Iowa Farm Town Meditative About Caucuses

He's out of touch with regular Americans, Romney argues

(NEWSER) - In Iowa yesterday, Mitt Romney attempted to turn around a common complaint about himself and use it against Barack Obama, accusing the president of being out of touch. Referring to Obama's statement last year that "things would have been a lot worse" without his stimulus plan, Romney told the Huffington Post , "When the president's characterization of our economy was, 'It could be worse,' it reminded me of Marie Antoinette: 'Let them eat cake.' This is not a time to be talking about, 'It could be worse.' It's a time to recognize that things should be better." More»

Ex-senator's fall from grace touches off second-guessing

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton strategist Mark Penn is kicking himself in the wake of reports that Elizabeth Edwards thinks her husband shouldn't have run for president, ABC News reports. If news of John Edwards' infidelity had forced him to drop out of the race, Penn said, “No question in my mind, it would have been a very different race.” More»

Basketball is essential outlet when things get tense

(NEWSER) - For Barack Obama, shooting hoops is an essential element of any tense day. In frequent sessions usually closed to reporters, the senator faces off with friends from the campaign and elsewhere, even flying in Chicago buddies to hit the court, the Los Angeles Times reports. But his aides make sure he’s careful: He wouldn’t want to “turn up with a busted lip” at a key event. More»

...and hence the nomination

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton’s former communications director is convinced that had the media outed John Edwards last year, Clinton would be the Democratic nominee. “We would have won Iowa,” Howard Wolfson tells ABC. “Our voters and Edwards’ voters were the same people. They were older, pro-union.” Obama won Iowa with 37.6% of the vote, followed by Edwards with 29.7% and Clinton with 29.5%. More»

(NEWSER) - A no-traffic-light, one-store New Hampshire town is scrambling to prepare for Friday's joint appearance by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the first since she bowed out of the presidential race and endorsed him, reports the Concord Monitor. They're the biggest names to hit town since Arlo Guthrie in 1979, but maybe civic leaders shouldn't be too surprised—the town's name is Unity. More»