By Michael Kranish
Globe Staff
WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani today told an audience of more than 2,000 evangelicals that "you have absolutely nothing to fear from me" and urged them to look beyond the differences he has with them, including his support for abortion rights.

"People of good conscience reach different conclusions about whether abortions should be legal in certain circumstances," Giuliani told the Values Voters Summit.

In defending his position, Giuliani took a thinly veiled shot at rival Mitt Romney, who once supported abortion rights but is running for president on a strict anti-abortion platform. "Isn't it better for me to tell you what I really believe, instead of pretending to change all of my positions to fit the prevailing winds?" Giuliani said. "I believe trust is more important than 100 percent agreement."

While Giuliani did not name Romney, his statement follows an increasingly bitter feud between the two campaigns, with Giuliani's spokeswoman issuing a statement last night that detailed Romney's former support for abortion rights and accusing the former Massachusetts governor of being a "candidate of convenience."

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, an ordained minister who is running fifth in national polls and whose views are more in sync with the evangelicals, also addressed the gathering and received loud applause. He vowed to end "the holocaust of legalized abortion."

The sponsors of the event announced the results of a straw poll designed to show which candidate has the most support among evangelical activists, but the vote was immediately engulfed in controversy. Romney narrowly beat Huckabee in the poll, but questions were raised about the validity because the sponsors allowed anyone worldwide to vote online for $1. The Romney campaign learned about that capability and last week urged supporters to vote online. Similarly, supporters of Ron Paul voted online in large enough numbers to give their candidate a third place finish.

Following the controversy, organizers separately released results of the voting that took place onsite -- less than one-fifth of the total -- which showed that Huckabee beat Romney by a five-to-one margin. Tony Perkins, who runs the Family Research Council Action, which sponsored the poll, sought to diffuse the controversy at a sometimes-contentious press conference, saying that the combination of the online and onsite polls would give Huckabee a bounce and help Romney demonstrate that he has support among Christian conservatives.

Giuliani, who received 60 of the 952 votes cast onsite, coming in fifth, could gain from the dissatisfaction among evangelicals about the top candidates in the field. A split among evangelicals could serve to help Giuliani in the primary. But he would need the bulk of evangelical support if he is the general election candidate. As a result, he sought to reassure evangelicals about his religious and personal character.

"We may not always agree," he said. "I don't always agree with myself. But I will give you reason to trust me."

Giuliani, a thrice-married Catholic, has spoken little about his faith compared to other Republican candidates. Giuliani sought to explain his lack of public emphasis on religion by saying that "I don't easily publicly proclaim myself as the best example of faith, possibly because I grew up in an environment where faith was considered, if not private, at least separate from political life."

But he sought to reassure evangelicals about his background, saying, "My belief in God and reliance on his guidance is at the core of who I am, I can assure you of that."

The event was cosponsored by an arm of Focus on the Family, a group run by the influential James Dobson, who has said he could not vote for Giuliani, former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee, or Senator John McCain of Arizona. Dobson has said he might back a third-party candidate if Republicans nominate a candidate who supports abortion rights.

Evangelicals make up an estimated 25 percent of the electorate. A recent poll conducted by CBS News of white evangelical Republican primary voters found that Thompson led with 29 percent, followed by Giuliani with 26 percent, McCain with 15 percent, Romney with 7 percent, and Huckabee with 6 percent.

By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney didn't give the full religion speech tonight that some Christian conservatives and others have been awaiting.

But before an audience of evangelicals at the Values Voter Summit, he did briefly raise the issue on many of their minds: The fact that many do not consider Mormonism to be a Christian faith. He did so by telling a joke.

"By the way, I imagine that one or two of you have heard I'm a Mormon," Romney said. "I understand that some people think they couldn't support someone of my faith."

Romney paused momentarily, then added: "But I think that's just because they've listened to Harry Reid," Romney said, referring the Democratic leader in the US Senate, who is also a Mormon.

Many in the audience of nearly 3,000 people laughed appreciatively, and Romney said that he was pleased that people of all faiths were supporting his candidacy. He did not return to the subject of his religion.

Romney also won a series of ovations as he outlined his plans for strengthening families, opposing abortion, and supporting a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

The summit audience also heard today from other Republican presidential hopefuls, including John McCain and Fred Thompson. Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee are scheduled to address the group on Saturday.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Mitt Romney's campaign figured out a way for supporters to help him do well in a closely watched straw poll of Christian conservative leaders without showing up at the event: Donate at least $1 to Family Research Council Action, then vote online.

But the campaigns of Republican rivals cried foul, grumbling that opening up the vote to anyone with an Internet connection and a spare dollar cast doubt on the legitimacy of the results, to be announced Saturday afternoon in Washington at the Values Voter Summit.

A top Romney supporter sent an email to backers Thursday, urging them to use the online option.

"Let me tell you how simple this is!" read the email from Mark DeMoss, an Atlanta public relations executive, prominent evangelical activist, and co-chairman of Romney's faith and values steering committee. "Just go to www.frcaction.org and click on the large banner 'Participate in the 2008 American Values Straw Poll.' "

DeMoss today defended the online campaign, but aides to rivals John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Fred Thompson said they were not asking their supporters to vote online. They also noted that, typically, straw polls measure the support of people in a place, in this case a summit of prominent conservative leaders.

"Our campaign is focused on winning votes and not buying straw polls," said one McCain aide.

DeMoss dismissed such criticism.

"Presumably people who would go that website and would send at least $1 to the Family Research Council are the same people who would attend this conference," DeMoss said in a telephone interview. He noted that online voting is a "mechanism that Family Research Action is allowing and permitting, so it's not as if the campaign circumvented this live convention."

Kevin Madden, a Romney spokesman, added, "Here is the secret to winning straw polls: Try and get as many votes as you can. Shhh. Don't tell anyone though."

This is not the first time Romney has been accused of stacking a straw poll.

In August, he trounced his rivals in a heated straw poll in Ames, Iowa. His vanquished rivals complained the vote was not a measure of true grassroots support because the former governor had rented a fleet of buses for his supporters, and paid dozens of volunteers $500 to $1,000 a month to build his campaign.

