Ann and Mitt Romney's seemingly picture-perfect marriage has been a staple of his campaign image as someone with strong family values. She even has her own website.

But perhaps surprisingly, the Romney union rates only sixth in a Ladies' Home Journal survey of women, who were asked to rank the happiness of presidential candidate marriages.

Of the women surveyed, 24 percent said they think the Romney's have a happy marriage. That's less than the 34 percent who think that of Rudy Giuliani's marriage to the former Judith Nathan, his third marriage, and 29 percent who say that's the case for Hillary and Bill Clinton, whose ups and downs have been well chronicled over the years, according to the survey released today.

It could be that the Romneys appear too perfect.

"This poll reflects a fairly recent –- and historically unprecedented – change in people's expectations of marriage and of public figures," Stephanie Coontz, a nationally acclaimed marriage historian and contributing editor to the magazine, said in a press release on the survey results. "Only in the past 50 years have people begun to judge a marriage more by its internal emotional quality than by its public appearance of respectability."

Of Giuliani's surprisingly high ranking, Coontz says it is "an interesting sign of change. People are willing to give male politicians, at least, a second, or even third, chance at happiness."

In the survey, the marriage of John and Elizabeth Edwards was most seen as happy, by 52 percent of those surveyed. They have been married for 30 years, and she is fighting breast cancer for the second time.

The poll also shows a wide gap between black and white women on whether their perception of a candidate's marriage would affect their vote. While 62 percent of African-American women say it wouldn't, only 39 percent of white women say that.

The poll of 502 women ages 18 and older was conducted Sept. 6-10, and has margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff

There's a bit of a tizzy today in the Democratic primary race over comments Hillary Clinton made yesterday at a New Hampshire apple orchard about negotiating with Iran, but it might all be a big misunderstanding.

Clinton has called Barack Obama naive for saying that he would personally negotiate with notorious world leaders including Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So the Associated Press flagged it yesterday when Clinton said, "I would engage in negotiations with Iran, with no conditions because we don't really understand how Iran works."

Obama and John Edwards' campaigns seized on the remarks. "So I’m not sure if any of us knows exactly where she stands on this," Obama said today in Des Moines. "But I can tell you this: when I am President of the United States, the American people and the world will always know where I stand."

"The American people deserve a president who will tell them the truth and offer straight answers, not flip-flops and political double-speak," Edwards communications director Chris Kofinis said in a statement.

However, Clinton seems guilty more of lack of specificity than flip-flopping. Her aides say she meant that her administration would negotiate with Iran, not that she herself would sit down with Ahmadinejad. And she's been saying that for some time.

"Senator Clinton did not say that the U.S. President should pre-commit to meetings with the leaders of Iran or other rogue states during the first year of her presidency," her communications director Howard Wolfson said in a statement. "Rather, Senator Clinton was clearly referring to diplomacy between nations as she has repeatedly and consistently done for months."

It sounded like the perfect pitch for a presidential hopeful who is a lifelong Red Sox fan -- hold a contest for a playoff ticket to drum up support.

But it turned out to be a foul ball for Democrat Chris Dodd.

Major League Baseball objected to the contest, in which supporters had to register on Dodd's website and contribute at least $20.04 (marking the year of the Sox World Series win) or sign up 24 other supporters for the chance to sit next to Dodd at Game 6 of the American League championship series.

Under the contest, if the Sox won the series before Game 6, the winner was to get to go to Game 2 of the World Series with Dodd at Fenway. If the Cleveland Indians won the series before Game 6, the backup prize was a day on the campaign trail with Dodd in either Iowa or New Hampshire.

Today, the website for the contest was blank.

"It is indeed off due to MLB objection," Dodd campaign spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said in an email statement. "The people who had participated will be offered their money back, or they can choose to stay in the running for a
day on the trail with Sen. Dodd."

Under mounting pressure to attack rival Hillary Clinton more directly, Barack Obama yesterday signalled that he would do just that, telling CNN, "There's no doubt we are moving into a different phase of the campaign." Today it's clear that phase is well underway, with Obama repeatedly invoking Clinton's name in a speech at Drake University in Des Moines.

Obama today continued his criticism of Clinton's recent vote on a pugilistic Senate resolution on Iran, claiming it shows she hasn't learned from her mistake authorizing the Iraq war five years ago.

"Senator Clinton is the only Democratic candidate for president who supports this amendment," Obama said, according to prepared remarks. "She said, like she did five years ago, that it is a way to support diplomacy. I disagree. We all know that Iran poses a threat. We do need to mount international pressure to stop Iran's nuclear program. We do need to tighten sanctions on the Iranian regime – particularly on Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which supports terrorism. But this must be done separately from any saber-rattling about checking Iranian influence with our military presence in Iraq."

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer retorts: "If Senator Obama really believed that this measure gave the President a blank check for war he should have been there, speaking out, and fighting against it. Instead he did nothing, remained totally silent, and spoke out only after the vote to engage in false attacks against Senator Clinton."

