(Rudy Giuliani campaign)

A fake version of a Hillary Clinton "baby bond."

If Rudy Giuliani gets his way, Americans will never see one for real.

So his campaign today issued a tongue-in-cheek facsimile of a $5,000 Hillary Clinton "baby bond" as he ridiculed the idea.

Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, last week suggested giving every baby born in America $5,000 to start an account that could eventually be used for college tuition or a down payment on a first home. She said the "baby bonds" would help middle-class families struggling to make ends meet. Her campaign cautioned, however, that it was more of an idea under consideration than a formal proposal.

In a speech today to an anti-tax group in Washington, Giuliani called it a prime example of Democrats free-spending ways.

As he savaged the idea, the Republican presidential contender even managed to get a call-and-response going with the crowd of 1,500 or so, according to a transcript provided by his campaign.

Giuliani: "The first moment I heard Hillary wants to give away $5,000 bonds to every child born in the United States, do you know the first question I asked: How many children are born in the United States? Because I was going to multiply that by the $5,000. Because I ran a city. I've run a business. I know how to make a payroll and I know how to reduce expenses. Do you know how much money it is per year? $20 billion."

Audience: "Oooooh."

Giuliani: "Hillary, that's real money. You and Bill can't afford that. It's got to come out of somebody's pockets. You know who it comes out of?"

Audience: "Mine."

Giuliani: "Yours, mine, hardworking Americans. Hard-earned tax dollars. $20 billion? And it's going to be more than that, because we're going to have to add to that the cost of the large bureaucracy that's going to have to print up the bonds, right? With Hillary's picture on them. You have to print up the bonds. You got to mail them out to all 4 million kids, right? You may just have to check and make sure you're getting valid birth certificates."

NASHUA, N.H. -- Michelle Obama, the straight-talking mother-of-two who moonlights as a campaign-trail surrogate for her husband, has heard enough about how Barack Obama doesn't have the experience to be president.

"Barack is one of the most experienced people that we could have thinking about this presidential election," she told a small gathering this afternoon outside a home in Nashua. "And let me walk you through it."

She did -- recounting his years as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, law school professor, state senator, president of Harvard Law Review, and so on.

"The choices that he's made throughout his life, before even considering a run for the presidency, have consistently been, 'How do I give back?''' she said. "The only thing that Barack doesn't have are many, many years in Washington."

Michelle Obama, making her first fall trip to New Hampshire, reiterated the pointed argument her husband made in a speech earlier this week: If he's so inexperienced, why was he right about Iraq and his rivals not?

"Barack Obama, supposedly the less experienced candidate, was the only person who stood out and said, 'This is wrong,''' she said.

Earlier in the day, Michelle Obama sat down with a handful of women in a Manchester cafe to commiserate over the difficulties of balancing work and family. She made clear she views the press as a distraction from the work of courting such voters, even as she acknowledges she and her husband need others to broadcast their message.

"We're going to get rid of these guys and then we can really talk," she told the women, referring to the small press contingent. Then she peered over and said, "See ya."

The war of words, press releases, and opposition research between Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney on taxes and spending has descended into -- you guessed it -- accusations of hypocrisy and even plagiarism.

The spat -- now in its second day -- started when Romney, during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, bashed Giuliani for opposing the presidential line-item veto and backing a commuter tax while New York's mayor.

After several more exchanges, Giuliani's camp this afternoon blasted a missive, headlined "Romney's Taxachusetts History," criticizing his tax record as Massachusetts governor.

Giuliani told an anti-tax group in Washington today that Republicans were to blame for losing control of Congress last November by spending too much and approving too many pork-barrel projects while they were in charge.

Romney's camp just responded by arguing that Giuliani's message borrowed liberally from ads and speeches last month in which Romney said that Republicans needed to put their own house in order in Washington, including a return to fiscal responsibility.

"If the mayor’s words about wasteful spending sounded familiar today, I'd have to agree," Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said in an email linking to the TV spot. "Thanks for agreeing with Governor Romney's message!"

From the Globe's political desk:

Calling all student videographers -- send us your footage from the 2008 campaign trail!

We are working hard to cover the 2008 presidential race thoroughly and aggressively with our team of reporters and photographers. But we also want to offer college students, political junkies and other citizens the chance to share their views of the race.

Boston.com wants to be the go-to destination for student and citizen videos about the 2008 presidential campaign in New Hampshire (and beyond). We invite you to send us original clips from the campaign trail, and we'll post them on Boston.com for all to see.

We already have four student videos posted on our Video Eye page. Take a look!

