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 Clinton campaigns with Magic
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama has media mogul Oprah Winfrey. His rival Hillary Rodham Clinton has Magic.
Basketball legend Magic Johnson said the reason he chose to support Clinton's candidacy for president over Obama's is because of her background in public service.
"Thirty years of experience. This country needs a leader with experience. This isn't going to be an easy job," said Johnson, a former Los Angeles Lakers star.
Johnson spoke to reporters after having breakfast at a coffee shop with the New York senator and her husband, former President Clinton. The two men had a full schedule of joint campaign events Tuesday across Iowa.
Johnson called the former first lady "a good friend and the person I think is the best to bring the country back to where we once were."
Mrs. Clinton is in the midst of a five-day tour of Iowa, seeking to energize supporters in the final 2 1/2 weeks before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.
At an afternoon stop in Ottumwa, Iowa, she warned that workers are under historically high financial pressure and vowed to "set it right."
She told about 300 people gathered in the blue-collar city in southern Iowa that her ties to working families has brought her the backing of unions across the country.
"I have endorsements from unions totaling 6 million members, far more than any of my opponents," Clinton said. "Why did they endorse me? Because they looked at what I've done. It's not just what you say but what you do and I've been a strong advocate for working families for years."
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Huckabee stands by Christmas ad
HOUSTON (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Tuesday defended his Christmas ad amid suggestions that the ordained Baptist minister had gone too far mixing religion and politics.
The ad, which is airing in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, shows Huckabee in front of a Christmas tree as he says, "Are you about worn out by all the television commercials you've been seeing, mostly about politics? Well, I don't blame you. At this time of year sometimes it's nice to pull aside from all of that and just remember that what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and friends."
Huckabee is courting evangelical voters and other religious conservatives in his bid to win the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3. In Texas for a fundraiser, he said the ad was a harmless holiday greeting even though it excludes other religions.
"If we are so politically correct in this country that a person can't say enough of the nonsense with the political attack ads could we pause for a few days and say Merry Christmas to each other then we're really, really in trouble as a country," Huckabee said.
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McCain emphasizes his tax plan in N.H.
SALEM, N.H. (AP) -- John McCain, campaigning in New Hampshire, stressed his proposal to repeal the alternative minimum tax, a step the Republican presidential candidate said would save middle class families about $2,700 each in 2010.
"I worry about obviously any reduction in revenues, but to have basically two tax codes in America is not an acceptable system," McCain said.
The AMT was originally created to make sure that the wealthy do not entirely escape income taxes. But the legislation did not require it be adjusted for inflation, and as a result, it now affects millions of middle class families.
The Arizona senator also favors making tax cuts enacted during President Bush's tenure permanent. He said Democratic plans to cancel some of them would impose a "crippling tax increase in 2011."
More broadly, he predicted the American public would eventually rebel against the present tax code, which he said is both unfair and incomprehensible. He said if he wins the White House, he would propose appointing a commission headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to recommend an overhaul. "Congress would have to vote up or down" within 60 days, he said, with no amendments allowed.
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Clinton raises mil on Obama turf
CHICAGO (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton veered off the Iowa campaign trail Tuesday evening to raise money in the hometown of her chief rival, Sen. Barack Obama.
She urged supporters to cross the border and go to Iowa to help her campaign as it heads into the Jan. 3 caucuses there, where the New York senator is in a tight, three-way contest with Obama and former North Carolina senator John Edwards.
"So if you can come to Iowa let us know, because we'll put you to work
-- there are phone calls to be made, doors to be knocked on, people to be driven to the caucuses and we need as many helpers and volunteers as possible," Clinton told several hundred people at one of two fundraisers.
Clinton's campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, told the crowd the events raised $1 million. They included a fundraiser where tickets could be had for as little as $25 and a pricier event where tickets went for $2,300.
As Clinton raised money in Obama's hometown, she reminded people of her connections to the state. She talked about growing up in a Chicago suburb and about the popularity her husband, former President Clinton, has enjoyed in Illinois.
