CNN

Compiled by Jonathan Helman
CNN Washington Bureau

The Rothenberg Political Report: In Iowa, Will Edwards Divide And Conquer?
While the Democratic race has often, and quite accurately, been described as a choice between change (Barack Obama and John Edwards) and experience (Hillary Rodham Clinton), it has, in the final days before Iowa, become another kind of choice as well.

CNN: Prominent Clinton Supporter Criticizes Iowa
Just days before the Iowa caucuses, a prominent Hillary Clinton supporter criticized the state’s privileged role in the presidential nominating process, forcing her campaign to declare that she did not agree with the assessment.

Washington Post: Huckabee, Romney Make Sunday Push For Evangelicals
Republican rivals Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney took their battle over Christian voters to the pews as both attended services while their campaigns spanned Iowa in a final Sunday pitch to evangelicals.

NY Times: Democrats Try Various Styles, And Pronouns
As Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Edwards try — ever so politely — to eviscerate one another in the final few days before the Iowa caucuses on Thursday, the flavor and substance of their competing performances reveal a basic cultural, thematic and stylistic divide in their campaigns, their supporters and themselves.

Washington Post: Obama Tries New Tactics To Get Out Vote In Iowa
In Sen. Barack Obama's Iowa headquarters, young staff members sit at computers, analyzing online voter data and targeting potential backers. Depending on the voter, they follow with Facebook reminders, telephone calls, text messages and, most important, house visits. The effort will culminate in what state director Steve Hildebrand calls "the largest grass-roots volunteer operation that Iowa has ever seen."

Washington Times: Giuliani Wistful For Iowa Of Old
A framed copy of the Fort Dodge Messenger with a centerpiece feature article on Rudolph W. Giuliani's shopping visit to the town in August hangs on the wall of his Des Moines campaign headquarters, a reminder of better days for the one-time Republican presidential front-runner.

AP: Edwards Sees Cash Bonus From Iowa Win
John Edwards predicts his financial disadvantage against Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama would be quickly overcome if he were to pull off a victory in the Iowa presidential caucuses Thursday.

LA Times: From Iowa Cornfields, A Left-Tilting Tradition
As Iowans ponder whom to support in the Jan. 3 caucuses, their state is the first in the heartland to even consider legalizing same-sex marriage - placing Iowa again in the vanguard and reminding the Democratic presidential hopefuls that progressives here help shape history.

LA Times: Pace Quickens As Candidates Storm Iowa
With uncertainty the only sure thing, the fight for Iowa hurtled into its final stretch on Saturday amid a blizzard of TV ads, speeches, phone calls and door-knocking by a presidential field that, more than ever, has staked its hopes on this snowy state.

Washington Post: McCain's Unlikely Ties To K Street
Sen. John McCain took a break from the presidential campaign trail in March to fly to a posh Utah ski resort, where he mingled with hundreds of top corporate executives assembled by J.P. Morgan Chase for its annual leadership conference.

Washington Post: The Old Magic, With A New Twist
As Sen. John McCain stages a resurrection in New Hampshire, his loyalists here say they can feel it in the air: the spirit of early 2000, when the Arizona Republican rode a raucous insurgency to trounce his party's establishment prince, George W. Bush, in the first-in-the-nation primary. "Mac is Back!" chanted supporters welcoming McCain as he arrived at the airport Friday from Iowa.

Washington Post: Weathering The Caucuses: For Voters And Candidates, the Outlook Is Variable
There are few better places to witness the messiness of democracy than at the Iowa caucuses. After months of campaign stops and ad wars, after millions of dollars spent, Thursday night will come down to the tiniest of details.

NY Times: After A Son’s Death, A Shared Mission In Politics
In the bleak months that followed their son’s death, the Edwardses looked for ways to keep Wade’s name alive. Determined to honor their son publicly and fill their life with meaning, they created a learning center named after him. They chose to have more children. And they decided Mr. Edwards would enter politics, a path that took him first to the United States Senate and now to his second run for the presidency.