For guidelines and instructions on uploading, go to this link to our Sign Up page. If you have any questions, contact us at politics@boston.com.

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Just in case you missed it, Republicans want to be clear: they really hate taxes.

Corporate taxes? Lower 'em, said former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson. Income taxes? They need to be cut so Americans can have more money in their pockets to spend and invest, said former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

And both of those ideas are too tame for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who wants to get rid of the income tax and replace it with a consumption tax to fund a pared-down federal government.

In serial pitches to Americans for Prosperity, a group focused on cutting federal spending and taxes, GOP presidential candidates today pledged their commitment to lower taxes and slammed Democrats for what several of the GOP contenders claimed would inevitably take more money from American workers.

Giuliani, in a speech that received numerous standing ovations from the boisterous, 1,500-strong crowd, blamed his fellow Republicans in Congress for expanding government, and said it was a main reason Republicans lost control of the House and Senate in last year's elections. Under GOP control, Congress during the Bush administration has voted to expand Medicare to include prescription drug coverage; approved tens of billions of dollars in earmarks, commonly known as "pork;'' and created an entirely new federal agency.

"Unfortunately, our party in the Congress became just like the Democrats as far as spending money concerned. Shame on us. Shame on us,'' Giuliani said. "When I'm nominated, we'll have this party back as a party clearly rooted in fiscal discipline: restraining spending, no more earmarks, low taxes, a growth party.''

But Democrats, Giuliani insisted, would be worse. "Republicans are amateur spenders and Democrats are professionals,'' he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Giuliani has come under attack this week by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who has noted that Giuliani opposed the line-item veto and wanted to keep a commuter tax on people who worked in the city but lived elsewhere.

Romney said spending on government programs has created a "culture of dependency'' that leads to increasingly bigger government. In remarks prepared for a speech to the group tonight,

Romney pledged to veto any appropriations bill that totaled more than current spending, plus the inflation rate minus one percentage point.

Huckabee and Texas Representative Ron Paul -- who is in the single digits in polls but has a loyal following of supporters attracted to his libertarian message -- argued against nearly all taxes. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback lifted two heavy volumes he said contained the IRS code, dropping on the lectern with a heavy thud.

"I think it should be taken behind the barn and hit with a dull axe,'' Brownback said.

John McCain had the "Straight Talk Express" in 2000 and now tools around in the "No Surrender" bus.

John Edwards drives the backroads of Iowa in the "Fighting for One America" bus.

Mitt Romney's five sons stopped at every little town in Iowa in an RV they lovingly called the "Mitt Mobile."

And now, in the latest attempt to give the ubiquitous campaign vehicle a catchy name, Hillary Clinton will ride the "Middle Class Express."

She has scheduled a two-day bus tour through Iowa to talk about, among other issues, her tax and healthcare proposals to benefit the middle class. On Monday, she plans to stop in Cedar Rapids, Marshalltown, Boone, and Ames. On Tuesday, the bus stops in Webster City and Humboldt.

Barack Obama is counting on a former Air Force general who broke with Bush administration over the war in Iraq to help him convince voters that his early opposition to the war shows he has the judgment to be president.

In a new TV ad that the campaign unveiled today and that will air in Iowa, former Air Force Chief of Staff Tony McPeak says that "the old Washington hands" let America down and that Obama, a relative newcomer to Washington, is the best hope to restore America's standing in the world.

McPeak, who retired in 1994, campaigned for Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole in 1996 and was a co-chairman of Veterans for Bush in 2000, but has been one of several retired high-ranking military officers who have spoken out against the war.

He accompanied Obama last month in Iowa on several stops.

The 30-second spot is one of Obama's first to focus on foreign policy. He has repeatedly pointed out that his major rivals for the Democratic nomination -- Hillary Clinton and John Edwards -- voted in 2002 in the US Senate to authorize the invasion of Iraq. Obama gave what was billed as a major speech earlier this week on the fifth anniversary of when he first spoke out against the war.

John McCain's presidential hopes rest largely on convincing voters that he is best suited to be commander in chief.

This morning, he received some help making that case from a group of foreign policy luminaries, including secretaries of state and top military officers. Among them: Alexander Haig, Henry Kissinger, and George Shultz.

In an article posted on National Review Online, they list what they call a "panoply of problems" facing the United States in the world and say that "never before in our history have we experienced an international climate of such complexity."

"We strongly endorse the candidacy of Senate McCain and as a matter of deep personal conviction, call upon all Americans to join us in that judgment," they conclude.

