest states ........ electorates in places like Iowa and New Hampshire are far ahead of voters elsewhere in taking a measure of the candidates ....... and whose views of the race likely will be changed rapidly by the results in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. ...... Obama has faced a major hurdle because most voters don't really know him. ..... We are also the best organized in Feb 5 states, allowing us to take advantage of a shifting national dynamic. .... Nothing in the way the Clinton campaign is operating, however, suggests anything other than concern about the state of the race right now, regardless of national polls. If anything, the Penn memo was designed as a way to reassure nervous Clinton supporters ....... The Obama campaign clearly senses even more forward motion for their candidate than the dead-heat polls indicate -- and other signs on the ground here support that view. ...... The voters are soon to speak and there's never been a campaign in which their entry into the process, after months and months of inside chatter and analysis and predictions, hasn't changed things. Often in dramatic ways
Election 2008: Every woman's vote is fair game Kansas City Star
Hope Is Spreading Among Obama's Fans CBS News nearly 30,000 -- huge for a primary campaign -- was an ocean of mostly black faces like hers but also many white ones. ..... "I'd never seen a crowd like that here before, ever, in a political rally," Green says. ..... She had planned to back Sen. Hillary Clinton. She wanted to vote for a winner; that seemed to be Clinton. She worried that perceptions of race would derail Obama's campaign, if not sooner, then surely later. But Sunday got her thinking. And Monday, she put her fears aside and declared herself "changed," saying, "I'm settled on Obama now." ....... Clinton, for a time, was the candidate of choice among African Americans. No more. ..... Obama leading Clinton among blacks 37 to 21 percent. ...... "Look, black folk had to fight, had to fight hard, to get a vote in the ballot box. We're pragmatic," Cobb-Hunter continues. "For a while black folk here in the South couldn't imagine that white folk would ever vote for a black man. But white America can. And black America is realizing that." ........ the campaign event of the year, eclipsing the Clintons' first dual appearance on the campaign trail at the Iowa State Fair in July. Not only because of the sheer vastness of the crowd, but also because of its symbolism, in light of America's ugly racial history. ....... Oprah's crossover racial appeal ....... a racially transcendent message. ...... To witness the Oprah-Obama show up close as it traveled from heavily white Des Moines to heavily black Columbia was to see that crossover appeal at work. ........ Are we over race, that still uncured boil on America's psyche? Are we ready to break from our racial and racist past? ..... When I think of Obama, I think of someone who's a change agent, someone who can lead change. Not just from the status quo in Washington -- you know, lobbyists having too much pull -- but from our history, our racial history. ........ Obama? Over Clinton? In Iowa? "I don't want to come off like I don't have faith in America, but I seriously thought that Hillary Clinton had a better chance being the first woman president than Barack Obama being the first black president," says Jones, who is black. ......... The past, as William Faulkner once observed, never really dies in the South. It's somehow always vividly, brazenly alive. It wasn't until 2000, after years of protest from the black community, that the Confederate flag atop the South Carolina statehouse was taken down. ....... a time when, right there on Highway 17 in Charleston, a service station had three bathrooms: one for white females, another for white males, and another for "coloreds," male and female. ....... has been cheering for Obama since the night she watched him give the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Standing in the living room, eyes fixed on her TV, she wept as she listened.
Stars attract the crowds, but not the votes Hindustan Times
Clinton NH Official Warns Obama Will Be Attacked on Drug Use Washington Post Shaheen said, he remains perplexed about why, at this fraught point in history, voters and the media are not giving more attention to experienced Democratic candidates such as Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Biden .......... Shaheen, a lawyer and influential state power broker, mentioned as an example Obama's use of cocaine and marijuana as a young man, which Obama has been open about in his memoir and on the trail. ...... Shaheen, the husband of former N.H. governor Jeanne Shaheen
Yesterday Obama's electability, today his drug use Baltimore Sun
Poll puts Clinton, Obama in Granite State dead heat Boston Herald a steep decline from the double-digit advantage she held just two months ago. It comes just days after Obama appeared in the Granite State with talk show powerhouse Oprah Winfrey. ........ another New Hampshire poll shows Obama slightly ahead .... pegs Obama at 31 percent to Clinton’s 28 percent. ..... Recent media reports detail panic behind the scenes of the Clinton campaign, with former President Bill Clinton scrambling to figure out how to put his wife back on top in Iowa. ...... Clinton’s troubles come as her campaign unleashed caustic attacks on everything from Obama’s healthcare proposal to his kindergarten musings. ..... she made a major blunder earlier this month by publicly calling her newfound negative campaign against Obama “the fun part.” ..... In a Dec. 2 memo titled “Obama tries rewriting history again...” Clinton staffers seek to debunk Obama’s assertion that he is “not running to fulfill some long held plans” to be president. The evidence: “In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled ‘I want to become President,’” the memo reads before going on to quote Obama’s kindergarten teacher.