Romney's first-place finish, however, provided a key early boost to his campaign, and he still leads the polls in Iowa.

Barack Obama's campaign today released details of next week's Boston rally with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who announced his endorsement of Obama this week. Close followers of Patrick's gubernatorial campaign last year will recognize the site.

Obama and Patrick will appear at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday evening at the Parkman Bandstand in Boston Common. Patrick led a rally from the same bandstand in the heat of the governor's race last fall. His media team -- led by David Axelrod, the Chicago-based ad-maker now working for Obama -- liked the event so much they filmed it and used clips for an artful TV spot late in the campaign. (Click below to watch.)

On the eve of his speech to a key evangelical Christian group, Mitt Romney today announced another endorsement from a high-profile evangelical leader.

The support from Don Wilton, the immediate past president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, follows the endorsement earlier in the week from Bob Jones III, the chancellor of Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C.

Like Jones, Wilton said while he doesn't agree with Romney's Mormon faith, he shares values on important issues such as gay marriage and abortion.

"His values are my values – protecting the sanctity of human life, defending marriage and strengthening the family," Wilton, who is now senior pastor at the 6,900-member First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, S.C., said in a statement provided by the Romney campaign. "We need someone in Washington who will stand up for traditional families and Governor Romney is that person. While we may not agree on theology, Governor Romney and I agree that this election is about our country heading in the right direction. Governor Romney is the best candidate to stand for conservative values in Washington."

South Carolina, where Republicans hold their first-in-the-South primary on Jan. 19, is crucial for Romney proving he can do well in the South.

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff

The Clinton campaign unveiled a new 30-second television ad today to air in Iowa and New Hampshire. The economic message to the middle class has a general election feel to it, as it is focused squarely on President Bush.

"The Bush economy is like a trapdoor," Clinton tells a packed audience. "Too many families are one pink slip, one missed mortgage payment, one medical diagnosis, away from falling through and losing everything."

It appears to have been filmed Tuesday night at Salem High School in New Hampshire, where we noticed printouts on the walls notifying voters the campaign was filming the evening for commercial purposes.

In other news, there was a breathtaking story in the Los Angeles Times today that raises questions about the scruples of Clinton's fundraising operation even after the Norman Hsu scandal. The Times found at least 150 residents of New York's Chinatown who had written huge checks to the Clinton campaign, often $1,000 to $2,000. Some were hopeful that if she wins, Clinton would help reunite immigrant families. But some said they'd been pressured by local Chinese-American organizations to give. Many lived in run-down apartments or did not live at their given addresses at all.

By James W. Pindell, Globe correspondent

Maine Congressman Mike Michaud endorsed John Edwards's presidential campaign this morning, stressing what he believes is Edwards's electabilty.

"He is the only candidate who has won in a red state," Michaud said.

In 2004 he did not endorse any presidential primary candidate, something he told reporters on a conference call "was a mistake".

Michaud, a self-described Blue Dog Democrat and mill worker, said he believes that Edwards will be able to "relate to the American people very well" because of their shared working-class upbringing.

By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff

Mitt Romney will not make his long-anticipated speech about his Mormon faith when he speaks tonight at the Values Voters Summit in Washington of evangelical Christians.

"This is not a religion speech," said Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney spokesman.

While some conservative Christians say Romney needs to give a speech similar to the one that John F. Kennedy gave during his 1960 campaign to become the nation's first Catholic president, the address is expected to focus on Romney's proposals for strengthening families.

The Romney campaign provided excerpts of the speech, quoting Romney as saying he is "pleased that so many people of many faiths have come to endorse my candidacy and my message."

"I think those who know me would say that I am pro-family on every level, from personal to political," Romney says in remarks prepared for delivery. "I know this: the greatest blessing in my life is Ann and our five sons and daughters-in-law and ten grandchildren. My driving motivation is to have our kids and grandkids grow up in an America that is safe, prosperous and strong."

Romney pledges that if elected president, he will convene a White House summit to look at ways to strengthen the family, particularly in the inner city. He also says that he and his wife will use the bully pulpit of the White House to urge Americans to avoid out-of-wedlock births.

"It's time to make out-of-wedlock births out-of-fashion again!" he says in the speech.

The former Massachusetts governor also vows to push a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, to appoint anti-abortion judges, and to oppose taxpayer funding of abortions.

Romney also says he can bring together all the major parts of the Republican coalition.

"I want to build a stronger military, a stronger economy, and stronger families," he says in the prepared remarks. "I call these the three legs of the Republican stool. These three unite the coalition of conservatives that Ronald Reagan championed -- defense conservatives, economic conservatives, and social conservatives. We won't win the White House with only two out of three or one out of three. Republicans win the White House by motivating all three parts of our coalition to carry us to victory."

By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff

Democratic presidential contender John Edwards picked up the backing today from the 90,000-member Massachusetts chapter of the Service Employees International Union.

This is the 11th SEIU affiliate endorsement that the former senator from North Carolina has secured since Monday, representing more than 1 million working families. The other chapters are: California, Idaho, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia.

"John Edwards understands the everyday struggles of working families," Rocio Saenz, president of SEIU Local 615 in Massachusetts, said in a statement.

SEIU declined to make a national endorsement because no candidate had enough support, so the state chapters were left up to make individual endorsements.

So far, rival Senator Barack Obama has picked up support from his home state SEIU chapter in Illinois and Indiana, representing a total of 170,000 members.

Amid speculation about a first-ever December primary for New Hampshire, the man who holds all the cards, Secretary of State Bill Gardner, said today that it was possible, but that a January date remains his preference.

Gardner said a lot depends on what dates the parties in Michigan settle on. He said he plans to wait until after Nov. 2 -- the last day for candidates to file for the primary -- to pick a date. But he also said he would likely decide before Nov. 14, the last day Michigan could move. That means all eyes will be on Gardner between Nov. 2 and Nov. 14. "There are so many twists and turns in this process, I just sort of want to stand still a little bit," Gardner said.

The more he stands still, though, the harder it is for the candidates to plan for primary season. All the campaigns (not to mention political journalists) are eager to get a firm New Hampshire date so they can move on with their lives.