The leaders in the national polls for their respective presidential nominations added high-profile supporters today.

Rudy Giuliani, in the front of the Republican pack, won the endorsement of former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, who dropped out of the race after his sixth-place finish in the Ames, Iowa straw poll in August.

"Rudy Giuliani has shown that he is a true leader. He can and will win the nomination and the presidency. He is America's mayor, and during a period of time of great stress for this country he showed tremendous leadership," Thompson said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press.

Hillary Clinton, who is well ahead in the Democratic nomination race, picked up the endorsement of Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, a hero of the 1960s civil rights movement.

"I have looked at all the candidates, and I believe that Hillary Clinton is the best prepared to lead this country at a time when we are in desperate need of strong leadership. She will restore a greater sense of community in America, and reclaim our standing in the world," Lewis said in a statement provided by the Clinton campaign.

Mitt Romney returns to a call for a robust military and intelligence network in his newest TV ad, in a week that he has been on the defensive for saying he would consult lawyers on presidential authority to launch military attacks.

In the ad, which begins airing in Iowa today, Romney says the US must confront radical Islamists and vows to strengthen US intelligence services, add 100,000 members to the military, and stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

"It's this century's nightmare, Jihadism –- violent, radical Islamic fundamentalism," Romney says in the spot. "Their goal is to unite the world under a single Jihadist caliphate. To do that, they must collapse freedom-loving nations like us."

Romney's capacity to be commander in chief has been questioned by Republican presidential rival Rudy Giuliani because Romney said during Tuesday's debate that he would seek counsel from lawyers about whether he would need congressional approval to attack Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.

The Wall Street Journal, the bible of corporate America, chided Romney on Thursday, saying in an editorial, "Egad. Call in the attorneys? Perhaps it is Mr. Romney's experience in business that taught him to want lawyers at his elbow, given that no CEO can survive without them these days."

Today, Romney had a letter to the editor published in response, saying that the Journal got it wrong. "If there is any confusion, let me be very clear: As president I would not shrink from the use of military force when grave threats confront America," he wrote. "At the same time, when time and circumstances permit, I would indeed seek the involvement of Congress as required by law and the Constitution.

Al Gore's supporters immediately raised hopes today that his sharing of the Nobel Peace Prize will convince him to jump into the presidential race, though the former vice president has repeatedly denied any interest.

The prize “vividly demonstrates the international acclaim Gore’s environmental initiatives have earned and the stature he has achieved worldwide," Fred Koed, chairman of Draft Gore Massachusetts, said in a statement. "Add to this the courage he showed in his early opposition to going to war in Iraq and you begin to understand why thousands of citizens are working as volunteers throughout the nation to bring him into the race. The Nobel may tip the balance.”

The Massachusetts group is trying to collect at least 2,500 certified signatures by Dec. 21 to get Gore on the March 4 Democratic primary ballot in the Bay State. It is one of several around the country trying to draft Gore, who narrowly lost the 2000 presidential election. Another group bought a full-page ad in The New York Times on Wednesday urging Gore to run.

One fellow Democrat who is in the presidential race, John Edwards, quickly congratulated Gore -- and used the opportunity to get another dig in at President Bush.

"The Nobel Peace Prize rewards three decades of Vice President Gore's prescient and compelling -– and often lonely –- advocacy for the future of the Earth," the former North Carolina senator said in a statement issued by his campaign. "His leadership stands in stunning contrast to the failure of the current administration to pursue policies that would reduce the harm of global warming.

"The Nobel Committee's recognition of Vice President Gore shines a bright light on the most inconvenient truth of all –- the selection of George Bush as president has endangered the peace and prosperity of the entire planet," the statement continued. "Two terms later, Americans are ready for bold change, ready to be patriotic about something other than war and ready to take action to stop global warming before it's too late. The stakes are sky-high –- as Al Gore predicted, our Earth is in the balance."

(Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Director Ben Affleck, whose movie "Gone Baby Gone," opens on Oct. 19.

Ben Affleck -- actor, activist, and Cambridge native -- played a new role this afternoon -- serious political commentator.

Sounding more like James Carville or George Will than a hero from one of his action movies, Affleck held court on MSNBC's "Hardball," expounding on the Iraq war and presidential politics.

Affleck, who is supporting Democrat Barack Obama, said that Obama had a "really good" op-ed piece in the New Hampshire Union Leader today warning that a resolution declaring Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group could lead to giving a blank check to President Bush to launch a military attack, just as he did in Iraq after a congressional vote in 2002.

"We definitely have to be very cautious about giving the president and vice president a lot of leeway to make the same mistake again," Affleck said.

He also analyzed the contest for evangelical voters among the Republican candidates, and predicted that Rudy Giuliani would be tough to beat for the GOP nomination.