McCain, a Vietnam War hero who was a POW after his plane was shot down, has been the most vocal of the Republican presidential hopefuls in support of the so-called surge of US troops in Iraq. He has been speaking at Veterans of Foreign Wars posts in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina on his "No Surrender" tour that appears to have revived his campaign.

Mitt Romney, trying to press his case on an issue near and dear to New Hampshire Republicans, put up a new radio ad today that boasts that he signed on the dotted line of a pledge not to raise taxes.

"I'm proud to be the only major candidate for president to sign the tax pledge. The others have not," he says in the ad. "I signed the tax pledge because I want everyone to know where I stand. We've got to get taxes down and grow our economy."

Romney -- who was the first to sign the pledge but has since been followed by second-tier GOP contenders Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee -- also reminds primary voters of his promises to eliminate the estate tax and roll back income tax rates.

Romney does not mention, however, that while campaigning for governor in Massachusetts in 2002, he refused to sign a similar pledge that his spokesman derided as "government by gimmickry" -- a fact gleefully pointed out today by the campaign of rival Rudy Giuliani.

Romney said in 2002 that while he opposed tax hikes, he did not want to sign anything to tie his hands in office. Once elected, he managed to dig the commonwealth out of a huge budget deficit without any across-the-board tax increases, though he did support assorted fee hikes and closings of what he called corporate tax loopholes.

Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson have given similar reasons to Romney in 2002 in refusing to sign the no-tax pledge from Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reforms. In a debate last month in New Hampshire, Giuliani said he would not sign the pledge as "a matter of principle."

The former New York mayor and Romney have been going at each other hammer and tong on the tax issue since Thursday, when Romney sharply criticized Giuliani for opposing a presidential line-item veto and for supporting a commuter tax.

Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, elbowing for the lead in the New Hampshire primary polls, went at it today on taxes and spending -- a key issue in the famously frugal Granite State.

As witnessed by James Pindell, who writes the Globe's Primary Source blog, Romney called out Giuliani for opposing a line-item presidential veto and supporting a commuter tax while mayor of New York.

Giuliani's campaign quickly organized a conference call with former Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci to question Romney's tax-and-spending record as Bay State governor.

Then, in quick succession, the campaigns sent out competing press releases full of links to newspaper articles and academic studies to show that their candidate was the real fiscal conservative.

Look for a possible reprise Friday in Washington, D.C., where Romney and Giuliani are among the Republican hopefuls scheduled to speak to "Americans for Prosperity," a group that advocates lower spending.

Say what you will about John McCain.

At least he has a sense of humor, an all-too-rare quality on the presidential campaign trail.

His latest nugget came in South Carolina today when he was answering questions about taxes.

The Republican hopeful said that as president he would appoint Alan Greenspan to lead a review of the nation's tax code -- even if the former Federal Reserve chairman, now 81, was dead, the Associated Press reported.

"If he's alive or dead it doesn't matter. If he's dead, just prop him up and put some dark glasses on him like, like 'Weekend at Bernie's,' " McCain joked, referring to the 1989 cult comedy in which two young executives played by Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman keep the illusion alive that their boss isn't dead. "Let's get the best minds in America together and fix this tax code."

Three presidential candidates will take part in a New Hampshire forum on global warming, an advocacy group announced today.

Democrat Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico, and Republicans John McCain, the Arizona senator, and Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, are to address 450 business, labor and community leaders at the Global Warming & Energy Solutions conference on Oct. 12-13 in Manchester.

"We applaud these three candidates for choosing to take part in this important forum," said Adam Markham, executive director of Clean Air-Cool Planet, which is sponsoring the conference. "It demonstrates a real concern about climate change, which we think will serve them well in New Hampshire. We hope the other candidates will follow their lead and take advantage of this opportunity to address the voters of New Hampshire on an issue of local and national concern.”

In the category of political revenge arrives a new ad from a Republican gay rights group that, in an effort to damage Mitt Romney, reminds Republican voters of his evolving position on abortion.

The Log Cabin Republicans, who once considered Romney something of an ally, said today it plans to air a TV spot in Iowa and on national cable that shows the former Massachusetts governor debating Senator Edward M. Kennedy during the 1994 Senate campaign.

"I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country," Romney says in the clip. "I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years that we should sustain and support it."

Romney has said he changed his views on abortion after meeting with a Harvard University stem cell researcher in November 2004 and becoming convinced he could not be publicly supportive of abortion rights while being personally opposed to abortion.

Romney has assiduously been courting social conservatives, some of whom remain skeptical because of what critics call flip-flops on gay rights as well as abortion.