By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards today kicked off his "True Blue Majority" campaign aimed at showing the country that he has the best chance of defeating the Republican candidate in the 2008 general election -- even in the red, GOP-friendly states.

Today, elected leaders and labor leaders in Georgia, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin will hold events and conference calls to discuss their reasons for supporting Edwards.

"We need a leader who can compete anywhere in America, and win," former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes said in a statement provided by the Edwards campaign. "Some pundits say that a Democrat can't win in some places in the South, Midwest or West. But they're wrong. The right Democratic presidential nominee –- one who shares our values, understands our issues and offers real and bold solutions –- can win these states. That candidate is John Edwards."

Tomorrow, Democratic legislative supporters from red states and battleground states will hold a conference call to discuss how Edwards' name on the top of the ticket will benefit state and local Democratic candidates.

The campaign also released an analysis from its pollster Harrison Hickman: Edwards, he says, is the only Democrat with a significant lead against Republican front-runner Rudy Guiliani, and his average margin of victory is identical to or greater than rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama against other Republican candidates in hypothetical matchups. Edwards also does better in the key battleground states of Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio, Hickman says.

Independent national polls released recently are divided on which of the Democrats would fare best next November against possible GOP nominees. Still, Edwards and Obama are increasingly using the electability argument against Democratic front-runner Clinton and arguing that because of the near-hatred she engenders among some Republicans, she would drag down state and local Democrats sharing the November 2008 ballot.

By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff

A few observations while following Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani in Iowa:

1. Despite their staunch support of President Bush's troop "surge," the two rivals have different standards for when the United States should withdraw troops. Romney, campaigning in Davenport, said he would pull back forces once he was confident that Iraq would not become "a safe haven" for Al Qaeda. Giuliani, at a stop in Muscatine, said his bottom line would be "a stable Iraq that is an ally for us in the war against Islamic terrorists."

These standards are both subjective and would allow either Romney or Giuliani to keep the war going indefinitely to prevent Al Qaeda from gaining strength. But Romney's is a lower bar than Giuliani's. Romney doesn't make stability a precondition for the removal of US troops, and he doesn't require that the country be a US ally, only that it rejects Islamic terrorism.

There were other hints that Romney would be willing to withdraw troops more quickly than Guiliani. In answering a question from a voter, Romney said he believed the US could withdraw a brigade a month starting next year, with the approval of General David H. Petraeus. He sounded confident that the United States was on a path toward a steady drawdown of troops. Giuliani offered no such prediction, and gave a much more vigorous defense of the war from its inception.

While acknowledging that mistakes were made, Giuliani suggested that critics of the Bush administration have been way too harsh. "These things aren't tidy, they aren't neat," he said. He reiterated his strong support for the removal of Saddam Hussein, and predicted that if Hussein had not been "taken out," he would be in the midst of a nuclear arms race with Iran.

2. Romney's references to his family were a constant thread in his remarks, while Giuliani didn't mention a single relative. In a roughly half-hour appearance, Romney managed to work in his birthday present from his five boys, his father's tenure as head of American Motors, his father's three terms as governor of Michigan, his son Josh's journey by Winnebago -- with his wife and three kids -- to every county in Iowa, his wife Ann's famous meat loaf, his boys' teasing him about his lack of athletic prowess, the boys fighting at the dinner table over their favorite foods, and many more dispatches from the happy Romney home.

The audience in Davenport seemed to love the family talk, chuckling like friendly neighbors over a well-remembered episode of "Father Knows Best." Romney's personal anecdotes also dovetailed with his emphasis on building "strong families" and preventing single motherhood. (One cautionary note for the Romney campaign: Some undecided voters said privately after the event that they felt he was friendly but didn't offer enough specifics.)

Giuliani's audiences in Muscatine and Iowa City didn't seem to notice his lack of even the most perfunctory blandishments about wife and family. Speaking at colleges, Giuliani made no mention of having college-age kids of his own. Of course, those kids are famously estranged from him. And while his wife, Judith, is heavily involved in his campaign, she's the third Mrs. Giuliani and he's her third husband.

So it's fair to assume that Giuliani isn't talking about family values because he doesn't want anyone to think too hard about his own. This hasn't hampered him too much, so far, and Republican primary voters seem to accept him as a national-security candidate. He's also a warm presence on the stump, jocular and responsive to those around him, so his lack of personal conversation doesn't make him seem cold.

But in a general election campaign, Republicans rely on their family-values message to offset Democratic advantages on such family-friendly issues as healthcare and education. Giuliani doesn't seem comfortable yet delivering that message.

3. Both Republicans are emphasizing an anti-tax message, and getting a strongly positive response.

Most Democratic leaders have been cautious about raising taxes, limiting themselves to proposing that some of the Bush tax cuts be allowed to lapse when they reach their "sunset" provisions. But Romney and Giuliani ride right over those complexities and declare that Democrats are planning a massive tax hike. No voter at any of their events questioned that presumption.

More surprisingly, both candidates dwelled the longest, and drew the strongest response, to their condemnation of the "death tax." Neither mentioned that the inheritance tax applies only to estates above $2 million and, by 2009, will apply only to those above $3.5 million. If Bush's cuts aren't renewed, the estate-tax cutoff would revert back to $1 million in 2011. But leading Democrats have said they won't allow that to happen. Hillary Clinton, among others, has proposed a permanent cutoff of $3.5 million, which would enable couples who split their estates to protect $7 million.

Nonetheless, both Romney and Giuliani went further in their attacks on the Democratic "death tax" than any other levy, declaring it morally wrong to tax money that has already been subject to income taxes. Romney got one of his biggest ovations when he declared "Death to the death tax." Giuliani kept pointing at the audience and talking about how the death tax takes "your money."

Interviews after the Romney event confirmed that people in the audience didn't know that the inheritance tax only applies to multimillionaires. And Giuliani, whose personal worth is in the tens of millions, and Romney, whose fortune reaches the hundreds of millions, seemed far more likely to have their estates reduced by the inheritance tax than anyone in their audiences.

Nonetheless, the GOP presidential nominee seems certain to raise hay over the tax issue next year, and the response in Iowa suggests it has lost none of its power.