Affleck complained that the "one really bad thing about American politics" is that presidential candidates are so overmanaged and overpackaged that they become neutral nobodies. Former Vice President Al Gore, who could win the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his anti-global warming crusade, became "more appealing" when he left office and the campaign trail and could do and say what he wanted.

"Hardball" host Chris Matthews asked what the candidates are afraid of.

That a controversial remark "will be the lead item on your show," Affleck replied.

Despite the mild jab, Matthews was smitten with the square-jawed heartthrob.

"He knows as much as anyone on this show about what's going on," Matthews said.

At the end of the appearance, Affleck managed to also plug his new Boston-based movie, "Gone Baby Gone."

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff

Today, we reported that Hillary Clinton, who has been going after the Bush administration for its heavy use of military contractors in Iraq, said she didn't know until the investigation into the recent shootings by Blackwater USA that the US occupying power had given contractors immunity from Iraqi law.

"Maybe I should have known about it; I did not know about it," she told the Globe's editorial board.

It's been pointed out to us by a rival campaign that at one point, Clinton knew. She attended a Senate armed services committee meeting in April, 2004 where Paul Wolfowitz spoke about "immunities that pertain to foreign forces providing for security in Iraq."

Clinton even commented at the hearing, expressing concern about "very sticky" legal issues involving the role of the U.S. in Iraqi territory. "And then you throw into the mix all these private contractors running around, heavily armed, I think it becomes even more of a challenge," she said.

Even senators forget things. But Clinton's knowledge gap is a bit surprising in this case, given that she has made a point of highlighting her military and national security know-how.

Mitt Romney, who has been battling with Rudy Giuliani over who is the strongest fiscal conservative, started a new radio ad today in early-voting South Carolina trumpeting his record.

The ad features Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, perhaps Romney's highest-profile supporter in the state, vouching for Romney as the candidate who can go to Washington and "end the earmark favor factory" that produces wasteful projects.

"We need a leader who has the courage and the strength to take on entrenched Washington politicians," DeMint says. "I believe that leader is Mitt Romney."

DeMint goes on to praise Romney as a successful businessman and a governor who used a line-item veto hundreds of times to cut spending.

South Carolina, where Republicans are scheduled to vote Jan. 19, is a key battleground, just after Iowa and New Hampshire, for all the top-tier Republicans.

At Plymouth State University today, Clinton proposed a new college tax credit worth $3,500.

Taxpayers could claim 100 percent of their first $1,000 in spending on college, and half of the next $5,000.

She offered up a wide range of other ideas to lower the cost of college and make it available to more young people, including boosting Pell Grants for low-income students and handing out incentive grants to help improve community colleges. She would double the scholarship to AmeriCorps participants to $10,000, and allow people to apply for financial aid on their income tax statement.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

A prominent evangelical supporter of Mitt Romney, invoking the late Jerry Falwell, has sent a letter to fellow conservatives and evangelical Christians that seeks to rally their support for Romney and allay their concerns about his Mormonism.

The five-page letter from Mark DeMoss, an Atlanta public relations executive, urges evangelical voters to “galvanize support around Mitt Romney, so Rudy Giuliani isn’t the unintended beneficiary of our divided support among several other candidates—or, worse yet, so we don’t abdicate the presidency [and the future of the Supreme Court] over to Hillary Clinton.”

The letter comes as Romney has been stepping up his efforts to woo evangelicals in response to some prominent Christian conservative leaders who threatened last week to back a third-party candidate. Most prominently, James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, said that he and other social conservatives had agreed to support a "minor party" candidate if the Republicans choose a presidential nominee who is not conservative enough.

DeMoss says in his letter that, “After spending months researching [Romney’s] life and his record, and hours with him (and his wife and staff) in his home, his office and on the road, I am convinced his values practically mirror my own -- values about the sanctity of life, the sacredness of marriage, the importance of the family, character and integrity, free enterprise and smaller government.”

DeMoss -- who has appeared on the "700 Club" television show with Pat Robertson, authored a book of biblical wisdom, and whose firm provides PR for prominent Christian groups -- also forcefully confronts some evangelicals' reluctance to support Romney because of his religion.

“Now, I fully recognize some evangelicals take issue with me for supporting a Mormon for the office of president, and I respect their concerns,” DeMoss writes in the letter, first reported by The New York Times. “Indeed, I had to deal with the same concerns in my own heart before offering to help Gov. Romney. But I concluded that I am more concerned that a candidate shares my values than he shares my theology. (If I believed similar theology was paramount in a president, I would be writing this memo urging support of Mike Huckabee.)”

DeMoss also invokes the name and words of Falwell, the late televangelist and founder of the Moral Majority who DeMoss said had accepted DeMoss’ invitation to meet with Romney, Romney’s wife, Ann, and about 15 other evangelicals for an “intimate discussion” at the Romneys’ home in Belmont last year.

According to DeMoss, “Jerry was one of several that day who said, ‘Governor, I don’t have a problem with your being Mormon, but I want to ask you how you would deal with Islamic jihadists…or with illegal immigration…or how you would choose justices for the Supreme Court…,’ and so on.”