Obama, Clinton Tied in New Hampshire The Associated Press
Inside Obama's Iowa Ground Game TIME At just 25 years old, Michael Blake may have more to do with Barack Obama's chances of becoming President than anyone besides the candidate himself. That may sound like a stretch, but Blake has the all-important job of bringing in new Iowa voters to caucus for the Illinois Senator. ...... Obama is spending an unprecedented amount of money and effort to turn out a wide cross section of new caucus-goers. ........ "This is the most extensive effort to reach out to new constituencies in the Iowa caucuses, I think, ever," says Blake, who comes from the Bronx and was in the first class of "Yes, We Can!" a program Obama started soon after he was elected to the Senate to train minorities to more effectively use the political system. ....... peer-to-peer contacts. Veterans call veterans, high school students call high school students ...... Latinos make up only 3% of Iowa's population of three million and there are only 67,000 blacks in the whole state ...... sacrifice an hour and a half of their time to argue politics with their neighbors ....... And while Obama could certainly suffer as surprising a defeat as Dean, his supporters believe his operation is very different. ....... "What's the difference? Organization!" ....... an Ames house party last month for a dozen undecided friends and neighbors. Harrington spent nearly two hours cajoling the group over wine and cheese to support Obama. "Dean never asked me to do anything but show up and caucus. This is my fourth one of these for Obama," Harrington said with a wave of his hand around the cozy living room. "And I've got another two this weekend." ....... Harrington's daughter, Caitlin, a freshman at the University of Iowa, organized 47 of her classmates to caucus at home — signing them up through "Rock the Caucus" on Facebook — and is working to find them all home precincts to go to during vacation. ....... campaign workers passed out some 50,000 fliers encouraging students from out of state to return to campus early to participate in the caucuses ....... Obama is also doing his best to appeal across party lines. He has been reaching out to Republican and independent voters who can change their registration at caucus sites by simply signing a letter of intent. ...... The hostess of the Ames house party, Andi Smith, was a former independent who twice voted for President Bush. She switched her registration to support Obama and claims a lot of independents and Republicans will be doing the same on caucus day. ...... Even voters who have seemingly made up their minds to support other Democrats are seen as fair game. ...... "The Obama campaign is very aggressive in asking folks if we're not people's first choice," said Gordon Fischer, a former Iowa Democratic Party state chairman who endorsed Obama two months ago. "The campaign follows up and asks if we can be their second choice."

Oh Oh Oprah

In The News

Giuliani Loses Ground to Huckabee The Associated Press
Illegal immigration now at heart of GOP race Los Angeles Times
Maoists invade north Bihar The Statesman In what is being considered a move by Maoists to get a foothold in north Bihar after they established their “domain” in large parts of south, central and western Bihar, armed extremists raided the house of a panchayat head at Sukki village in Vaishali last night, killing three villagers. The extremists set ablaze two luxury vehicles of the panchayat head who escaped death. The mukhia, Indra Mohan Singh alias Gugul Singh, who has more than 12 cases of kidnapping, extortion and loot lodged against him with various police stations, is alleged to have established a reign of terror and had been challenging the extremists' might. According to reports, about 80 Maoists, dressed in Army and police fatigues, swooped down on the village. Police said about 150 rounds of ammunition were fired. All the three who died were the mukhiya’s kin. Some others sustained injuries. Reports said the Maoists bade the villagers to stay indoors. According to reports, many women took part in the operation that lasted for about an hour. Police said the common people were terrorised by the mukhiya. They have, however, launched a combing operation against the Maoists. On Saturday, the extremists blasted an abandoned three-storeyed police outpost at Mahindbara in Sitamarhi. Maoists have gone on the rampage after a Banka court awarded death sentence to five extremists on 6 December, for killing three policemen two years ago.