By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson is running an ad on some conservative websites that attacks rivals Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney for not being "real" conservatives. The advertisement is brief, but signals a significant uptick in Thompson's effort to portray his rivals negatively.

The ad starts with a picture of Romney, quoting him as saying in 1994, "I do not take the position of a pro-life candidate." Romney once supported abortion rights but says he is now anti-abortion.

The second frame of the ad shows a picture of Giuliani, quoting him as saying in 1999, "I'm pro-choice. I'm pro-gay rights."

The third and final frame show a picture of Thompson saying, "I was a proud conservative yesterday, I remain one today, and I will be one tomorrow."

The ad does not mention Senator John McCain, who is a rival but also a longtime friend of Thompson.

The advertisement comes at the start of a much-watched Washington meeting of religious conservatives today through Saturday, featuring speeches by the leading GOP candidates and a straw poll of attendees. The ad also follows a comment by Romney last week that he represents the "Republican wing of the Republican Party." Romney's statement has drawn a rebuke from his rivals, coming as the candidates continue to lay the groundwork for a classic primary battle for the party's conservative base.

Romney's spokesman, Kevin Madden, responded this way: “Interesting how the candidate who was the last one to enter the race is the first one to run a negative ad. But, that’s what happens to candidates who are without any new ideas of their own.”

Mitt Romney's campaign is hitting two milestones of a sort today.

This morning, the former Massachusetts governor held his 100th "Ask Mitt Anything" event, this one at the Applewood Pancake House on Pawleys Island in South Carolina, where Republicans will hold their primary Jan. 19 and where Romney is trying to prove he can win in the South.

His campaign also launched its first web-only ad, featuring Ann Romney talking about home life for the Romney clan. The ad is also featured on her own website and will eventually run on TV in Iowa, which will hold the first GOP caucus on Jan. 3, the campaign said. And the ad, "Our Home," will also be used as an ad on user-generated online video sites.

Wednesday, Mitt Romney added Congressman Connie Mack to his stable of support in Florida.

Today, Republican rival Rudy Giuliani came back with a Bush -- Jeb Bush Jr., to be precise.

Bush, the youngest son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and President Bush's nephew, will be chairman of Florida Young Professionals for Rudy and will focus on recruiting professionals to the campaign and on grassroots efforts in South Florida.

"As someone who grew up around politics and candidates, I know that Rudy has the leadership qualities and unmatched experience to be the next president of the United States. I'm honored to join his campaign and look forward to working with the many young professionals throughout Florida supporting the mayor," Bush said in a statement provided by the Giuliani campaign.

The former New York mayor is counting on Florida as a key part of his nomination strategy. Republicans there moved up their primary to Jan. 29, so that it occupies a key perch in between the early contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina and the quasi-national primary on Feb. 5, when about 20 states are scheduled to vote.

Kansas Senator Sam Brownback is about to drop out of the Republican presidential nomination race, the Associated Press is reporting this morning.

Brownback aimed squarely at support from religious conservatives, but he finished behind former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee -- who is seeking the same voters -- in the Ames straw poll in Iowa in August and has not recovered.

This week, he reporting raising a little more than $800,000 in the third quarter of this year, his lowest quarterly amount since entering the race. Brownback appeared this week before the Globe's editorial board and talked about his efforts to reach out to Democrats and independents on issues such as aid to Africa and a congressional resolution apologizing for slavery.

The AP said he is expected announce his withdrawal on Friday in Topeka, Kan. "I know Senator Brownback enjoyed campaigning and meeting new people in talking about ideas for the future of America, but I think it came down to money," one person close to Brownback, who requested anonymity because the candidate had not yet announced his plans, told the AP.

Brownback's withdrawal is expected to help Huckabee, but could also help the prospects of Mitt Romney, who is also aggressively seeking the support of evangelical Christians.

Barack Obama got off a couple of laugh lines and a simultaneous dig at both Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and President Bush during an appearance Wednesday night on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," a required stop these days for serious presidential hopefuls.

Obama downplayed Clinton's growing lead in the national polls -- and the pundocracy asking whether she is the inevitable nominee -- by referring to President Bush's premature declaration of victory in Iraq with the infamous banner on the carrier deck.

"Hillary is not the first politician in Washington to declared, 'Mission Accomplished' a little too soon," Obama said.

Asked about reports that he and Vice President Dick Cheney are distant cousins, Obama replied, "Not kissing cousins."

And asked about going up against Bill Clinton in the campaign, Obama said he would bet on "my girl" -- his wife Michelle -- in a debate against the former president.

"You would leave your wife alone with Bill Clinton?" Leno teased.

Obama laughed loud and long with the audience before replying, "Michelle can handle herself."

By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will endorse Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, giving the Illinois senator a much needed boost in New Hampshire and help blunt Hillary Clinton's courting of African-American leaders.

Senior administration officials confirmed that Patrick called Obama today to confirm his plans to endorse his presidential candidacy. The two talked briefly and aides began working out details for a large public rally in Boston next week.

Patrick's political organization today sent out emails to its list of 40,000 workers and supporters, telling them of his decision to back Obama.

Patrick, the nation's only black governor who is considered a rising star in a new generation of African-American leaders, also called Clinton today to inform her of his decision. He has strong ties to her and former President Bill Clinton, in whose administration he held a top justice department post. Both Clintons lobbied him for his endorsement.

Patrick chose Obama because he believes the country is hungry for his new style of leadership that cuts across both racial and party lines and stirs up strong voter enthusiasm, according to the officials. The governor is expected to argue that Obama can lead what he terms a ''generational call'' -- a rally to rebuild the country and restore its standing around the world.

Tufts University political science professor Jeffrey Berry said Patrick's endorsement will be most significant because it will reinforce Obama's most potent skills as a candidate, his broad-based appeal to voters. ''For Obama, a Patrick endorsement is another sign there is a new young generation of dynamic black leaders who can appeal across racial and partisan lines,'' Berry said.

With the exception of introducing a Democratic presidential debate last June in Washington, Patrick has spent his first year in office keeping a low national profile. His aides said Patrick expects to make appearances for Obama in New Hampshire and Iowa after the Massachusetts Legislature wraps up its session in mid-November.

