COLUMBIA, S.C. - If Senator Barack Obama's campaign is worried about relying too much on independents and Republicans to win Democratic primaries, it isn't showing it.
A new 60-second TV ad that's running nationally on CNN and MSNBC focuses largely on Obama's work with Republicans in the Illinois Legislature and in the US Senate, and it features yet another clip from Obama's now-famous rejection of the red state-blue state dichotomy, during his address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.
"This is a man who knows how to get things done," Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who recently threw her support to Obama, says in the ad. "He understands that we've gotta move forward with a different kind of politics."
Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign protested Obama's new ad, calling it a "clear and blatant violation" of a pledge the Democratic candidates made last year not to campaign in Florida after the national Democratic Party punished the state for moving its primary to a date earlier than was sanctioned. Many Florida homes watch CNN and MSNBC, her campaign noted. "The Obama campaign knows this, but has chosen to violate the pledge regardless," her campaign said in a statement.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton responded in a statement that the two networks said it would be impossible to exclude Florida TV sets from a national ad.
"For that reason we consulted with the South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler, who told us unequivocally she did not consider this to be in violation of pledge made to the early states," Burton said.
SCOTT HELMAN
Giuliani, losing lead in N.Y., will return to home state
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, his campaign reeling from three polls released yesterday showing him trailing John McCain in his home state, is scheduled to leave Florida today to return to New York for fund- raising events.
In a Siena College survey, the senator from Arizona led Giuliani 36 percent to 24 percent, with Mitt Romney third at 10 percent. In a WNBC/Marist poll, McCain led with 34 percent among likely Republican voters, with Giuliani and Romney tied for second at 19 percent.
And in a Zogby International poll, Giuliani trailed McCain, 24 percent to 21 percent with Romney third at 14 percent. Twenty percent said they were "not sure."
A Siena poll in December showed Giuliani with a 33-point lead over McCain in New York, which is holding one of 21 Republican contests on Feb. 5.
Giuliani's campaign said he is returning to New York City this afternoon to attend fund-raising events. Giuliani, whose once- commanding leads in national, Florida, and many other state polls have disappeared, has been campaigning in Florida for almost two weeks.
He has bypassed most of the early-voting states to concentrate on Florida, which holds its primary next Tuesday.
BRIAN C. MOONEY
Giuliani campaign bus pays visit to Daytona speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Rudy Giuliani sped across the finish line in Florida yesterday as his campaign bus took a detour from its two-day, eight-stop tour of Florida for a visit to Daytona International Speedway.
Aides assembled the media traveling with him in the grassy infield, setting up the camera shots they wanted - pictures of the candidate's giant "Florida is Rudy Country" bus tearing around the track and across the black-and-white finish line.
The coach roared past the media pack, not at race speeds but fast enough to keep from tipping over on the track. Giuliani grinned in the front passenger seat.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
