Barack Obama has sharpened his golden tongue in recent weeks, with which he's drawing "increasingly drawing sharp contrasts with his rivals and seeking to turn criticism of his foreign policy credentials into a fresh argument for change," writes the New York Times' Jeff Zeleny.
This recalibration comes as Obama works to "persuade voters of his judgment and erase perceptions among party leaders" that Hillary Clinton is establishing herself as the frontrunner. Obama said Washington counts "reciting the conventional wisdom" as experience. Indirectly lumping other Democrats in with the status quo, Obama asked an Iowa crowd: "Are you looking simply to replace George Bush and otherwise tweak the system and continue on a process of very modest incremental change? Or do you think that the problem is more than just George Bush and it's a problem with how Washington works?" The strategy is crafted to either lure more voters to Obama or keep some undecided longer.
Further pursuing that change strategy, Obama isn't backing away from his comments about attacking terrorists in Pakistan or meeting with unsavory world leaders, writes the Chicago Sun-Times' Jennifer Hunter.
Another report out of Florida somewhat deflates Obama's message that he doesn't take lobbyist money -- at least on the federal level. The St. Petersburg Times' Alex Leary writes that Obama is co-hosting a $500-a-head fundraiser with a registered Florida state government lobbyist. "The Obama campaign distinguishes between those registered to lobby the federal government and those registered to lobby state governments, saying that as president Obama would have no jurisdiction over matters debated in Tallahassee."
John Edwards is slicing the distinctions thinly as well. The Politico's Jeanne Cummings writes Edwards is calling on Democrats to "forgo donations from registered lobbyists" and while he's not taking money from registered federal lobbyists, he does from people who have "influence and interest in the legislative process," like the a trial lawyer's association that spent $6.5 million on lobbying last year. An Edwards aide "acknowledged that the system isn't perfect but said the ban on registered lobbyists was the most workable way to take a clear stand on reducing the influence of special interests in Washington." Edwards has been consistent: not taking registered lobbyist contributions for his Senate race or '04 White House run.
Hillary Clinton finds herself in a sticky money situation as well. The Quad-City Times' Dan Gearino reports that Clinton is promising to protect senior citizens from predatory telemarketers at the same time she's taken $3,600 from a man accused of helping those practices. Clinton donor and businessman Vinod Gupta is being investigated by the Iowa AG for one of his companies providing phone lists to fraudulent telemarketers. Gupta has donated $10,000 to Clinton over the years. Asked about Gupta, the Clinton campaign only said she's "been one of the most outspoken advocates for protecting seniors and all consumers from fraud. Her latest plan will protect seniors from those wishing to prey on them."
Today is a big day for Fred Thompson, who's making his first stop in Iowa. The Des Moines Register's Thomas Beaumont reports that GOP leaders said Thompson must begin hustling today for a place in the full-blown Iowa caucuses. Whether Thompson can be "competitive in the caucuses, now only a few months away, will depend in part on how quickly he can assemble an Iowa campaign and how much time he invests personally in the labor-intensive act of meeting caucusgoers, GOP leaders say."
The AP's Liz Sidoti writes that Thompson is sparse on policy positions so far.
The New York Times' Russ Buettner reviewed Rudy Giuliani's mayoral records after 9/11 and it shows that between Sep. 17 and Dec. 16, 2001, he spent 29 hours on site in total, shooting down any claim that he spent "as often, if not more" there rescue workers who worked 12-hour shifts every day. Giuliani made the claim at least twice before the most recent time, for which he apologized.
Giuliani was asked how voters can expect him to be loyal to the country if he wasn't loyal to his wife. Giuliani "calmly and quietly" said, "I love my family very, very much and will do anything for them. There are complexities in every family in America. The best thing I can say is kind of, 'Leave my family alone, just like I'll leave your family alone.'"
Get these and today's other election stories at RCP's Politics and Elections page.