By Michael Levenson and Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff

CLINTON, Iowa -- Mitt Romney offered a preview of his closely watched speech Friday before a summit of Christian conservative leaders in Washington. The former governor said he planned to take aim at the problem of single motherhood.

"Number one on my list is we have to teach our kids that before they have babies, they should get married," Romney said to applause before a crowd of supporters at a hotel in Clinton. "Marriage comes first."

Later in the speech, while talking about healthcare to the largely rural crowd, he praised Bill Cosby's message of personal responsibility, saying to thunderous applause, "Hats off to Bill Cosby... At least where I spent the last 30 years in Massachusetts, boy, if you could have more married couples in the inner city, wouldn't it be a huge plus for our kids?"

Romney -- who is leading in the polls in Iowa, which plans its first-in-the-nation caucus on Jan. 3 -- picked up the theme again at a stop in Davenport.

Talking about government waste, he noted the federal government has 13 teen pregnancy prevention programs -- and quipped that they must not be working. Later, he ridiculed Hillary Clinton’s now-abandoned proposal to give $5,000 to every baby "regardless of whether they have a mom and dad or not..."

By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff

On Monday, the Globe published a story about Fred Thompson's proposal to save Social Security by cutting benefits for future retirees, a plan that is politically risky but earned him so kudos for acknowledging that a painful solution is necessary. The story noted that other presidential candidates were silent about the proposal, perhaps out of fear of touching the "third rail of politics."

Today, one fellow Republican did respond, but in a fashion that has little political risk for himself. Rudy Giuliani said yesterday he would rule out raising taxes to fix the system. He did not tell the conservative Club for Growth, however, what pain might be necessary to make up for the shortfall in Social Security that will be caused by a flood of boomer retirees.

Earlier this year, Giuliani had cited the model of the 1983 bipartisan Social Security panel, set up by then-President Reagan. Giuliani said he would put five Democrats and five Republicans in a room to solve the problem. Currently, wages are taxed up to $97,500. A number of Democrats have suggested either raising the cap on wages. Analysts have said that either a tax hike or benefit cut is necessary to make Social Security solvent for the long term.

Giuliani told the Club for Growth that his policy on Social Security will be "no tax increase and No. 2, that we come out of it with at least the beginnings of private accounts," he said.

That is similar to a proposal by President Bush that failed to make headway in Congress. In reporting on Giuliani's position, the Associated Press noted that, "Ironically, while Giuliani and other Republicans all strive to be seen as Reagan's political heir, payroll taxes rose as part of the compromise he reached with Democrats in Congress."

Mitt Romney continues to lead in Iowa, where he has invested the most time and money of the Republican presidential hopefuls, according to a new poll.

But the support for the leading candidates is not firm, with about 60 percent of backers for each saying they could change their minds before the caucus, which Iowa Republicans on Tuesday scheduled for Jan. 3.

Romney had support from 25 percent of likely caucus-goers, compared to 19 percent for Fred Thompson, 18 percent for Mike Huckabee, 13 percent for Rudy Giuliani, and 6 percent for John McCain, according to the Rasmussen Reports survey released today.

Huckabee leads among evangelical Christians, while Romney leads among other religious groups, the poll found.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton led with 33 percent, to 22 percent for John Edwards, 21 percent for Barack Obama, and 7 percent for Bill Richardson. Joe Biden, who said in Boston on Tuesday that he would need to finish at least fourth to stay in the race, is in fifth with 4 percent.

The poll was conducted Oct. 10-14 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points among 650 Republicans and plus or minus 3 percentage points among 1,007 Democrats, Rasmussen said.

The endorsement scorecard continues apace.

After snagging what could be a significant backer in the evangelical community on Tuesday, Mitt Romney announced this morning that he has the support of Congressman Connie Mack of Florida.

"Governor Romney is a proven problem solver with an unparalleled record of success in both the public and private sectors," Mack said in a statement provided by the Romney campaign. "Governor Romney is a mainstream conservative leader who will be a champion of hope and opportunity for every American, a catalyst for conservative change in Washington, and a staunch defender of our freedom, security and prosperity."

Romney on Tuesday won the support of Bob Jones III, chancellor of the fundamentalist Christian university in South Carolina named for his family.

Mack will serve as chairman of Romney's steering committee in Florida, which looms large on the Republican nomination calendar. It is scheduled for Jan. 29, after the first contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, and before the quasi-national primary on Feb. 5, when about 20 states are set to vote.

Rudy Giuliani, who leads in the polls in Florida as well as nationally, is counting heavily on the Sunshine State as a springboard to Feb. 5.

Giuliani, meanwhile, claimed a notable endorsement today, that of Texas Governor Rick Perry, the first sitting governor to announce support for the former New York mayor.

"For the last six months, I have cogitated, I've looked, I've studied these candidates -- some of them I know very well -- and came to the conclusion that the individual who can lead America with clarity, the individual who has the experience, the individual who cleaned up a city that was absolutely on its back is Mayor Rudy Giuliani," Perry said this morning on "Fox & Friends." I'm proudly and excitedly going to campaign for him and work for him."

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- Republicans, it seems, have already decided they're running against New York Senator Hillary Clinton, and have made the Democratic presidential candidate a frequent target on the campaign trail.

References to "Hillary-care'' and other derisive remarks about Clinton's platform might rile up the conservative base. Rudy Giuliani, the GOP front-runner in national polls, argues incessantly that he's the one who can beat Clinton next November.

But the focus on Clinton makes for a bad general election strategy, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson warned today.

Addressing a polite, but unenthusiastic, audience of the Republican Jewish Council, Thompson said his party needs to persuade voters to vote for Republicans -- not against Clinton.

"I don't think we need to worry about Hillary Clinton as much as we need to worry about ourselves,'' Thompson, a late entry into the presidential race, told the group. Merely demonizing Clinton would "play into the hands'' of the Democrats, he said. Instead of telling voters what's wrong with the Clinton approach, "we need to figure out what we want to do,'' he said.

