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Scotland Yard to investigate Bhutto assassination

2008-01-02T12:43:00.000-08:00

Gordon Brown today agreed to send a police team from Scotland Yard to Pakistan to help investigate the assassination of the opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

The Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, requested specialist help as serious doubts continued over the government's version of events surrounding her death.

"We would like to know what were the reasons that led to the martyrdom of Benazir Bhutto. I would also like to look into it," Musharraf said in a televised address.

In Iowa, Candidates Make Last-Minute Rally for Votes

2008-01-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

Candidates for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations rallied supporters in Iowa today on the eve of the state's caucuses, as new polls showed tightening races among the leading contenders in both parties.

After spending heavily in Iowa in hopes of building momentum for upcoming primaries in New Hampshire and crucial larger states, the top Democratic contenders -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and former senator John Edwards (N.C.) -- turned their attention to what was shaping up as the largest voter turnout effort in Iowa history.

Clinton, who is locked in a dead heat with Obama in a new Zogby poll, bought air time to deliver a closing two-minute pitch to Iowa voters this evening on local television news programs all over the state. In it, she touts her experience and urges voters to help her "change America."

Obama was also airing a two-minute appeal during the evening newscasts. And Edwards, who is running strong in Iowa, bought a full-page ad in the Des Moines Register as well as a one-minute television spot scheduled for broadcast today.

On the GOP side, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney was in a tight race in Iowa with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. Polls showed Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and former senator Fred Thompson (Tenn.) trailing them in the state. But McCain was making a stronger showing in New Hampshire, which holds its first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday, and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani continued to lead most national polls on the Republican contenders.

"After all the town meetings, the pie and coffee, it all comes down to this: Who is ready to be president and ready to start solving the big challenges we face on Day One," Clinton says in her televised pitch, the Associated Press reported.

She appeals to Iowa voters to "caucus for me tomorrow" and to "help me change America." Repeating a line from her stump speech, she tells Iowans, "I'm not running for president to put Band-Aids on our problems. I'm running to solve them."

In addition to airing its own spot, the Obama campaign e-mailed supporters to portray the Illinois senator as a Democrat who can attract independents and Republicans, AP reported.

Edwards, meanwhile, was using a laid-off Maytag factory worker to make the case that the former vice presidential candidate will fight to keep manufacturing jobs in America.

According to a new Reuters/C-Span/Zogby tracking poll released today, Clinton's support in Iowa has slipped slightly and Obama's has inched up, leaving them tied among likely caucus-goers at 28 percent each on the eve of the caucuses. But Edwards was just two percentage points behind, creating a three-way statistical dead heat, considering the survey's margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

Trailing the top three Democrats with support in the single digits were New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) and Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio), according to this poll.

Among Republicans, Huckabee was leading Romney by 28 percent to 26 percent, with McCain and Thompson both polling 12 percent, the Zogby poll of Iowa caucus-goers found. The survey showed Romney gaining slightly on Huckabee.

Candidates make their closing arguments in Iowa

2008-01-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Three Democrats and two Republicans are virtually tied at the top, according to the latest CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll, and last-minute decisions from undecided voters could push a candidate to the head of the pack.

This week's poll shows that 17 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers said they are still trying to decide which candidate to support, and more than a quarter of Republican caucus-goers said they are still trying to decide.

The White House hopefuls are taking different crunch-time approaches as they try to woo Iowans one day before they head out to vote.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who has been on a 36-hour tour through Iowa, attended a rally around midnight and made stops throughout the morning Wednesday.

Edwards has been trying to convince voters that his passion for change comes from the heart, saying he is the one who is going to help the little guy more than the others. Video Watch how Democratic candidates are spending the final hours »

The campaign for Hillary Clinton has been focusing on portraying her as the candidate with experience. The New York senator's camp has passed out door hangers telling people the stakes are high and they have to vote.

While Clinton's campaign is telling voters she has the track record to make good on her promises, the campaign for Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is telling voters to hope for something different.

In telling Iowa voters that their first-in-the-nation caucus give them "extraordinary privilege," Obama emphasized to Iowa voters that he would be a candidate who would bring about a new style of politics.

Campaigns were working to finalize massive get-out-the-vote efforts to get their supporters to the caucuses Thursday.

The Clinton campaign was distributing hundreds of shovels to help clear the sidewalks of supporters which may be key to getting the first-time caucus-goers out. The Obama camp is organizing baby-sitting services for its supporters.

While all of the Democratic candidates were in Iowa on New Year's Day, the Republicans were spread across the country, possibly reflecting the fact that the Iowa contest has come down to a race between Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.

After a lot of talk of negative campaigning, the front-runners are emphasizing their biographies and what they would do as president.

Romney's camp, however, is focusing on the voters who have committed to him and not those who are still undecided. Video Watch how GOP candidates are courting the undecided »

The former Massachusetts governor has an extensive computer database and his campaign is calling supporters to make sure they get to the caucus.