Massachusetts members of Log Cabin Republicans have said that Romney told them while he personally opposed same-sex marriage, he would not crusade against it. But after the Supreme Judicial Court legalized gay marriage, he led the charge for a constitutional amendment banning it. During the campaign, he has advocated a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

"For years he's fought conservatives and religious extremists," the announcer declares in the ad, concluding. "A record of fighting the religious right. A pro-choice record. Massachusetts values. Mitt Romney."

Campaign spokesman Kevin Madden issued a response to the ad: "As Governor Romney has repeatedly made clear, like many other Republicans including Ronald Reagan, he wasn't always pro-life. Governor Romney has said he was wrong and hopes he never stops learning from his mistakes or trying to do what's right.

"This personal, negative attack was launched and paid for by a group recognized as having Mayor Giuliani as their 'favorite' candidate. Governor Romney supports a federal marriage amendment and so it makes sense that a national gay rights group would attack him. The advertisement misrepresents Governor Romney's courage to admit that he had been wrong on this issue and the fact that he is proud of his strong record of defending the sanctity of life."

Mitt Romney raised $10 million during the summer for his presidential bid, but also put in another $8.5 million of his own money, his campaign announced this morning.

Those third-quarter figures bring his totals to $45 million raised and another $17.5 million in loans from his own fortune.

Romney's take during July, August, and September is larger than the $8 million reported by Republican rival Fred Thompson.

But Rudy Giuliani's campaign said this afternoon that it outraised Romney slightly during the third quarter, bringing in about $10.5 million. It said it has $16 million in cash on hand.

"In a continued sign of growing support, our campaign has led the Republican field for the second quarter in a row in the fund-raising race. We're receiving real support from across the country because voters know Rudy Giuliani is the only candidate who has proven leadership, executive experience and can beat the Democrats in November," campaign manager Michael DuHaime said in a statement.

Fred Thompson's campaign announced today that it had raised $9.3 million and John McCain said he raised $5.5 million for the primary. The Republican top-tier candidates are all raising far less than the leading Democrats, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Romney's campaign said it has $9 million in cash to spend and added 23,000 donors, for a total of 100,000.

"Our campaign made considerable progress this quarter expanding Governor Romney's support across the country. From the grassroots victory in Ames to the campaign's first Ask Mitt Anything in California, Governor Romney has built a nationwide network of volunteers and supporters that are energizing our efforts as we work towards the first votes being cast in January," spokesman Kevin Madden said in a statement.

Hillary Clinton is joining the chorus of Democrats bashing President Bush's veto of a bill to expand a health insurance program for children, citing it in new ads to plug her healthcare plan.

The Clinton campaign said the 30-second television spot will start airing today in Iowa and New Hampshire, which will hold the first caucus and first primary, respectively.

The ad mentions her failed attempt to push universal healthcare coverage in 1993 and 1994 while first lady, plus her advocacy of the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Despite public support and support from some Republicans, Bush vetoed the bill, which would add about 3 million kids to the program at an additional cost of $35 billion over five years.

"Hillary stood up for universal healthcare when almost no one else would, and kept standing until six million kids had coverage," the announcer says in the ad. "So now that almost every candidate is standing up for health care for all, which one do you think will never back down?"

Clinton and her chief Democratic rivals have all proposed plans to cover all 47 million Americans without health insurance. Despite her failure as first lady on the issue, an ABC News/Washington Post poll released this week -- which showed her lead over Barack Obama had ballooned to 53 percent to 20 percent -- found that two thirds of Democrats trust her most among the presidential contenders on healthcare.

The Republican National Committee was quick to respond to Clinton, who is the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination.

"What Hillary Clinton has stood behind is using federal coverage of children as a vehicle to realize her vision for government-run healthcare," spokesman Danny Diaz said in an email. "There is a very good reason Hillary Clinton stood alone on mandating government-run care, and as this election season progresses, she will once again find Americans rejecting her efforts to socialize medicine."

By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff

WINDHAM, N.H. -- There was a little guerrilla theater awaiting Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani at a late afternoon campaign stop.

Waving to passing motorists outside the Castleton Banquet & Conference Center was a man wearing a grinning Giuliani mask, a New York Yankees cap, and a sign that said: "Hold on ... My wife is calling."

He held a blue cellphone to his ear. When asked by a reporter who he was or whether he was with a rival campaign, the man pointed to the phone, walked away, and resumed waving to cars on Route 111.

Giuliani, of course, interrupted his speech last month to the National Rifle Association by taking a call on his cellphone from his wife, Judith, and it wasn't the first time. The unusual episode set political tongues-a-wagging. (Watch it here.)