NY Times: For New Year’s Eve In Iowa, Restrained Revelry
There is a veneer of festivity but it is a thin and transparent one. For many, the holiday feels cruelly ill-timed: How can they gaily celebrate the start of 2008 when in fact they are consumed with anxiety about what happens two days later?

Washington Times: Obama Makes Run To Middle
Sen. Barack Obama yesterday said his family's being "normal" helps him better understand the plight of everyday voters, positioning himself as more in touch than his Democratic rivals as they all make their final pitches before the Iowa caucuses.

Washington Times: Thompson Takes Aim At 2nd Place, Democrats
A more fired-up Fred Thompson said yesterday he needs to finish second in Iowa's caucuses this week, and he went on the attack, accusing Democratic leaders of having let their party be hijacked by liberal interest groups.

Washington Times: Wyoming Upstaged By Iowa And N.H.
The presidential candidates begin their final surge in anticipation of this week's votes from the first two states, Iowa and Wyoming.

Washington Times: Decorum Urged Upon Confused Caucus-Goers
For those who are new to the Iowa's presidential-caucus process, here are a few words of advice: Be polite — and don't be late. The vaunted caucuses this week have their own etiquette, according to those who are expecting to see a lot of confused faces on Thursday.

LA Times: McCain Losing Votes To Obama In N.H.
Sen. John McCain’s campaign, after struggling mightily this year, has regained some of its footing and is hoping a New Hampshire win could propel him to success in later primaries. But he may fall short in the Granite State, in part because so many independents are choosing Sen. Barack Obama.

LA Times: Obama's Phone Banks Gear Up Already For California's Absentee Voters
The California state branch of Democrat Barack Obama's presidential organization has publicized a tactic that most of the leading campaigns can be expected to pursue - calling voters to remind them that they don't have to wait to cast ballots in the nominating contests.

LA Times: Nuclear Power Gets Boost From Candidates
Already enjoying strong support in the White House, nuclear-fueled electricity is championed by all of the Republican front-runners. And, while the top contenders on the Democratic side cite serious concerns about safety, waste disposal and plant security, only former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina flatly opposes construction of new nuclear plants.

LA Times: Bloomberg Leads 'Unity' Challenge
New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a potential independent candidate for president, has scheduled a meeting next week with a dozen leading Democrats and Republicans, who will join him in challenging the major-party contenders to spell out their plans for forming a "government of national unity" to end gridlock in Washington.

WSJ: Democratic Voters' Fervor Stirs Republican Worries
As presidential hopefuls from both parties rally support across Iowa ahead of Thursday's caucuses, Democratic voters are showing greater fervor for the race than their Republican counterparts, a difference that could have repercussions throughout the 2008 campaign.

Boston Globe: Credibility Pounded, Romney Wrestles Uncertainties
The latest polls show former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at the top or within striking distance in Iowa and New Hampshire. But he is also being dogged by questions about his shifts on issues, questions his aides had confidently predicted would have vanished by now. Rather than being put to rest, the queries have mushroomed into new attacks on Romney's character.

Times of London: Boots On The Ground Will Settle The First Real Battle Of A Long War
To understand why John Edwards has a good chance of winning the Democratic caucuses in Iowa that kick off the nomination process in three days’ time, you need look no farther than his feet – incongruously clad in hiking boots.

AP: Mccain, Huckabee Assail Romney
Mike Huckabee says John McCain is a hero. McCain says Huckabee is a good man. And they both seem to agree on this: Mitt Romney is neither. The Republican rivals joined Sunday to criticize Romney - McCain in New Hampshire called him a waffler and Huckabee in Iowa questioned whether he can be trusted with the presidency, a sign of Romney's strength in both states.

AP: Paul Partisans See Montana Opportunity
Supporters of long-shot presidential hopeful Ron Paul say the Montana Republican Party's quirky caucus rules could create an opening for their candidate that other states don't offer.

AP: Clinton Preaches, Then Runs
Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a campaign sermon Sunday, but didn't stick around to hear the pastor do his preaching.