Romney told CNN Wednesday he is confident of his chances in Iowa, but would be happy with either a first- or second-place showing in the Hawkeye State. Video Watch what Romney says about his Iowa work »

Huckabee, who doesn't have the funds and organization of his chief rival, is relying on the passion among evangelicals and the coalitions who support him to push him ahead Thursday.

The race between Romney and Huckabee has become heated in recent weeks, with Romney airing commercials attacking the former Arkansas governor for his record on immigration and tax policy.

Romney leads with the backing of 31 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers and Huckabee has 28 percent. Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has 13 percent, followed by Arizona Sen. John McCain with 10 percent, according to the CNN/Opinion Research poll released Tuesday.

Candidates do their last-minute shouting in Iowa's wide-open field

2008-01-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

Candidates swarmed the state of Iowa in person and on television today in advance of Thursday's caucuses, which could give new meaning to the term "front-runner" in the most open presidential race in 80 years.

Campaigns were in closing-argument mode in a state where the electorate traditionally stays home. Though Iowa has a population of nearly 3 million, only 124,000 of them caucused for Democrats in 2004, and in 2000, the last competitive GOP race, only 90,000 caucused for Republicans. This year, the first time both parties have had open contests without an incumbent president or incumbent vice president running for the office, interest is high.

Predictions, however, are difficult. The polls are all over the place. Among Democrats, a Des Moines Register poll showed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama leading New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 32% to 25%, but a CNN poll found Clinton leading Obama 33% to 31%.

Among Republicans, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was leading former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the CNN poll, 31% to 28%, but the Register poll showed Huckabee leading Romney 32% to 26%.

Clinton, capping a $6.6-million TV campaign, purchased two minutes of air time in every Iowa market tonight for a last-minute appeal. In the ad, Clinton says, "After all the town meetings, the pie and coffee, it all comes down to this: Who is ready to be president and ready to start solving the big challenges we face on Day 1?"

Fellow Democratic hopeful and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, pitching a populist agenda, is pulling an all-nighter, spending 36 hours before the tally on what his campaign calls "a marathon for the middle class."

Several Democratic campaigns began positioning for the second ballot. Under Democratic caucus rules, if a candidate falls below the 15% threshold in a precinct, his backers are invited to vote for a different candidate on the second ballot.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland told his backers to caucus for Obama on the second ballot. The three top candidates are appealing to the others in the race to endorse them on the second ballot, a practice Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd called unfortunate. "I'm opposed to making any deals to support other candidates," he said on MSNBC.

On the Republican side, Huckabee announced plans to leave Iowa today to fly to California to tape "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," the late-night comic's first broadcast since the writers strike sidelined him. Huckabee took a jab at Romney in an early-morning appearance: "People knew my father from the shipyard -- not Har-vard," he said.

Huckabee, whose surging campaign has benefited from an avalanche of coverage in traditional media, nonetheless railed against "East Coast pundits" and the "chattering class," who don't want him to win, he said. Of the possibility of victory here, he said, "I know it will really upset the chattering class."

Arizona Sen. John McCain is showing a TV ad with a graphic image of a terrorist attack, reminding voters that he is a stalwart defender of the war in Iraq with more foreign policy credentials than the other candidates.

And Romney, stumping in house parties, has been saying that he and his wife would not embarrass the nation with their behavior in the White House, like "in the Clinton years."

In an interview with CNN, Romney said he and his wife, Ann, would "try and represent ourselves and our nation well ... [because] there have been failures in the past in the White House -- if you go back to the Clinton years and recognize that -- that I think had an enormous impact on the culture of our country."

Without mentioning President Bill Clinton's relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, Romney said, "We'll do our very best, our whole family will, to, well, if we can't be perfect, we'll do our best to uphold and be a good example for the kinds of values I think people expect from our leaders."

With reporters on her campaign bus still buzzing over daughter Chelsea's refusal to talk to a 9-year-old reporter from Scholastic News, Hillary Clinton surprised her traveling press corps by delivering coffee and bagels to the bus, noting, "We tried to get New York bagels."

Bill Clinton, stumping for his wife Tuesday in Clinton, Iowa, lamented that he usually spent New Year's Day as a couch potato, watching college football.

"As I was walking out to come here, Hillary looked at me and said, 'Finally, after all these years, I know you do love me.' And I said, 'You do?' She said, 'Absolutely -- you're missing six football games today."

Clinton laughed along with about 300 people at Ashford University, then added:

"I am the quintessential indolent American male on New Year's Day. I just sit around and watch the games, but this is more important."

Weather reports predicted a cold but clear night for the caucuses Thursday. Still, most campaigns, fueled by staff and volunteer forces, offered to help voters get to their polling places.

"We'll shovel your walk, we'll baby-sit your kids," said Clinton campaign manager Terry McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, on MSNBC. "We'll be there for you because she'll be there for you."