6 Democratic candidates court Iowa voters at steak fry

INDIANOLA, Iowa - Six Democratic White House contenders mixed grilled steak and raw politics yesterday, courting Iowa voters with promises of change and pledges to end the Iraq war and reverse many of President Bush's policies.

At Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's 30th annual "steak fry," the candidates sampled the cuisine and fired up a big crowd of Democratic activists in the state that holds the first nominating contest in less than four months.

"Iowa is going to decide who will be the next president, not the chattering classes in Washington, D.C.," said Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico.

More than 12,000 people, a record for the event, gathered on a grassy field normally used as a launching pad for Indianola's summertime hot air balloon races to cheer the White House candidates.

Senator Hillary Clinton of New York leads the Democratic pack in national polls, but in Iowa state polls she is in a three-way dogfight with Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former North Carolina senator John Edwards, the party's 2004 vice presidential nominee.

The candidates urged Iowans to turn out to the polls in the November 2008 election, when Democrats hope to recapture the White House and increase the party's majorities in Congress.

"Some of you out here - you're just sick and tired of George Bush," Obama said. "We need a fundamental change."

Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Bush made it clear last week he had no intention of ending the Iraq war before he left office.

"One of us on this stage is going to have to end the war he started, and that is deadly serious," Biden said.

Obama, Biden, Richardson, Clinton, Edwards, and Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut appeared at the event.

Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and former Alaska senator Mike Gravel were not invited because they do not have active campaigns in Iowa.

REUTERS

Bloomberg eyes giving

NEW YORK - Whether Michael Bloomberg decides to run for president in 2008, it is clear he is serious about building up his philanthropic giving.

The billionaire mayor is expected to disclose shortly that he gave $165 million to more than 1,000 charities in 2006, and is forming an organization called Bloomberg Philanthropies that will organize all of his giving: his personal onetime contributions, his company's donations, and the projects undertaken by the new foundation.

He recently purchased two buildings near his home on Manhattan's Upper East Side to use as the headquarters and has begun to assemble a staff that is sketching out some of the foundation's first projects. He is even recreating another Bloomberg bullpen there - his trademark office arrangement that has everyone sitting together with no walls.

Despite the speculation that Bloomberg will dip into his fortune to bankroll a presidential run, the billionaire insists that when he leaves City Hall at the end of 2009, he will take a vacation and then focus on giving his money away.

But if he were to run for president while also operating a foundation, it would be a historic moment in the philanthropic world and likely a tricky road to navigate.

"It has never happened before - people who are affluent do run for president, but nobody who's had such a major role in philanthropy," said Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy. "Foundations are really not allowed to be involved in politics at all, so he would have to be extra careful so that one world doesn't mess with the other."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Romney rips 'Hillary care'

ANAMOSA, Iowa - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney panned Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan sight unseen, eager to remind voters she failed at "socialized medicine" once before.

Speaking to more than 160 people at a Republican fund-raiser, Romney said he didn't expect anything new from the Democratic presidential candidate and New York senator.

Clinton is scheduled to lay out proposals for universal coverage in a speech at a Des Moines hospital today.

"She says what we need to do is have the government take over healthcare," Romney said."The last thing we need is 'Hillary care.' The last thing we need is socialized medicine."

ASSOCIATED PRESS