Clinton 2008

Buoyed by the Iowa caucuses, Barack Obama picked up three points to claim a third of Democratic support in New Hampshire, and move into a tie with Hillary Clinton at 33%. John Edwards also benefited from Iowa in the latest CNN poll, moving up three points to 20%, while Bill Richardson follows with 4%. John McCain heads a more spread-out Republican field. More »

Hillary Clinton lit into Barack Obama during a sometimes testy Democratic debate in New Hampshire tonight, seeking to put a few chinks in his armor three days before the state's crucial primary. Clinton criticized Obama's health plan as inadequate and accused him of flip-flopping on key issues, including Iraqi war funding, as a senator. Obama accused Clinton of distorting his views and said he's been "entirely consistent." More »

GOP and Dem hopefuls alike hammered Barack Obama’s platform in the hours before tonight’s crucial debates in New Hampshire, Reuters reports. Democrat Hillary Clinton, who placed third behind Obama and John Edwards in Iowa’s caucuses, slammed Obama’s health care plan as Romney took a turn blasting his track record, saying, “He’s a nice fella and a very well-spoken fella, but he’s never done it.” More »

Despite a decisive defeat in Iowa—and much second-guessing around the campaign campfire—Hillary Clinton is sticking with the theme that won her third place in Iowa: that she has the experience to bring about change. But some advisers warn that the experience/change message could be a logical contradiction. One said that her campaign is trying to "position" her as a "change" candidate, "but sometimes positioning just isn't available." More »

Presidential candidates were madly shuffling their messages and tactics in New Hampshire today, applying lessons from Iowa and adjusting to NH’s sensibilities, the New York Times reports. Mitt Romney recast himself as a change candidate, while avoiding former go-to issues such as abortion and gay rights. Hillary Clinton threw out her stump speech entirely, instead taking questions, something she’d heretofore avoided. More »

Hillary Clinton's and John McCain's slim New Hampshire leads grew even slimmer in the latest poll, Reuters reports. McCain leads Romney 32% to 30%, within the margin of error in the Reuters/Zogby poll out today. Clinton leads Obama 32% to 28%, and pollsters expect that margin to shrink as Obama gets a boost from his Iowa win. Edwards is at 20%. Most of the polling took place before the Iowa results were known. More »

With President Bush’s tax cuts set to expire in 2010, tax reform could become a key issue in this year’s presidential race, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Most Republican candidates favor extending the cuts, though Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul support eliminating income tax altogether. The Democratic candidates almost universally favor repealing Bush’s cuts but differ slightly in their proposals. More »

With the Iowa caucuses behind us, the New Republic pivots to New Hampshire. The second state to vote will do so Tuesday. What’s in play: Independents. They make up 40% of the electorate and can vote for either party. Barack Obama and John McCain tend to poll well in this group. Youth. In 2004, New Hampshire had massive youth turnout. Obama's been turning out young voters, but Hillary Clinton scores well with them. More »

Round two looks nastier already. As the presidential candidates swarm New Hampshire, a more aggressive wave of attack ads—from outside groups and the candidates themselves—is evident, the Washington Post reports. Labor and teacher unions, along with anti-tax and pro-life groups, have spent $4 million in recent months on mailings and phone calls, taking advantage of a change in campaign finance law. More »

And they’re off! Not just the candidates, but also the pundits. Here’s an early roundup of what four, from both sides of the aisle, say: Talking Points Memo founder Josh Marshall says Mitt Romney’s trouncing makes John McCain the GOP nominee. Marshall’s not happy about that—the lefty says McCain makes a pretty good candidate. More »

She may not have gotten off to a great start in Iowa, but a Hillary Clinton victory in November could give the family access to the only branch of federal government it hasn't cracked yet, CNN's Bill Mears writes—the judicial branch. Indeed, Bill Clinton as Supreme Court justice has been "whispered in legal and political circles ever since Sen. Hillary Clinton became a viable candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination," Mears writes. More »

Iowa's caucuses last night delivered a battering to the two parties' establishment candidates, with voters on both sides endorsing relative newcomers who promise an end to the status quo. A first-term senator with a Kenyan father and a Baptist minister most famous for having lost 100 pounds brought low frontrunners whose lackluster finishes called their electability into question, reports the New York Times . More »

After an embarrassing third-place Iowa finish, Hillary Clinton is refocusing on New Hampshire and taking the gloves off. Her campaign plans to aggressively paint Barack Obama as too inexperienced for the presidency, Politico reports. Clinton barely mentioned Obama’s name in Iowa, but now you can expect attack ads to fly. “Being the underdog will be very liberating,” said one Clinton supporter. More »

John Edwards pressed ahead in New Hampshire today, embracing his underdog status and signaling that he would focus on beating Barack Obama instead of Hillary Clinton, the AP reports. Edwards, who finished just ahead of Clinton for second place in Iowa, said New Hampshire voters now have "two choices," implying that the former first lady's third-place finish had doomed her candidacy. More »

Hillary Clinton is suddenly an underdog and must now prove she has the same resilience her husband showed after a sluggish start in the primaries 15 years ago. The strategy of running as an incumbent  didn't play with Iowans, Margaret Carlson notes on Bloomberg. "The folks in Iowa didn't seem to be yearning for a third Clinton term, hers if not his," Carlson writes.  More »

Barack Obama's decisive victory in Iowa last night defied conventional wisdom, writes the Washington Post , with a new kind of candidate conducting a new kind of campaign. Obama faced substantial pressure to alter his style to aggressively attack Hillary Clinton when her nearly 30-point lead gave her an aura of "inevitability."  But he stuck with his "post-partisan" message to win an overwhelmingly white state by more than eight points over second- and third-place finishers John Edwards and Clinton. More »

Riding a record turnout of young, independent and new voters, Barack Obama decisively won the Democratic caucuses in Iowa last night, with John Edwards narrowly edging out Hillary Clinton for second. With all Democratic precincts reporting, Obama, aiming to be the first black president of the United States, prevailed with a commanding 38%; Edwards took 30% and Clinton 29%, CNN reports. More »

The nightly network newscasts allotted more minutes to the presidential campaign in 2007 than they did in the pre-election years of 2003, 1999, 1995 and 1991—combined. The big three stations have all seen anchor changes since the last round, but Politico divines other reasons for the rise in airtime. There’s no incumbent running, several hopefuls qualify as celebrities, and Obama and Clinton are groundbreaking candidates. More »

How might the presidential race turn on tonight’s Iowa caucuses? What answers await after the election’s first vote? The Washington Post ’s Dan Balz runs down some possibilities: Will either race end immediately? Probably only if Hillary Clinton sweeps How big a bounce can the victors expect? The shortened time between races will help carry winning momentum to New Hampshire Which hopefuls will draw out the most first-time voters? Should be Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee More »

A new poll conducted hours before the Iowa caucus gives a surging Barack Obama a 4-point lead over John Edwards, with Hillary Clinton slipping to third place. The Reuters/Zogby poll puts Obama at 31% support among likely Democratic caucus-goers, with Edwards polling 27% and Clinton 24%. Among Republicans, Mike Huckabee held a six-point lead over nearest rival Mitt Romney. More »