The former mayor of New York City didn't need a phone to be in contact with his wife today; she accompanied him at the event.

Renegade Texas Congressman Ron Paul raised nearly $5.1 million during the summer and had $5.3 million in cash to spend at the end of last month, his campaign announced today.

His haul is more than double the $2.4 million he brought in during the second quarter and bucks the typical slowdown during July, August, and September. His campaign also noted that Republican rivals, including Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and John McCain, appear to have raised less during the third quarter.

Paul's success is eye-opening, given he is barely registering in the national polls. His campaign, however, is benefitting from an unusual cadre of young people, who are supporting him online and increasingly in rallies. Paul espouses a libertarian strain of Republican views and is the only GOP presidential candidate who opposes the war in Iraq.

"Dr. Paul's message is freedom, peace, and prosperity," Paul campaign manager Kent Snyder said in a statement. "As these fund-raising numbers show, more Americans each day are embracing Dr. Paul's message."

Democratic presidential contenders wasted no time jumping all over President Bush's veto today of an expansion of a children's health care program, using words like cruel and unconscionable.

"With the stroke of a pen, President Bush has robbed nearly four million uninsured children of the chance for a healthy start in life and the health coverage they need but can't afford," front-runner Hillary Clinton said in a statement. "These children are invisible to this president, but they aren't invisible to the American people or to the overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress -- and they aren't invisible to me."

Senator Chris Dodd tied the issue to the cost of the war in Iraq.

"With the resources it takes to execute just over three months of the Iraq war, we could fully fund the expansion of health care for needy children that Bush vetoed," he said in a statement. "Indeed, today's veto is another reminder that this war is not only adversely affecting our security but also adversely affecting our other top priorities, and it's time for Congress to do what it must do to end it."

The measure would provide $35 billion more over five years -- generated by raising cigarette taxes -- to add 10 million kids to the program.

Polls show the expansion is popular with the public, and many Republicans also supported it. But Bush says the expansion would go beyond the program's goal and would be a step toward government-run health care.

John Edwards said the veto shows that in the Bush administration, "corporate cronies and insurance industry allies always come first, while children's healthcare comes last."

He called on Congress to override the veto and also had harsh words for Republican presidential hopefuls -- including Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney -- who are supporting Bush's stand.

"Instead of threatening the health care of children, it's time for Bush, and Republicans like McCain, Giuliani, and Romney to start picking on someone their own size," he said in a statement.

There are times when a cartoon perfectly captures the political moment.

Take a look at the one by Drew Friedman in the current issue of The New York Observer.

It depicts Hillary Clinton as Lucy of "Peanuts" fame and Barack Obama as Charlie Brown. Clinton is shown in full cackle, much remarked upon lately, while a glum-looking Obama sighs.

For good reason. Obama gave a much-promoted speech on Tuesday to remind voters that he opposed the Iraq war early -- in stark contrast to Clinton, who voted to authorize the conflict.

But so far, Clinton has managed to shade that difference. And Obama's address was overshadowed by Clinton's announcement that she had raised more money than Obama for the first time. Her campaign said she even had 7,000 more new donors than Obama during the third quarter, stealing one of the few boasts that he could make.

In political terms, it's Lucy pulling the football away at the last moment and Charlie Brown ending up flat on his back.

The cartoon illustrates a story about Obama's campaign honchos trying to reassure supporters frustrated and worried that he is not closing the gap on Clinton. A new poll out today shows that she has expanded her lead in the Democratic field and has surpassed 50 percent support for the first time. More and more pundits are writing about whether anyone or anything can stop Clinton's march to the nomination.

Hillary Clinton woke up to more good news this morning.

Fresh off announcing that she had outraised Barack Obama for the first time, Clinton also broke through the key 50 percent barrier for the first time in a national poll.

In the ABC News/Washington Post survey, her lead has ballooned to 53 percent to 20 percent for Obama, whose support is at the lowest level of the year. Clinton's numbers are up 12 percentage points from last month, while Obama's are down seven percentage points.

John Edwards remains in third place, with 13 percent, according to the poll. All the other Democrats remain in single digits.

Beyond the bottom-line support, the survey shows that Clinton leads by wide margins among Democratic voters on which candidate they trust most on issues such as healthcare, the economy, and the war in Iraq.

In the Republican field, Rudy Giuliani continues to lead with 34 percent, Fred Thompson is a distant second at 17 percent, John McCain dropped to 12 percent, and Mitt Romney stayed at 11 percent. The other Republicans are in single digits, though Mike Huckabee has risen to 8 percent.