US provides $2.3 mn to protect human rights in Nepal Economic Times
Despite Arms Data, New Push for Sanctions on Iran New York Times
Al-Qaeda Group Says It Carried Out Algeria Bombings (Update1) Bloomberg
Hollywood writers strike takes on bitter tone Reuters
Bhutto says free, fair elections needed to thwart extremism International Herald Tribune
Obama in Seattle fundraising stop Seattle Post Intelligencer
Poll: Bill Clinton Far More Influential Among Voters than Oprah ... FOX News
Clinton accuses Obama of being too far left Newsday Using a curious tactic in a Democratic primary season dominated by liberals, Hillary Rodham Clinton Tuesday accused Barack Obama of being too far left to be elected president -- citing a decade-old questionnaire indicating Obama once opposed the death penalty and backed socialized medicine. ...... a surprising new ABC News-Washington Post poll showed her national lead over Obama widening to 30 points ..... "Obama never saw or approved" the document, and the health care, capital punishment and gun control answers weren't consistent with his stances, then or now. ....... Obama leading Clinton 28 percent to 22 percent
Obama and Clinton spar over electability Baltimore Sun
With Reporters Grounded, Obama and Clinton Hold Competing ... Washington Post the two campaigns holding dueling press conferences at precisely the same time. ..... Her endorsement means that Obama now has the backing of both the state's House members. ..... He said that his numbers nationally do not reflect what is happening in early voting states, either in terms of his electability or his popularity overall. "When you ask voters in those early states that are now familiar with my record, her record, other candidates' records, you see a very different result," Obama said. ...... The Clinton call ended a few minutes later. But not before the Clinton campaign issued a statement declaring that he was "forced to defend electability."
Obama narrows gap on Clinton, amid Republican sea change AFP Clinton wins backing from 26 percent for her ties to her husband, former president Bill Clinton ..... with 59 percent saying they had not yet made up their minds, the polls could yet change and be influenced by the first votes to be cast early in January.
If Clinton Loses Iowa, Her "Plan B" The Associated Press two words: New Hampshire. ..... preparing television ads here criticizing Barack Obama's health care plan and working to build what campaigns call a firewall. ..... Possible TV ads to run against him also have been previewed in the state. ...... Advisers to the New York senator acknowledge there's been uneasiness as Obama has risen in national and several early state polls, including Iowa and New Hampshire. But they insist their master blueprint — emphasizing Clinton's experience, toughness and ability to withstand Republican attacks — remains sound. ......... Clinton advisers believe she can survive a loss there to Edwards ...... Edwards' campaign, meanwhile, hopes for a repeat of the Howard Dean-Dick Gephardt scuffle in Iowa that resulted in John Kerry's nomination four years ago. The former North Carolina senator is hanging back and hoping Clinton and Obama destroy each other. ....... Placing second in Iowa to the well-funded, well-organized Obama, the Clinton people acknowledge, could be a much more severe blow. ........ Hinting at Clinton divisiveness, Obama said of overhauling health care, "The issue really is how are we going to get it done because there are all kinds of 10-point plans out there that are gathering dust on the shelf because no one was able to actually pull the country together to deliver." ...... Clinton strategists reject the notion that such an effort is negative. ...... Indeed, Clinton has toned down her sharp criticism of Obama, just days after raising questions about his character and accusing him of peddling "false hope." Her advisers say she had needed to set the record straight after absorbing months of criticism from her rivals, but they have since concluded her barrage didn't work.
