Senator Joe Biden, Democrat of Delaware, made a campaign stop yesterday at a brewing company in Des Moines.
(Jeff Chiu/associated press)
Campaign Notebook
Even as he stumped across Iowa in search of every possible supporter in tomorrow's caucuses, Mitt Romney yesterday launched a new TV ad in New Hampshire.
Like his latest ad in Iowa, the new Granite State ad is positive, and it is more forward-looking than other Romney ads.
"No one votes for yesterday," Romney says in the spot. "We vote for tomorrow. Every election is about the future. Many are pessimistic. I'm not. In the next ten years, we'll see more progress, more change than the world has seen in the last ten centuries.
"Our next president must unleash the promise and innovation of the American people," he continues. "I'm ready for the challenge. The future begins now."
It's another example of how the accelerated, truncated nomination calendar - which brings the New Hampshire primary just five days after Iowa - is forcing candidates to fight a two-front battle. Romney is particularly affected, going up against Mike Huckabee in Iowa while competing against John McCain in New Hampshire.
McCain, who campaigned yesterday in New Hampshire and plans to be back in Iowa today and tomorrow, unveiled a new Web-only ad that contrasts his experience on foreign policy with Romney's. After complaining about Romney's attack ads on him, the spot is hard-hitting. It features images of victims of terrorist attacks, then shows Islamic militants, guns raised in the air.
"Mitt Romney says the next president doesn't need foreign policy experience," the announcer says, citing a comment that Romney made Saturday on Fox News Channel. "John McCain for president."
Romney hit back with his own Web-only ad, highlighting his endorsement by the National Review, which said Romney is the "full-spectrum conservative" in the Republican race.
FOON RHEE
Paul's fund-raising totals fail to lift poll numbers
Ron Paul's presidential campaign said yesterday it raised nearly $20 million in the last three months of 2007 from 130,000 donors.
His haul is far above the campaign's $12 million goal for the fourth quarter. And while his Republican rivals have not disclosed their fund-raising totals, Paul's total is nearly double the amount any GOP candidate raised in the third quarter - about $10.5 million for Rudy Giuliani and $10 million for Mitt Romney.
Paul's campaign said that more than 107,000 donors were new and the average donation was about $90.
Paul's fund-raising success, however, has not translated into the poll numbers. And his low standing is freezing him out of a Fox News debate Sunday in New Hampshire, though he and his supporters are protesting that decision.
FOON RHEE
Biden touts experience with foreign policy
DES MOINES - Senator Joe Biden of Delaware told Iowa voters yesterday that he, alone among the Democratic contenders, has the experience and knowledge "to know exactly what to do" from his first day in office about difficult foreign policy issues.
To underscore his point, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman took a swipe at rivals Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson for recent statements, which he said showed neither candidate is ready to deal with problems in Pakistan - the nuclear-armed Muslim nation where last week's assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto unleashed chaos - as well as he.
"We have a number of candidates who are well-intended, but don't even understand Pakistan," Biden said.
Biden did not explicitly name his rivals, but made clear whom he was referencing. He said Clinton has mistakenly suggested that President Pervez Musharraf is on the ballot in upcoming elections in Pakistan, when they are parliamentary contests.
He also chided Richardson for saying Vice President Cheney should be sent to Pakistan to persuade Musharraf to step down.
CHARLIE SAVAGE
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