The poll was conducted Sept. 27-30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points among Democratic voters and 5 percentage points among Republicans.

Rudy Giuliani launched a new radio ad today in New Hampshire, where polls show he is closing the gap on Mitt Romney in the Republican primary race.

The former New York mayor hits on familiar themes in the 60-second spot: that he was tested in the fight against terrorism on Sept. 11, 2001, and the aftermath of the horrific attack on his city, and that he is the strongest GOP candidate for the November 2008 election.

"I've been tested in a way in which the American people can look to me. They're not going to find perfection, but they're gonna find somebody who's dealt with crisis almost on a regular basis and has had results, results people thought were impossible," Giuliani says in the ad, titled "Tested."

In a CNN/WMUR poll released last week, Giuliani's support among likely Republican primary voters rose to 22 percent, just behind the 23 percent for Romney, whose support dropped 10 percentage points since July despite a barrage of TV ads. Giuliani, who is campaigning in New Hampshire today, leads in national polls.

"Rudy Giuliani," the announcer says at the end of the ad. "The Republican that Democrats just don’t want to run against."

By Sasha Issenberg, Globe Staff

While Hillary Clinton attempts to shade any differences between her Iraq policy and that of her Democratic opponents -- she kicked off last week's debate at Dartmouth College by praising two of their approaches to the war -- one of them is trying to portray her stance as pro-war.

"If you're not ending combat operations, you're not ending the war," former Senator John Edwards plans to say in a forum Wednesday in Portsmouth, N.H., where he will also present new proposals to rein in military contractors drafted in response to the Blackwater scandal.

Edwards has promised to end all combat missions in Iraq and remove all troops who would be involved in them, saying that a force of non-combat personnel would be necessary to protect the US Embassy in Baghdad. Clinton has refused to make such a pledge, citing ongoing an anti-terrorist campaign, while New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has said he will remove all troops from the country.

Edwards, who like Clinton voted to authorize the war in 2002 in the Senate but has been far more profligate in his apologies for it, is trying to use the distinction over troops and their mission to move to Clinton's left on a substantive matter of war policy.

"The debate I expect to have next fall with Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, or whoever's the Republican nominee is whether or not to end the war," Edwards will say, according to his prepared remarks. "But the debate Senator Clinton would be in is how big a war you're going to have."

It's the scream that will never die.

Howard Dean's primal yell after he finished third in the 2004 Iowa caucus was the beginning of the end for the former Vermont governor's presidential hopes.

Now, the Florida Republican Party is recycling it in a TV ad to woo angry Democrats -- and pummel the Democratic establishment for threatening to not seat delegates because Sunshine State Democrats agreed to a Jan. 29 primary in violation of party rules.

The Democratic National Committee, led by Dean, put the hammer down, saying that presidential candidates would be penalized for campaigning in Florida.

The ad snarkily notes that when Dean, in an ever-louder voice, listed state after state that he would go to next, Florida wasn't mentioned. The spot also criticizes the Democratic presidential contenders for abiding by the boycott, while still raising money in the state.

"Tell Dean and the Democrat powerbrokers we won't forget how the Democrats turned their back on Florida," the narrator intones. "Make your vote count. Vote Republican."

By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff

Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign is feeling a little cocky.

Today, the campaign emailed to its supporters and the media a memo that lays out the case for Giuliani's nomination in the fluid Republican contest. The bottom line is the long-running Giuliani spin that he will be more electable in November 2008 because he would force Democrats to expend resources in some states, like New York and California, they usually can take for granted.

From Brent Seaborn, the campaign's strategy director, the memo is mostly a recitation of polling data, noting that the former New York mayor continues to lead the field nationally in all major media polls and has cut into Mitt Romney's lead in the crucial early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Seaborn is also dismissive of Giuliani's three major rivals, saying John McCain "has rebounded ... but seems to have a limited potential for growth;" Romney "has spent tens of millions of dollars yet has failed to become a significant player on the national stage;" and "we have yet to see if Fred Thompson will try to compete as a regional or national candidate."

Seaborn also cites a Gallup Poll released last week that shows Giuliani -- who has a moderate-to-liberal history on abortion, gay rights, immigration, and gun control -- nevertheless leading the field among conservative Republicans and regular church-goers.

It's well-known that Mitt Romney is vastly outspending his Republican rivals in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Still, a head-turning new number shows how much: He just passed the 10,000 TV ad milestone, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG, which tracks political advertising for CNN.