DeMoss continues, “While Jerry Falwell never told me how he intended to vote in the upcoming election, I think I know how he would not have voted. I also know he would not have ‘sat this one out’ and given up on the Supreme Court for a generation. I am wholeheartedly convinced that Mitt Romney can be trusted to uphold the values and principles most important to me as a political conservative and an evangelical Christian.”

Barack Obama today unveiled a graphic new online ad to mark the fifth anniversary of the Congressional vote authorizing President Bush to invade Iraq. The ad shows images of bombed out Iraqi cities, Iraqi children wearing plaintive expressions, and American troops trying to contain the chaos. The spot highlights a speech Obama gave in Chicago five years ago this month, in which he laid out his opposition to the invasion. "One leader resisted the march to war," the narrator says.

Obama today also penned an op-ed in The Manchester Union-Leader warning that Congress -- including, notably, rival Hillary Clinton -- has given Bush the pretense to invade Iran by approving a recent Senate amendment. "When you give this president a blank check, you can't be surprised when he cashes it," Obama writes. "I strongly differ with Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was the only Democratic presidential candidate to support this reckless amendment."

Obama didn't vote on the amendment, but says he strongly opposes it. He has used Clinton's vote to open a new front against the Democratic front-runner, arguing that she continues to display the poor judgment she showed in voting for the Iraq war in 2002. Obama's rivals say his record on Iran is murkier than he makes it seem, and polls continue to show that voters believe Clinton is the candidate with experience to be president.

Mitt Romney's defense notwithstanding, his remark about consulting lawyers on presidential authority to launch a military attack continues to cause a stir among conservative circles.

An editorial today in The Wall Street Journal chastises Romney: "Egad. Call in the attorneys? Perhaps it is Mr. Romney's experience in business that taught him to want lawyers at his elbow, given that no CEO can survive without them these days."

The remark at issue came in Tuesday's Republican presidential debate in Michigan, when Romney was asked whether he would have to seek congressional approval to take military action against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program. "You sit down with your attorneys and they tell you what you have to do, but obviously the president of the United States has to do what's in the best interest of the United States to protect us against a potential threat," he replied.

After GOP rival Rudy Giuliani jumped on the response, Romney sought Wednesday to clarify his response, saying that he would decide based on the safety of the American people.

Campaign spokesman Kevin Madden added, "He moved quickly past a legal hypothetical posed by the moderator and
made it clear that the President's need to act in the best interests of protecting the American people was the most important consideration, with questions about authorization being a secondary concern."

But the Journal said Romney should have said that a president's first duty is to do whatever is necessary to protect the country. The editorial concludes: "Mr. Romney doesn't need a lawyer; he needs to reread the Federalist Papers."

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff

Hillary Clinton said today that if she is elected president, she intends to roll back President Bush's expansion of executive authority, including his use of presidential signing statements to put his own interpretation on bills passed by Congress or to claim authority to disobey them entirely.

"I think you have to restore the checks and balances and the separation of powers, which means reining in the presidency," Clinton told the Boston Globe's editorial board.

While Bush has issued hundreds of signing statements, declarations that accompany his signature on bills approved by Congress, Clinton said she would use signing statements only to clarify bills that might be confusing or contradictory. She also said she did not subscribe to a theory called the "unitary executive" that puts the president's power above that of Congress and the judiciary.

"It has been a concerted effort by the vice president, with the full acquiescence of the president, to create a more powerful executive at the expense of both branches of government and of the American people," she said.

In the wide-ranging question-and-answer session, the New York senator also said her policy on Russia would focus on influencing that nation's role in the world rather than trying to halt its internal move away from democracy. She would seek Russia's help negotiating with Iran over its suspected nuclear weapons program, she said, and try to prevent Russia from "being a problem in the Middle East" or bullying its neighbors.

"I'm interested in what Russia does outside its borders first," she said. "I don't think I can as the president of the United States wave my hand and tell the Russian people they should have a different government."

Clinton was strongly critical of what she called Bush's "incoherent" policy on Russia, saying the president was "naive" to rely so strongly on his personal relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Clinton was asked about a statement she made in Webster City, Iowa on Tuesday when criticizing the Bush administration's conduct in Iraq. She said she hadn't known that Blackwater USA, the military contractor accused of killing 17 Iraqi civilians in a recent melee, had immunity from prosecution in Iraq because of an exemption approved soon after the invasion.

"Maybe I should have known about it, I did not know about it," she said.

Asked if that suggested she, a member of the Senate armed services committee, was not sufficiently vigilant on the contractors issue, she said she has been raising questions about contractors for several years and opposed their use by the US government.

On domestic priorities, Clinton pitched her proposals on Medicare reform and scientific research and said she would unveil a plan today to make college more affordable.