Alice Walker, author of "The Color Purple" and one of the country's most prominent African-American artists, has made an eloquent four-minute podcast about why she believes Barack Obama is fit to be president. She cites his multi-cultural and multi-national background, as well as his understanding of the world as "complicated but workable." "I feel we desperately need people in leadership who have more of an idea of the real world than any of the people we've had before," she says. (Hat tip to Ben Smith.)

Obama's campaign, meanwhile, just announced the “Embrace the Change” gospel tour across South Carolina next month, designed to build support for Obama among religious voters in the South. The tour features some top gospel names, including the big-selling Mighty Clouds of Joy. Find more details here.

(Jonathan L. Wiggs, Globe Staff)

Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel speaks to the Boston Globe's editorial board.

It was probably the most visible moment of Mike Gravel's quixotic quest for president.

At a Democratic debate, he sternly admonished Hillary Clinton, telling her he was "ashamed" that she voted for a resolution naming Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization -- a resolution that antiwar activists say could be a prelude to war.

"I really meant it," Gravel told the Globe's editorial board this afternoon. "I was just horrified."

While Clinton says she voted for it to strengthen sanctions and diplomatic pressure -- and thus prevent the need for military action -- Gravel doesn't see it that way.

The former US senator from Alaska said while the US won't attack Iran tomorrow, the drumbeat will grow louder and at some point, Iran will be provoked into actions that will be used to justify a military attack. He also downplayed any threat from Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, saying, "Anybody who has nukes is a threat to world stability. You want to single out Iran? I don't see the logic in that."

Gravel also tried to distinguish himself from other Democrats on healthcare, saying he supports a government-financed system, using a 23 percent consumption tax that would replace income taxes.

But what he really wanted to talk about was what he called the centerpiece of his campaign: a national initiative system in which Americans could raise and legislate any issue they wanted. The idea, he said, is to take power away from a corrupt Congress and federal government and return it to the people.

One major issue that people would address through initiative, he predicted, is to end the war on drugs, legalize marijuana, and allow for the use of hard drugs through prescriptions. The war on drugs, he said, is overcrowding prisons and costing billions that could be better spent elsewhere.

"What are we so uptight about?" he asked.

Asked who he thought would be the toughest Republican for Democrats to face next November, Gravel answered Mitt Romney. His looks, his glib nature, and his packaging make him formidable, Gravel said.

The easiest Republican to beat? Rudy Giuliani, whom Gravel described as "next to a Nazi." Gravel cited the former New York mayor's tough-on-crime actions in office and as a federal prosecutor, plus the police and firefighter unions that oppose Giuliani, but allowed that he was exaggerating.

"He doesn't wear boots," Gravel said of Giuliani. "He likes to go in drag."

But Gravel, describing himself as "a breath of fresh air," said that "tragically" he doesn't see any of his fellow Democrats as a strong candidate, in part because they have all bought into the system.

"We can't take any more politics as usual," he said.

MANCHESTER -- Speaking at a YWCA founded to help girls working in the mills, Hillary Clinton today offered her proposal for helping parents cope with work and childrearing.

Clinton would encourage all states to pass paid family leave into law, and she would put $1 billion a year into federal fund for matching grants to help that happen. She would also have the Department of Labor award grants to businesses experimenting with so-called family-friendly policies.

She would also extend the Family and Medical Leave Act to all businesses with more than 25 works. It currently applies only to businesses with more than 50 employees. And she would provide grants to states to provide financial support to low-income stay-at-home parents.

"Today, women can be fired just for being pregnant, if their employer has no leave policy" she said. "If that sounds horribly outdated, that's because it is."

By Sasha Issenberg, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON -- This morning, Rudy Giuliani repeatedly invoked Ronald Reagan -- as he often does –- as a model for the type of Republican he'd like to be as president.

But before the Republican Jewish Coalition's candidates forum, Giuliani offered a new creation myth to illuminate his Gipper worship: "I know the moment Ronald Reagan would be president of the United States. I was at a bar mitzvah in Manhattan…"

Giuliani went to explain that he was surprised when everyone at his table said they were voting for Reagan (one assumes this is 1980). "This was in New York!" Giuliani explained with a combination of awe and disgust, creating the perfect trifecta for the crowd: a celebration of Reagan, a sweet bar mitzvah memory, and a hint of his love-hate relationship with the New York Democrats who elected him twice as New York's mayor.

Another portion of Giuliani's remarks probably didn't go over as well.

While praising Reagan's blunt description of the Soviet Union as an "evil empire," Giuliani went out of his way to note that "Communist China" deserved the same epithet.

The man who was sitting immediately to Giuliani's left as he said this -– Sheldon Adelson, a major fund-raiser who sits on the RJC's board and who minutes earlier had given a flattering introduction to Giuliani -- was someone who'd would probably be happy to stay as far from China-bashing as he could at the moment.

When Adelson is not collecting checks for Giuliani, he's CEO of the Las Vegas Sands, which this summer opened two casinos in Macau, including the world's largest, the Venetian. Perhaps the biggest hurdle facing casino operators in Macau, a special administrative region of China, is ensuring that Beijing relaxes restrictions on the movement of gamblers (and their money) from the mainland.

Barack Obama today unveiled his "rural policy plan" in Iowa, building on a series of meetings he and his staff have held across the state in recent months. His short-term goal, of course, is to win caucus votes by showing he understands rural America. His longer-term goal is to modernize US agriculture policy and keep farm country on his radar if and when he gets to the White House.

Obama's plan calls for, among other things, reforming the federal farm subsidy program so money goes only to farmers who need it; increasing funding for organic farms; developing new biofuels and setting a goal of generating two billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol by 2013; and allowing small employers to lower costs by pooling employees in health insurance plans. Obama also promised to host a rural policy summit in Iowa and offer a proposal in Congress in his first 100 days as president. Read Obama's full plan here.

But Obama is hardly the only Democrat making a pitch for rural voters. Rival John Edwards today kicked off his two-day, nine-county "Barnstorm for Rural America" tour across Western Iowa to "highlight the families and communities that are too often forgotten in Washington." Former US representative Ben "Cooter" Jones (Cooter Davenport on the "The Dukes of Hazzard") is along for the ride.