___ Group: Dems have strong climate policies
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A major environmental voting group gave high marks to Republican John McCain and all the Democratic presidential contenders for their focus on addressing global warming and energy challenges.
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 The League of Conservation Voters said McCain, an Arizona senator, stands out among his Republican rivals in making global warming an issue on the campaign trail. He was the only GOP candidate to return the organization's questionnaire.
Of the Democratic candidates, the organization's president Gene Karpinski said: "They have strong, aggressive policies and they've made it clear that it's a top priority."
The group Tuesday released a voter guide that outlines six Republicans and seven Democrats' positions and includes those candidates in the top tier. It compares their policies with the organization's position and lists a score based on their voting records.
Democrat Barack Obama had the highest score at 96 on a scale of 0 to 100. He was followed by fellow Democrats Dennis Kucinich at 92 and Hillary Rodham Clinton at 90. Republican Ron Paul earned a score of 30, four points higher than McCain.
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Edwards campaign releases movie trailer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic John Edwards' campaign is showing an online "movie trailer" to encourage Iowans to support the presidential hopeful at the state's caucus on Jan. 3.
The trailer opens with the familiar green screen and rating details that moviegoers often see before films, only it reads "The following preview has been rated CG for caucus going audiences."
The trailer cuts to pictures of cornfields, and a narrator says: "In a world where corn grows tall and hope grows taller, where people have a special power to decide the fate of a nation, in our most desperate hour, one man can clean up George Bush's mess."
The video, posted on the campaign's Web site, lasts a little more than a minute. It features a montage of images, including pictures of Edwards on the campaign trail and President Bush beneath a "Mission Accomplished" banner.
"On January 3rd, a candidate will rise, a party will unite and a nation will be redeemed," the narrator says.
Actor Kevin Bacon sent an e-mail to Iowa supporters on behalf of the Edwards campaign, telling them to check out the video and share it with friends.
"With only 16 days left until the caucuses, it's critical that we all step up and help John Edwards right away," Bacon wrote.
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Romney shrugs off photo
WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Mitt Romney dismissed a picture on the Internet on Tuesday that apparently showed him attending a fundraising reception for Planned Parenthood in 1994 during his Senate campaign.
"I attend a lot of events when I run for office. I don't recall the specific event," the former Massachusetts governor said as he campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination. "I think I've made it very clear. I was pro-choice, or effectively pro-choice, when I ran in 1994. As governor I'm pro-life and I have a record of being pro-life and I'm firmly pro-life today."
Romney's reversal on abortion has dogged him throughout his White House bid, as has the revelation that Romney's wife, Ann, had donated $150 to Planned Parenthood as her husband ran for the Senate more than a decade ago.
ABC News obtained the photograph that showed the Romneys talking with local political activists, including Nicki Nichols Gamble, the then-president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. She told ABC that the event was a Planned Parenthood fundraising "house party" in Cohasset, Mass., in June 1994
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SCHEDULE:
THE DEMOCRATS
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson talk to voters in Iowa before fundraising in Illinois. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Chris Dodd of Connecticut also have events in Iowa.
Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich holds town hall meetings in New Hampshire.
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THE REPUBLICANS
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee raises money in Houston and Dallas.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona talks to voters in New Hampshire.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney stops in South Carolina and Georgia.
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson campaigns in Iowa.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"I will confess this: If you play the spot backwards it says, 'Paul is dead. Paul is dead,'" Huckabee saying the bookshelf is just a bookshelf in his Christmas ad. He was joking about the Beatles' recording of "The White Album" and the urban legend that if a portion of the album is played backwards, the words "Paul is dead" is heard, a reference to the very much alive Paul McCartney.
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STAT OF THE DAY:
Some 59 percent of GOP voters see John McCain as ethical, compared with 54 percent for Rudy Giuliani, 45 percent for Fred Thompson and 42 percent for Mitt Romney, according to a November AP-Yahoo News survey.
[Associated
Press]
Compiled by Ann Sanner.
Copyright 2007 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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