Clinton recently floated the idea of issuing a $5,000 bond to each baby born in the United States to help pay for college and a first home, but it immediately inspired Republican ridicule and she quickly said she would not implement the proposal.

She defended that decision, saying that she is focusing on proposals with more political support and that she is not formally proposing anything that she can't pay for without increasing the deficit.

"I have a million ideas," she said. "The country can't afford them all."

Responding to claims by some Democratic rivals that she is not electable because her negative ratings are too high, she pointed to her increasing lead in national polls. "I am winning," she said. "That's a good place to start."

She sketched out a road to victory in the general election, if she becomes the Democratic nominee, saying she expected to win every state that Senator John F. Kerry won in 2004, plus Florida, Ohio, Arkansas, and probably Louisiana, New Mexico, and Nevada.

"I believe," she said, "that both my theory and my strategy, and my track record and how I'm doing right now, really adds up to a very compelling argument that I will actually win."

Hillary Clinton really did talk to her husband about their differences on the use of torture.

Not the night after the Democratic debate last month where it emerged, but later. And they agreed to disagree, Clinton told the Globe's editorial board today.

At the Sept. 26 forum at Dartmouth College, moderator Tim Russert posed a hypothetical about the US capturing a top Al Qaeda leader who knew where a bomb was planted that would go off in three days. He said a recent guest on "Meet the Press" opined that the president could make a finding to allow torture or guarantee a pardon to the person who conducted the interrogation.

Clinton said torture cannot be part of official US policy and isn't effective anyway. But then she appeared surprised when Russert revealed that the guest was none other than Bill Clinton, the former president and her husband.

"So he disagrees with you," Russert said.

"Well, he's not standing here right now," Clinton replied, to applause.

"So there is a disagreement," Russert went on.

"Well, I'll talk to him later," Clinton quipped, to laughter.

Today, she suggested that she has not brought her husband around to her way of thinking. She said she understands his position, based on real-life experience he had in the Oval Office.

She also reiterated that US policy cannot condone torture and called that a stronger policy on moral, legal, and practical grounds.

In a wide-ranging question and answer session, the Democratic front-runner also pitched her proposals on healthcare reform, retirement security, and scientific research funding.

She bashed the Bush administration on its policies toward Russia and toward Iran, and vowed that she would reverse what she described as a power grab by the White House from Congress and the judiciary.

And to questions raised by some Democratic rivals about her electability, she had a concise reply: "I am winning," she said. "That's a good place to start."

Chris Dodd may be languishing in the second pack of runners in the marathon that is the Democratic presidential race.

But he is guaranteeing himself at least one vote -- by giving a supporter a seat by his side at Game 6 of the American League championship series.

"There's nothing more American than baseball, and it doesn't get much better than sitting at Fenway to watch the Red Sox in the playoffs," Dodd, a lifelong Sox fan, said in a statement today announcing the contest. "It's been a long three years since the Sox won the World Series in 2004, but the team is on the winning path once again. My campaign is about getting results, and I'm confident the Red Sox are as well. But they can't do it alone, nor can I, so I am hoping for some help by my side when I cheer them to victory."

Fans can register on Dodd's website and a winner will be chosen on Oct. 18, two days before the scheduled game.

There is one catch: To enter the contest, you have to either contribute at least $20.04 or get 24 friends to sign up on Dodd's website.

If the Sox win before Game 6, the winner will get to go to Game 2 of the World Series with Dodd at Fenway.

With Dodd's luck, however, the Cleveland Indians will win the series before Game 6.

Then the "lucky" winner will get -- but probably not celebrate -- the backup prize: A day on the campaign trail with Dodd in either Iowa or New Hampshire.

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff

Taking her five-day campaign swing from Iowa to Merrimack, New Hampshire this morning, Hillary Clinton laid out her agenda to improve American innovation in order to create jobs, ramp up scientific progress and improve energy efficiency.

She said she would double the budgets for scientific research at federal agencies and offer tax incentives to help bring broadband Internet service to underserved areas. She has already campaigned on many of the ideas, including a $50 billion fund to find ways to fight global warming make the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil.

"The core of my plan is creating the high wage jobs of the future – and we’ll do that by restoring our role as the world’s innovation superpower," Clinton said. "That’s what America does best."

Clinton will be speaking about higher education tomorrow at Plymouth State University.

Rudy Giuliani faces a long haul to lock up the Republican presidential nomination.

But you wouldn't know it from his new radio ad in Iowa, where he trails Mitt Romney in the polls.

The ad takes direct aim at his possible Democratic opponents, especially front-runner and fellow New Yorker Hillary Clinton, though it doesn't name her.

"Democrats want to move in the direction of much bigger government, socialized medicine, increasing government regulation, much higher taxes," Giuliani says in the ad. "They are making the promise to raise taxes, the only thing I can tell you in addition to that is that they'll raise taxes even more then they promised. They want to take more of the people's money."