Nearly all the spots ran in Iowa, which hosts the first caucus, and in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary. The former Massachusetts governor is focusing on those two states to build momentum for his presidential bid and has recently begun advertising in South Carolina and Florida, which come up next in the primary calendar.

"This shows that Romney is a force to be reckoned with, and clearly he is relying on paid advertising and paid media to move his campaign," Evan Tracey, chief operating officer of TNS Media Intelligence, told CNN today.

Romney, who reportedly has invested about $8 million for the ad buys, is the first candidate to pass that mark. And by starting the ads early and often, he surged to the head of the pack in the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, though a survey last week showed that his lead is narrowing. John McCain, one of his GOP competitors, just started TV ads over the weekend.

On the Democratic side, TNS Media Intelligence says that Bill Richardson has run the most ads, more than 4,300 -- not that they have boosted him into the top tier of candidates. He is still languishing well behind Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama speaks on the campus of DePaul University in Chicago. (AP photo)

Five years after he first staked out his opposition to the Iraq war, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois today commemorated his "judgment" by drawing his sharpest distinction yet with his leading Democratic presidential rivals, who were early backers of the invasion.

Obama returned to Chicago to mark the five-year anniversary of his speech to an Oct. 2, 2002 antiwar rally, at which he warned that a war in Iraq would only "fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda." Soon after that speech, Congress -- with the assenting votes of Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and former senator John Edwards of North Carolina -- authorized President Bush to go to war.

"So there is a choice that has emerged in this campaign, one that the American people need to understand," Obama said in today's speech at DePaul University, according to prepared remarks. "They should ask themselves: Who got the single most important foreign policy decision since the end of the Cold War right, and who got it wrong?"

He continued, "This is not just a matter of debating the past. It's about who has the best judgment to make the critical decisions of the future."

Obama offered a thinly veiled critique of his Democratic opponents, especially Clinton, whom he hit for not reading pre-war intelligence that cast doubt on Bush's case for war. "No law can give Congress a backbone if it refuses to stand up as the co-equal branch the Constitution made it," he said. "That is why it is not enough to change parties. It is time to change our politics."

Rival campaigns and the Republican Party both sought to throw water on Obama's speech, pointing reporters to Obama's past votes and statements suggesting a more nuanced record on the war. But Obama has made his early opposition to the invasion a cornerstone of his primary campaign.

Obama yesterday also called for a multi-lateral elimination of nuclear weapons; giving the national intelligence director a fixed term, to put it outside of politics; and a greater commitment to declassifying government documents.

Tomorrow in Portsmouth, N.H., Edwards is set to lay out his plan to end the war in Iraq.

The presidential candidates, vying for attention and support in a crowded field, are taking a page out of the playbook of ad men -- gimmicky contests.

Hillary Clinton had supporters pick her campaign theme song (a treacly ballad "You and I" from Celine Dion), picked backers to spend a day on the campaign trail in Iowa (then posted a video on her website), and just offered a chance to watch a debate with her famous hubby to help raise money.

Another instance: Mitt Romney let a supporter mash up a TV spot that will air as the first official presidential campaign ad produced by an amateur.

The latest comes this week: Democrat John Edwards will spend Thursday afternoon in the tiny burg of Columbus, Kentucky, which won an online lobbying contest for a visit through Eventful.com. The town, with a 2000 Census population of 229, managed to outvote much larger places. But it fits in better with Edwards' persona as son-of-mill-worker.

"I am excited by the prospect of meeting the residents of Columbus and hearing what they have to say on the issues that matter most to them," Edwards said in a statement issued by his campaign today. "I grew up in a small rural town, so I've seen firsthand how the problems of rural America too often are forgotten by politicians living and working in far-off capital cities."

It could be the most excitement in Columbus for a long time. Its previous claims to fame are as a key Confederate stronghold during the Civil War because of it overlooked the Mississippi River near the confluence with the Ohio, and when then-President Thomas Jefferson briefly suggested it as a new capital for the infant nation after a fire razed Washington, D.C.

Hillary Clinton is leading Barack Obama in the polls for the Democratic nomination. Now, for the first time, she raised more campaign cash.

Her campaign announced this morning that it raised $27 million during the third quarter and drew 100,000 new donors -- its best quarter yet.

"This is the moment when you showed that America is ready for change and that you are ready to make history. This is the moment when your dedication defied the skeptics," Patti Solis Doyle, Clinton's campaign manager, said in a statement headlined "Our Fundraising is Through the Roof" and posted on the campaign website.