Edwards's plan calls for strengthening rural schools; encouraging younger farmers to stay in the business; establishing mandatory country-of-origin labelling of all food; and creating a $1 billion fund to help small businesses invest in rural areas. You can read Edwards's plan in full here.

The political stakes are high in Iowa for both Obama and Edwards, where polls indicate a tight three-way race for the Democratic nomination. Some analysts believe both need a win there to have a strong shot at beating Hillary Clinton.

A new national poll should bring more smiles to Hillary Clinton's campaign and presents more cautions to Mitt Romney's.

Clinton breaks the symbolic 50 percent barrier for the first time this campaign in the USA Today/Gallup survey published today, and widens her lead among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents over Barack Obama, who has 21 percent support. John Edwards remains in third at 13 percent, and the other Democratic hopefuls are all in single digits.

Interestingly, the poll's findings also rebut the thinking that Clinton, the former first lady, is the "default" candidate and does not draw passionate support from Democrats. If she is the nominee, 64 percent of Democrats said they would vote for her enthusiastically, 22 percent said they would support her mainly to oppose the Republican nominee, and 10 percent said they would vote for the Republican or stay home.

Those numbers are better than those for Obama; 49 percent of Democrats said they would vote for him enthusiastically, 31 percent said they would back him mainly against the GOP nominee, and 14 percent said they would vote for the Republican or stay home.

For Romney, the poll numbers aren't as encouraging. While he is leading narrowly in New Hampshire and by a wider margin in Iowa polls, he remains stuck in fourth nationally with 10 percent, trailing Rudy Giuliani with 32 percent, Fred Thompson with 18 percent, and John McCain with 14 percent.

Romney is also in fourth in terms of voter enthusiasm. Only one-fourth of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they would enthusiastically for Romney if he were the nominee, while 38 percent said they would support him mostly to oppose the Democratic nominee, and 22 percent said they would either vote for the Democrat or stay home.

By contrast, 51 percent said they would support Giuliani enthusiastically, 27 percent said they would support him mainly to vote against the Democrat, and 15 percent said they would vote for the Democrat or stay home.

While national polls aren't as politically significant as state-specific ones, especially in early voting states, they do add to the sense of momentum for campaigns.

The USA Today/Gallup poll was conducted Friday through Sunday and the margin of error among Republicans and Democrats is plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Mitt Romney, pressing his appeal to fiscal conservatives, is starting a new TV ad in New Hampshire today in which he promises to slash taxes.

The 30-second spot summarizes the tax-cut plan that Romney unveiled last month, calling it a windfall for the middle class. He proposes to eliminate taxes on income from interest, dividends, and capital gains for those earning less than $200,000 a year.

He, like other Republican presidential hopefuls, also wants to end the estate tax on inheritances and to make permanent the income tax cuts pushed through by President Bush that are scheduled to expire in 2010.

"It's not fair that you have to pay taxes when you earn your money, when you save your money and then when you die," Romney says in the ad. "That's why I'll kill the death tax once and for all and roll back tax rates across the board."

Democrat John Edwards, trying to close ground on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, has less in the bank than his major rivals for the stretch run.

The former North Carolina senator reported $12.4 million in cash on hand as of Sept. 30, including $10 million he can use for the primaries, compared to $35 million that Clinton said she had available for the primaries, and to $32 million Obama said he had.

Edwards, the only major candidate to accept public financing, will also get an estimated $10 million in cash from federal funds.

Edwards was the last major candidate to file his detailed campaign finance report with the Federal Election Commission before the midnight deadline.

All top three Democrats in the polls had more cash available at the end of last month than their Republican counterparts. The major Democrats have been outraising the major Republicans for the entire campaign.

By Sasha Issenberg, Globe Staff

Once again, John McCain’s camp continues to attempt to find a place for their man in the increasingly hostile back-and-forth between Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani over who speaks for the party’s core values.

On Friday, Romney raised the stakes by claiming that he represented -- relying on a phrasing coined by the late Minnesota Democrat Paul Wellstone and popularized during the 2004 presidential race by Howard Dean -- the “Republican wing of the Republican party."

The next day, in a Manchester speech, McCain rehashed Romney’s moderate past and challenged the former Massachusetts governor’s suggestion “that he's a better Republican than me.” In addition, McCain seemed to obliquely contrast his “straight talk” with Romney’s changed positions on some social issues, perhaps the harshest character attack Romney has yet received yet from a GOP rival. “You might not always agree with me on every issue, but I hope you know I'm not going to con you,” McCain said.

But when challenged afterwards by reporters inviting him to call Romney a con man directly, McCain held back. "I just hope Gov. Romney will not repeat a statement that he is the only, quote, real Republican," McCain said. "I will not call myself a, quote, real Republican. I will say that other Republicans are out there running. I respect them. But we also should examine their records to see if they're, quote, real Republicans — or not."

McCain, of course, has a peculiar challenge on the question of party loyalism: he was perhaps the GOP’s most high-profile dissident on issues from campaign-finance reform to tobacco regulation to Bush’s 2001 tax cuts, which he initially opposed. So instead of holding his opponent to an issue-by-issue checklist, McCain is hoping voters will judge Romney by the company he has kept – and today two top McCain surrogates in New Hampshire attempted to cite that record to paint Romney as a, um, Massachusetts liberal.

Former New Hampshire Congressman Chuck Douglas, McCain’s vice chairman in the state, drew attention to two personal campaign contributions Romney made to New England Democrats before he first ran for office in 1994. “As a Republican who ran against liberal Democrat Dick Swett, I can assure you that in 1992 Republicans wrote checks to defeat him; and those Republicans weren't voting for Paul Tsongas that year either,” Douglas said in a statement. “Therefore, I'm amazed that Romney would claim to represent the Republican wing of the Republican Party -- because when Romney had a chance to contribute to a New Hampshire Republican, he chose to fund a liberal New Hampshire Democrat instead.”

In a separate release, state chairman Peter Spaulding said that, in his failed 1994 Senate campaign, Romney chose to “reject[ing] the Reagan legacy and run to the left of Ted Kennedy.”

By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff

Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards today scooped up the backing of 10 state affiliates of the Service Employees International Union, representing about half of the union's 1.9 million members.