In recent days, Giuliani has ridiculed Clinton's idea for a $5,000 "baby bond" to help families save for college and a first house and criticized her proposal on Tuesday to give federal matching money for retirement accounts as costly boondoggles.

In the ad, Giuliani plugs his record on cutting taxes and spending as mayor of New York. "I have no question that I can the same thing for Washington that I did for New York City," he concludes.

Rudy Giuliani is jumping on Mitt Romney today for saying during Tuesday's debate that he would consult with lawyers before deciding whether he would need Congressional approval to take military action against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.

And Giuliani's campaign is trying to twist the proverbial knife by likening Romney's response to Democrat John F. Kerry saying during a 2004 presidential debate that America must pass a "global test" before taking military action.

Romney's response -- what some pundits are calling the closest thing to a gaffe during the Michigan debate -- came on a question about whether the president would need authorization from Congress to attack Iran.

"You sit down with your attorneys and tell you want you have to do, but obviously the president of the United States has to do what's in the best interest of the United States to protect us against a potential threat. The president did that as he was planning on moving into Iraq and received the authorization of Congress," Romney said.

Asked whether President Bush needed that authorization, Romney replied, "You know, we're going to let the lawyers sort out what he needed to do and what he didn't need to do. But, certainly, what you want to do is to have the agreement of all the people -- leadership of our government as well as our friends around the world where those circumstances are available."

In response, the Romney campaign said that he gave the strongest answer to the question. "He moved quickly past a legal hypothetical posed by the moderator and made it clear that the President's need to act in the best interests of protecting the American people was the most important consideration, with questions about authorization being a secondary concern," campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said in a statement.

The Romney camp, in turn, accused Giuliani of giving the "most muddled and puzzling answer" because the former New York mayor said "it really depends on exigency of the circumstances and how legitimate it is" on whether a president needs the blessing of Congress.

The exchange is the latest between Giuliani and Romney, who have been going after each other on taxes and spending and whose increasingly testy battle is starting to dominate the Republican race.

Giuliani's latest salvo is particularly pointed for a former Republican governor of Massachusetts because it compares him to Kerry, the Bay State's junior US senator and a Democrat.

Giuliani's camp pointed out that Kerry said, "No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America. But if and when you do it... you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you’re doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."

The leading Republican presidential contenders are acting as if Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee, most recently at Tuesday's debate, when both Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney went after her.

But a new poll shows Clinton beating all the top-tier Republicans in three pivotal states -- Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania -- that will have a huge say in who is the next president, just as they have since 1964.

In Quinnipiac University's Swing State Poll released today, Clinton appears to increase her edge over Giuliani, the Republican front-runner in national polls, in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup.

Clinton leads Giuliani 46 percent to 43 percent in Florida, 46 percent to 40 percent in Ohio, and 48 percent to 42 percent in Pennsylvania.

In hypothetical matchups, she would also win against Arizona Senator John McCain, former Massachusetts Governor Romney, and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson.

The poll also shows that Clinton is widening her lead in the three states over her closest Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, that most of her supporters are not likely to change their minds, and that many Democrats believe she has the nomination locked up.

"The candidates who trail Sen. Clinton and hope that they can pry voters away from her should wake up and smell the coffee," Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement.

By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson set low expectations for his first debate as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. And, in the first minutes of today's Michigan debate, he failed to reach them.

Asked why two-thirds of Americans express pessimism about the economy, Thompson said, in his slow folksy drawl, "Well, I think there are pockets in this economy that, certainly, they're having difficulty. I think they're certainly those in Michigan that are having difficulty. I think you always find that in a vibrant, dynamic economy. . ."

Thompson's dismissal of Michigan's pain didn't pass unnoticed. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney quickly jumped in to say, "It's inexcusable that Michigan is undergoing a one-state recession."

Thompson's performance slowly ticked upwards from its low start, but his answers, while often soothing, rarely moved beyond agreeing with other candidates and endorsing broad principles like free trade. He sprinkled in a few specifics about the alternative-minimum tax and the War Powers Resolution, but otherwise concentrated on conveying an impression of grandfatherly ease and geniality.

Supporters consider the former senator's slow metabolism to be part of his appeal -- he comes off as friendlier than most of his Republican rivals. And standing on a stage beside such caffeinated figures as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the libertarian Representative Ron Paul of Texas, and the anti-illegal immigration crusader Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado, Thompson should have been appealing.

But by delaying all summer in declaring his presidential intentions, Thompson inadvertently raised questions about his work ethic and preparation. And each debate answer had to be viewed as a test of his awareness. So when, for example, he lapsed into political boilerplate in response to a request for specifics on reforming Social Security -- "You've hit on a major problem we've got to come to terms with," he began -- the focus was less on his charm than on his lack of command. (When he did mention a specific reform, he suggested indexing Social Security to inflation, an effective but politically toxic remedy that would cut most benefits.)