Feeling Heat, Clinton Tries Iowa Up Close New York Times Ten months ago, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton went to East High School here on her first trip to Iowa as a presidential candidate ....... Clinton returned to East High School late last week. But the crowd was much smaller and more sedate. ..... she had largely cleared her schedule this week to prepare for the Democratic debate on Thursday ...... The Clinton campaign has doubled its weekly television advertising spending from $400,000 last week to $800,000 this week. ..... the face of the Clinton war room, is planning to drive out here from Washington. (Mr. Wolfson does not like to fly.) Patti Solis Doyle, the national campaign manager, has moved to Des Moines. ....... her aides described former President Bill Clinton as increasingly frustrated that his wife’s campaign has not fought back even more forcefully against efforts by Mr. Obama and former Senator John Edwards to raise questions about Mrs. Clinton’s character. They said that Mr. Clinton had warned for weeks that they were taking a toll on his wife’s candidacy. ........ Mr. Clinton, they said, is still confident that his wife can regain momentum if her campaign presents her message — and particularly criticism of Mr. Obama — more sharply. He took matters into his own hands Monday, campaigning at four events across Iowa to deliver that message: that Mrs. Clinton was a “change agent.” ........ In a sign of internal strains, some of Mrs. Clinton’s associates said they thought Mr. Clinton was struggling to make the adjustment from principal candidate to supportive spouse. ....... Mrs. Clinton’s advisers ... their assessment that Mrs. Clinton was having trouble mastering the political intricacies of this state ......... On her first trip here last January, one adviser said, Mrs. Clinton repeatedly expressed frustration, confiding to one associate that she “had no feel for the place.” .......... Some of her attacks on Mr. Obama, including one in which she questioned his character and another where her staff mocked him for writing a kindergarten essay saying he wanted to be president, were described even by some of her supporters as clumsy. ......... Mrs. Clinton’s advisers said they would continue at least some form of attack on Mr. Obama, even at the risk of allowing Mr. Edwards to gain ground by presenting himself as above the fray. Mrs. Clinton’s aides said they were far more worried about Mr. Obama marching out of Iowa with a victory than they were about Mr. Edwards
Presidential candidate checklist: Heavy coat and boots Boston Globe two states where wind chill competes with politics as December topics for discussion. ...... The storm coated much of Iowa in ice up to an inch thick ...... Huckabee, whose plane managed to land in Omaha, acknowledged that such winter storms were a challenge, especially for a "southern boy" like himself. ...... "When we see weather like this we close everything. We just shut down, go get milk and bread, even if we don't normally have milk and bread, and that's the routine," said Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor. "Then we hole up in our homes for a day and then it melts and we're back to business." ....... Last March, Republican John McCain refused to cancel a weekend bus tour in New Hampshire. Instead, his campaign hired a snow plow to clear the way for the bus. ...... Obama staffers and reporters made the most of the snow last month in New Hampshire, throwing snowballs while the Illinois senator held a private meeting inside a New Hampshire school. Obama, seeing the cameras and their operators, bypassed the skirmish. Last week in Des Moines, a snowman featuring an "O" for Obama was crafted in front of the campaign's headquarters.
Frantic candidates jostle for pole position as Iowa caucus looms Guardian Unlimited The US media had not taken Huckabee, who has the best one-liners but is short on foreign policy detail, seriously. The latest poll has him on 32% to Romney's 20% in Iowa, in spite of Romney having outspent him by 20-to-1. ....... most voters in the early key states have yet to make up their minds and are unlikely to do so until the final week, or even day. ...... Clinton and Obama each have $100m (£49m) to spend, much of it for the caucuses and primaries, with some of it held in reserve for the presidential contest itself. It will be the first billion dollar election. ....... Clinton has faced a surge by Obama since her poor performance in an October 30 debate. He has taken a small lead in Iowa and closed the gap in New Hampshire and South Carolina. ........ The most recent New York Times poll in Iowa had Obama on 30%, Clinton on 26% and Edwards third with 22%. ...... opted for a risky strategy - virtually ignore the small states such as Iowa and New Hampshire and focus on the big states on Super-Duper Tuesday. But he is now worried he could be buried by the media attention the winner of the small states will attract and is putting in time in both Iowa and New Hampshire. ....... John Kerry took Iowa and New Hampshire in 2004 to take the Democratic nomination from favourite Howard Dean.
China Says Dalai Lama Wants to Restore `Serfdom Rule' in Tibet Bloomberg
China Says Dalai Wants Feudal Tibet The Associated Press
Peru’s Ex-President Gets 6 Years for Illicit Search New York Times
China dismisses accusation of religious repression in Tibet Times of India
Nokia Ready To Engage Google And Apple CRN
Mobile wimax Set To Take Off InformationWeek
Mobile wimax subscribers to exceed 80 million by 2013, predicts ... Telecommunications Magazine
Mobile wimax must grab youtube generation Silicon.com
Credit Crisis Prompts Fed to Roll Back Rates Again New York Times
Recent Arrival at Citi Now Runs It New York Times
Clinton Basks in Buffett Glow Wall Street Journal