The chapters endorsing him include the 656,000-member affiliate in California, and the 2,000-member Iowa state chapter.

Iowa, with its first-in-the-nation caucuses, is the first state affiliate to endorse a presidential candidate since the 1.9 million member national organization last week decided not to endorse a candidate. The Iowa support is key for Edwards, who is relying heavily on the caucuses to boost his campaign.

Edwards also picked up support from the SEIU chapters in Washington, Michigan, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Ohio, West Virginia and Oregon. They can pool resources to help the former North Carolina senator, who trails rivals Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the polls and fund-raising.

Meanwhile, Obama today secured the backing of his home state Illinois SEIU chapter and the state affiliate in Indiana, which combined have about 170,000 members.

Kicking off a week focused on women's events, Hillary Clinton appeared on the TV chat fest "The View" today to field questions from the likes of Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg. Walters asked how it's different for Clinton to run for president as a woman. The former First Lady criticized the focus on her appearance as a woman, while also jokingly feeding into it.

"Well, look how much longer it takes me to get ready!" she joked. But she went on: "The hair, the clothes, the laugh...I do think there still is a tougher standard for women, especially running for president.

"We've all been through it in some way or another," she continued. "You go, you try to break a barrier, you do the best you can and people say, well, I don't like her hair or whatever. Well, I think we are getting beyond that."

The Nielsen Company, the media tracking outfit, is out with some revealing figures today showing who among the presidential candidates is leading in TV and radio advertising, website traffic, and blog buzz. Here are some choice nuggets:

• Mitt Romney is by far the TV and radio advertising leader in either party, having run more than the second- and third-place candidates, Bill Richardson and Barack Obama, combined. Romney has run 10,893 spots as of last Wednesday, compared with Richardson's 5,975 and Obama's 4,293.
  
• Richardson and Obama have run the vast majority of their ads in Iowa, while Hillary Clinton, who has run 2,192 political spots so far, has spread hers around to several other states. Polls suggest at this point that Richardson and Obama both need a win in Iowa more than Clinton does. (71 percent of the total ads so far this cycle have been placed in Iowa.)
  
• On the Republican side, no one even comes close to Romney. Rudy Giuliani has aired 642 ads, but all of them on radio.
  
• Clinton and Obama have been duking it out for the top spot in terms of visits to their websites. Clinton edged Obama in August -- hillaryclinton.com drew 759,000 unique visitors, while barackobama.com drew 749,000. But Obama's website drew more than three times as many overall views, suggesting that his supporters are spending more time on their candidate's site than Clinton's are.
  
• John McCain's money problems this year have been well-documented, but he has by far purchased the most online ads of any candidate this year.
  

(Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)

Presidential candidate Sam Brownback is interviewed by the Boston Globe editorial board.

Republican Sam Brownback, trying to energize his languishing presidential bid, is reaching across the political aisle to some unusual political bedfellows.

"We're trying some different plays," the Kansas senator told the Globe editorial board today.

This week, Brownback will join an unnamed Democrat to offer a resolution for Congress to apologize for slavery and segregation. Brownback said he expects a tough fight on the resolution -- which will not include any call for reparations -- but said that the apology is "not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength."

Already, with Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden, Brownback is pushing a plan for a federal system in Iraq -- with strong Kurdish, Sunni, and Shia regional governments -- as a way to end the bloodshed and allow US troops to withdraw from combat patrols.

Brownback also praised Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts for leading the push for the immigration reform bill, even though he acknowledged that his support for a guest worker program has hurt him among Republicans. "It's been very hard," he said, saying that he had been "beat on" for his immigration stand more than for his stands on every other issue during his political career combined.

Brownback said he also met recently with rock icon Bono to discuss ways to provide more aid and focus more attention on Africa, including encouraging pharmaceutical companies to do more research on "neglected diseases" such as malaria.

"It's both good and right," Brownback said.

While the US needs to do more to alleviate the humanitarian crises in Africa, it also needs to stop the spread of Islamic governments friendly to Al Qaeda that could provide safe havens for terrorists, he said.

In the wide-ranging interview, Brownback also discussed his opposition to abortion and to capital punishment as part of his "whole life" ethic. "I view life as sacred. I view it as sacred from the very beginning. I view it as sacred to the very end."

But there were two issues he would not touch -- his conversion four years ago from evangelical Christianity to Catholicism, and who he might endorse if he drops out of the race if he doesn't finish at least fourth in the Iowa caucuses.

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Idaho Senator Larry E. Craig is lashing out at Mitt Romney, who unceremoniously dumped Craig from his campaign after Craig's arrest in a Minneapolis airport bathroom sex sting and called the conduct "disgraceful."

"I'd worked hard for him here in the state," Craig told NBC's Matt Lauer in an interview to be aired Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. "I was a co-chair of his campaign on Capitol Hill. And he not only threw me under his campaign bus, he backed up and ran over me again."

The Romney campaign responded to Craig's remarks by issuing a statement that the senator resigned from his campaign positions "because he did not want to be a distraction."

"Governor Romney simply believes that a public office is a public trust," spokesman Kevin Madden said in the statement. "He believes when a public official enters a guilty plea, they have broken that public trust and should step aside for the sake of their constituents. Governor Romney believes that we need to have higher ethical standards in Washington with a very clear line that should not be crossed."

In February, Romney announced that Craig and Senator Robert Bennett of Utah would serve as his Senate liaisons, praising their "strong conservative records" and saying that they had "a unique perspective of the new generation of challenges confronting our nation." In May, Romney's campaign also announced that Craig would be cochairman of the Romney for President Idaho Leadership Team, a group of prominent business and community leaders.

"Our government is in need of a proven leader like Governor Romney, who will put in place benchmarks and streamline our government using proven conservative principles," Craig said in the Romney campaign's announcement.

But immediately after news of Craig's arrest broke in August, Romney severed his connections to Craig and compared the scandal to those involving former President Bill Clinton and former Congressman Mark Foley.

Craig announced plans to resign from the Senate after a guilty plea to disorderly conduct, but has since begun efforts to withdraw that plea and announced plans to serve out his term.