The other candidates, who have been debating since the spring, had a different challenge. By now, they have faced each other often enough that they seem to carry the stale air of old routines from one encounter to the next. Giuliani and Romney, for instance, long ago began targeting each other with their responses on a range of issues, in an apparent acknowledgment that the two Northeasterners in the race are fighting for the same space.

Their furious disputes over their respective records on budgeting and taxes ended up dragging down both of them, as they each tossed up wildly contradictory statistics to label the other as a liberal spender.

Arizona Senator John McCain and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee seemed presidential by comparison, as they resolved to lead their party away from the path of wasteful spending (McCain) and economic elitism (Huckabee.)

There were some surprising moments at the margins of the debate.

Giuliani answered "maybe not," in response to a question about whether the United States would have gone to war in Iraq if not for its dependence on foreign oil.
Paul scolded many of his rivals for equivocating on whether it was necessary to seek congressional approval to go to war. (Romney, for instance, had seemed to imply it was a legal technicality, and he would have to consult his lawyers.)

When not targeting each other, Romney and Giuliani took shots at New York Senator Hillary Clinton, the leader in early polls for the Democratic nomination, as if auditioning to be the GOP's attack dog against a figure many Republicans disdain.

And by the end, Thompson, the longtime star of TV's "Law & Order," even got off a good retort to a Romney joke about the long run of debates being like the TV show: "It has a huge cast, the series seems to go on forever, and Fred Thompson shows up at the end."

"And to think I thought I was going to be the best actor on the stage," Thompson quipped.

Luckily for Thompson, it's still two months before most voters will start making up their minds, and he can comfort himself by realizing that his performance wasn't a disaster -- and, for that matter, it set low expectations for his future debates.

Fred Thompson appeared to pass his first big test of his late-starting presidential bid -- his first campaign debate -- though not necessarily with flying colors.

In answer to his first question, he said that while federal spending needs to be brought under control, current tax policies are working and the country is not headed to recession. On his second question, he pledged to be tough with China on dangerous products, but defended free trade as crucial to economic prosperity.

He called for lower taxes, including phasing out the alternative minimum tax, which was designed to make sure the wealthy pay income taxes but is now impacting the upper middle class.

On Iraq, he said he supports the current anti-insurgency policy in Iraq, but faulted the Bush administration for not going in with enough troops and not knowing what to expect.

Thompson said it is crucial to stabilize Iraq and "not have to leave with our tail between our legs" because the country is one front in a much broader war with Islamic fascism, which is intent on bringing down Western civilization.

On Iran, he said its suspected nuclear program must be stopped because the entire Middle East would become more dangerous and Iran would threaten the US oil supply.

He said while there are times that the president needs to act to stop an imminent attack, the president should seek authorization from Congress for military action "in any close case" to build national support.

He suffered no major gaffes, but many of his responses were rather vague and lacking specific proposals. Thompson also had a noticeable habit of looking down at the lectern -- studying notes? -- while answering.

His campaign sought to lower expectations for his performance, noting that his rivals have already had five debates, while acknowledging Thompson has spent quite a bit of time practicing.

Thompson has not exactly wowed voters on the campaign trail, leading to a series of stories questioning his knowledge of current events and whether he has the fire in the belly to seek the presidency. Still, he is in second place in most national polls, and many conservatives still hope he will emerge as a strong candidate.

Among the other contenders, Mitt Romney said the 7.45 percent unemployment rate in Michigan is unacceptable and pledged to work with the auto industry to preserve jobs.

He and Rudy Giuliani also continued their battle over taxes and spending. Romney repeated accusations that Giuliani fought the presidential line-item veto and supported a commuter tax, and said he used a similar veto 844 times while governor of Massachusetts.

Giuliani said the line-item veto is unconstitutional and claimed he cut taxes 23 times while mayor of New York.

Toward the end of the debate, Romney got off one of the best lines, saying that the debate was like "Law and Order:" a huge cast, a series that seems to go on forever, and Thompson comes on at the end.

For his part, Thompson in his closing remarks said he was happy to join the fray: "It was getting boring without me."

This just in: Most of the leading Democratic candidates for president haved pulled out of the Michigan primary, further complicating a presidential primary process riven by disputes over whether Iowa and New Hampshire should retain their first-in-the-nation privilege.

Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, and Joseph Biden have all filed papers with the secretary of state's office today indicating they will not be on the primary ballot Jan. 15. "They've asked us to take their name off the primary ballot," said Kelly Chesney, a spokeswoman for the Michigan secretary of state's office.

Leading candidates had already agreed not to campaign there because Michigan broke Democratic National Committee rules by moving their primary ahead of Feb. 5. It's unclear exactly what the significance of today's decision will be.

No word yet from Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

UPDATE: Clinton will stay in the Michigan primary, her campaign says. Chris Dodd has announced that he, too, will remain on the Michigan ballot.

By Marcella Bombardieri
Globe Staff

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa – Continuing her focus on the struggles of the middle class during a campaign swing this week, Hillary Clinton unveiled her second-biggest proposal of the campaign so far – after health care -- a plan to make 401(k) retirement savings plans available to all Americans.