Obama's campaign reported Monday that it had raised more than $20 million and attracted 93,000 new donors.

Of the $27 million Clinton's campaign said it raised during July, August, and September, $22 million is for the primary season and the other $5 million would be for the general election if she wins the nomination.

In money just for the primaries, Clinton still trails Obama with about $62 million total, compared to about $75 million for Obama. But she has raised nearly $18 million for the general election campaign, compared to about $4 million for Obama. Clinton also has $10 million she transferred from her US Senate account.

Voters in Iowa and New Hampshire -- who get an outsized role in deciding the major-party nominees -- do their civic duty and turn out in droves for the general election, the Census Bureau reported today.

In the 2004 presidential race, 71 percent of registered voters cast ballots in Iowa, which holds the first caucus, and 72 percent voted in New Hampshire, home to the first primary.

Only six other states had voting rates of 70 percent or more, led by Minnesota with 79 percent. The others: Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Overall, 126 million people voted in November 2004, an all-time high for a presidential election.

The presidential candidates' third-quarter fund-raising figures are trickling in, and it appears to be another big quarter for Barack Obama, who announced $19 million in contributions for the primary election, and 93,000 new contributors. Through September, Obama has now raised $75 million in primary funds from a whopping 352,000 donors.

Obama's campaign is framing his numbers as a direct challenge to the thinking that rival Hillary Clinton, who leads in most polls, looks poised to capture the nomination.

“Many in Washington have spent the last weeks declaring that outcome of this race to be pre-ordained, and the primary process a mere formality,” Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, said in a statement. “Yet, in this quarter alone, 93,000 more Americans joined our campaign, because they desire real change and believe Barack Obama is the one candidate who can deliver it. This grassroots movement for change will not be deterred by Washington conventional wisdom because in many ways it is built to challenge it.”

Clinton has not yet released her fund-raising figures for the third quarter, but the other leading Democrat, John Edwards, just announced that he pulled in $7 million in July, August, and September. Edwards's campaign says the amount puts them on track to raise the $40 million it says it needed.

“We are thrilled with the support we've received from people across the country,” Deputy Campaign Manager Jonathan Prince said in a statement. “Americans from every walk of life are responding to Senator Edwards's message and bold plans to change Washington."

His campaign said that nearly half of their donors last quarter were from first-time contributors. More than 150,000 people have donated to Edwards so far this year, many of them in small amounts. Last week, Edwards said he would seek public financing, a decision some political observers read as an admission that he could not raise enough on his own to compete with Clinton and Obama.

Your move, Clinton.

Ann Romney, the former first lady of Massachusetts and wannabe-first lady of the United States, launched her own website today.

She has been playing an increasingly visible role in her husband's presidential bid, not only appearing with Mitt Romney but also speaking on her own. Their long marriage stands in stark contrast to the histories of Republican rivals Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson.

The website includes a list of stories about her, videos of her campaign appearances, a list of her causes (multiple sclerosis chief among them), her battle with MS, and her recipes (her grandmother's Welsh skillet, which she makes for every family gathering).

A new Iowa poll shows Mitt Romney ahead among Republicans and Barack Obama leading narrowly on the Democratic side.

The survey -- conducted for Newsweek magazine and released in the current issue of the magazine that has Romney on the cover -- has Romney with the support of 24 percent of likely GOP caucus-goers, compared to 16 percent for Fred Thompson, 13 percent for Rudy Giuliani, 12 percent for Mike Huckabee, and 9 percent for John McCain.

Obama has 28 percent among likely Democratic caucus-goers, ahead of 24 percent for Hillary Clinton, 22 percent for John
Edwards, and 10 percent for Bill Richardson.

Besides the horserace numbers, the poll includes some other interesting findings:

• Two-thirds of both Democrats and Republicans said they think America is ready to elect an African-American president.

• 72 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of Democrats said they themselves would be willing to vote for a Mormon, but only 45 percent of Republicans and 33 percent of Democrats said they think America is ready to elect a Mormon as president.

• 78 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers had a favorable opinion of Romney, 77 percent said that he is able to get things done, 49 percent said he can bring needed change, and only 25 percent said that he flip-flops his positions too much on important issues.

• 77 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers said they had a favorable opinion of Clinton, 79 percent said it would be a good thing if former President Clinton were back in the White House, and a majority said that her position on the Iraq war does not affect their support.
  

The poll of 1,215 registered voters was conducted on Sept. 26 and 27 by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The margin of error for likely Democratic voters is plus or minus 7 percentage points and for likely Republican voters is plus or minus 9 percentage points.