For a couple earning up to $60,000 a year, the government would match the first $1,000 they invested in their 401(k) each year. For a couple earning between $60,000 and $100,000, the government would match a maximum of $500 a year.

Clinton’s “American Retirement accounts” would cost about $20 to 25 billion each year, Clinton’s advisors said yesterday. She said she would pay for it by freezing the estate tax at the 2009 level, which would mean taxing estates worth more than $7 million per couple. Her advisors said that for every wealthy family that would pay more in taxes, 5,000 other families would receive a tax cut.

The New York Senator got flack after the last Democratic candidates’ debate because she refused to be specific about how she would reform Social Security. She said yesterday that the 401(k) plan would not be used as a replacement for Social Security.

“We have to fight, and finally bury, the idea of privatizing Social Security,” she said.

Her appearance wasn’t all business, though. Clinton spent a few minutes playing talk show host, sitting with her microphone between three Iowans who are unable to save for their retirement. Then a woman in the audience told her that her moccasins were untied. She sat down and tied them, praising the comfort of the shoes she bought at an Iowa gift shop.

Another sign that your campaign is going well: Poking fun at it yourself.

And if you're Hillary Clinton, you can enlist a Hollywood celebrity to do it.

On a new video posted on her campaign website, the well-known actor/director/political activist pretends to critique Clinton volunteers who knock on doors and call voters, then holds an "American Idol"-like audition for sign makers. More enthusiasm, he tells them.

The point of the pitch is that there are many different ways to volunteer for the campaign. The campaign is increasing its goal from 500,000 volunteer hours to 1 million. At the end, the announcer says, "Make Noise. Make Signs. Make History. Everyone has a role."

But it's sort of like those Saturday Night Live digital shorts that have become so popular on the web, though not quite as funny.

Following this morning's report in The Washington Post that the Senate is unlikely to pass a tax hike on private-equity firms, Barack Obama and John Edwards are both trying to use the issue to differentiate themselves from Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner.

Critics of the current tax structure for private-equity outfits say such firms benefit by having some of their earnings taxed as capital gains instead of income -- a far lower rate. But the industry has battled a tax overhaul mightily, saying it would damage the economy. For now, it appears they've succeeded.

Even though Clinton, too, favors the tax hike, Obama and Edwards used the opportunity to pounce on what they see as a liability of Clinton's. Obama seized on Clinton's recent remarks that lobbyists "represent real Americans."

"If there was ever a doubt that Washington lobbyists don't actually represent real Americans, it's the fact that they stopped leaders of both parties from requiring elite investment firms to pay their fair share of taxes, even as middle-class families struggle to pay theirs," he said in a statement, promising to "close tax loopholes for big corporations, provide 90 percent of working Americans with a tax cut, and pass the strongest lobbying reform in history."

Edwards, in another thinly veiled reference to Clinton, who has touted her many years of experience in Washington, said, “We can’t just trade corporate Republicans for corporate Democrats ... This is a perfect example of why we need to change the way Washington works, and why we need tax fairness so hedge fund millionaires don’t pay taxes at a lower rate than middle class families.”

Michigan Democrats put in their two cents this morning in advance of the Republican presidential debate, arguing that all the major GOP contenders would continue failed economic policies that have cost the state thousands of jobs.

"These folks are sounding just like George Bush," said Mark Brewer, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Michigan's unemployment rate in August was 7.4 percent, significantly higher than the national average of 4.6 percent.
The Republican debate, which airs at 4 p.m. on CNBC, is to focus on the economy.

While the conference call was organized to discuss the debate, Brewer was asked repeatedly by reporters about possible penalties for moving up the Michigan primary to Jan. 15, in violation of Democratic party rules. He said he's confident Michigan delegates will eventually get their say at the Democratic convention next year.

He was also asked about the Democratic presidential candidates giving the cold shoulder to Michigan to avoid flouting party rules. Brewer blamed a "monopoly" by officials in Iowa and New Hampshire, who try to intimidate candidates into not visiting other states.

If you haven't had your fill of the Five Brothers -- Mitt Romney's five sons -- they had their own segment this morning on FOX News Channel.

They brought the "Mittmobile" -- the campaign bus in which they have visited all 99 counties in Iowa and logged 16,000 miles -- to New York City for "FOX & Friends."

Josh Romney, who found it on eBay for $60,000, gave a tour, claiming that he loves sleeping in the master suite and showing off various tourist knick-knacks they have collected along the way.

A FOX correspondent joshed with Josh about the need for lots of air freshener with five men aboard. Another reporter reminded female viewers that the brothers -- Josh, Tagg, Ben, Matt, and Craig -- are all married.

The brothers, who have their own website, even tossed a pigskin around on the sidewalk -- sort of like the famous footage of the Kennedy clan gathered at the family compound in Hyannisport.