Frontrunners playing it safe
From CNN Des Moines affiliate KCCI:
In the upcoming presidential election, voters shouldn't expect to ask too many questions. At least that seems to be the rule for voters following their favorite candidates.
More White House hopefuls are sticking to their speeches, and journalists following the campaign said candidates find it's dangerous to take questions from reporters or voters.
WMUR: Clinton hits airwaves in New Hampshire, Iowa
Clinton is up with a new ad in New Hampshire and Iowa.
Sen. Hillary Clinton seized on public attention over President George W. Bush's veto of child health insurance legislation to launch a new ad Thursday in New Hampshire and Iowa.
The ad casts her as the candidate best able to provide universal health care.
Giuliani raises $11 million in 3Q
Giuliani greets a potential supporter on the campaign trail.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani raised $11 million in third quarter campaign funding raising, the Giuliani campaign told CNN, edging rival Mitt Romney.
Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate, raised $11 million during the three-month period that ended on September 30, the campaign said. About $10.5 million can be used in the primary race while the rest must be saved for the general election.
At the end of the quarter, Giuliani's campaign had $16 million in cash on hand.
That is slightly more than what fellow Republican Mitt Romney during that same period. Romney raised raised $10 million, his campaign announced Thursday.
Related: Giuliani edges Romney in fundraising
Romney reports raising $10M, loans campaign $8.5M
Romney has loaned his campaign over $17 million this year.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - GOP candidate Mitt Romney raised $10 million in primary election funds for the third quarter and personally loaned $8.5 million of his own money to his campaign for president, his campaign announced Thursday.
The former governor of Massachusetts gained the support of 23,000 contributors for the quarter, bringing the total number of contributors for the year so far to 100,000.
As in the past two quarters, the Romney campaign opted not to raise general election funds in the third quarter which ended Sept. 30.
Romney has loaned his campaign a total of more than $17 million from his personal fortune – including the amount in the 3rd quarter. The Romney campaign said earlier this year that he and his wife have between $190 and $250 million in total assets.
His campaign has brought in a total of $62 million for 2007, to date, with $9 million of cash on hand reported for the third quarter, down $3 million from the second quarter.
The former Massachusetts governor trails Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama who earned $27 million and $20 million respectively in the third quarter.
Related: Giuliani edges Romney in fundraising
- CNN Assignment Editor Katy Byron
McCain raises $6 million
McCain raised $6 million in the third quarter his campaign reported.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - After months of disappointing fundraising, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, raised a respectable $6 million during the third quarter fundraising period.
The amount is less than the $11.2 million McCain raised in the second quarter, but third quarter fundraising is typically lower, which occurs during the summer. McCain was forced to fire most of his staff and rework his entire campaign strategy after the second quarter in July when he was left with $2 million in the bank.
Now, after the nine months of trying to raise funds, McCain has $3.6 million in his war chest.
Campaign Manager Rick Davis said he is please with McCain's progress.
"We are thrilled that with so many Americans supporting John McCain, we're now on sound financial footing and running a robust campaign gaining clear momentum in the early states," Davis said. "Heading into the fall, we have the resources to communicate that John McCain is the only candidate with the experience, character and judgment to lead as commander in chief from day one."
Related: Giuliani edges Romney in fundraising
- CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich
Dobson to social conservatives: No pro-choice candidate
Dobson is urging social conservatives not to back a pro-choice candidate.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – James Dobson, a prominent social conservative leader, writes in The New York Times Thursday that conservative voters should not compromise their beliefs just to ensure that a candidate wins the election.
“Polls don’t measure right and wrong; voting according to the possibility of winning or losing can lead directly to the compromise of one’s principles,” Dobson wrote on the Op-Ed page of the newspaper.
“In the present political climate, it could result in the abandonment of cherished beliefs that conservative Christians have promoted and defended for decades.”
He added, “Winning the presidential election is vitally important, but not at the expense of what we hold most dear.”
At the very base, Dobson said a candidate should support “the sanctity of human life, the institution of marriage, and other inviolable pro-family principles.”
Dobson, who is the founder of Focus on the Family Action, also noted that at a recent meeting with social conservatives in Salt Lake City, there was near unanimity to support a minor party candidate” if none of the major candidates seeking the nomination support their political beliefs.
“After two hours of deliberation, we voted on a resolution that can be summarized as follows: If neither of the two major political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, we will join others in voting for a minor-party candidate,” Dobson wrote. “Those agreeing with the proposition were invited to stand. The result was almost unanimous.”
Dobson’s threat not to back a candidate who supports a strict social conservative agenda appears to hurt former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination. But the Giuliani campaign has downplayed the potential threat of third party candidate, noting polls showing strong support for him among church-going evangelicals.
Asked Monday about the potential opposition from social conservatives, Giuliani reiterated his electablitity trump card.
"I run the most competitive against Hillary Clinton by a big big margin and I can take democratic states from her," he said. "Nobody else does that."
- CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney
Richardson to deliver major Iraq speech
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is set to deliver a major address on Iraq at Georgetown University.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson will deliver what his presidential campaign is billing as a major speech on "Iraq and defense modernization" Thursday at Georgetown University.
Richardson will unveil a proposal "aimed at modernizing the American military to more effectively deal with the changing global threats we face," according to a campaign aide. The Democratic governor will specifically call for "$57 billion in spending cuts and reprogramming to the defense budget."
Richardson will also emphasize his plan to withdraw all troops from Iraq.
- CNN’s Candy Crowley and Lauren Kornreich
Ron Paul's big haul
Watch Mary Snow's report about Rep. Ron Paul's third quarter fundraising total.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, brought in $5 million in contributions to his presidential campaign during the third quarter of this year. Doesn't sound impressive compared to what some other 2008 White House hopefuls have raised? Mary Snow explains why the $5 million raised by Paul may have surprised some political pundits and some of Paul's rivals for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
Clinton to vow a new approach to science
Clinton tackles science in a speech on Thursday.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Hillary Clinton on Thursday will vow to make science a high priority if she is elected president, a subject the New York Democrat claims has been neglected by the Bush administration.
Signing an Executive Order that encourages stem cell research and forbids “political appointees from altering or removing scientific conclusions in government publications without any legitimate basis for doing so,” are just two of several changes Clinton will promise to implement under her watch.
On the issue of space exploration, Clinton will guarantee to execute “a balanced strategy of robust human spaceflight, expanded robotic spaceflight, and enhanced space science activities.”
She will outline her scientific agenda before the Carnegie Institute on the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s successful launch of the Sputnik satellite.
- CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley
Congress regroups after SCHIP veto
Watch Dana Bash's report about what Congress is doing to respond to President Bush's veto.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Dana Bash reports on the Congressional response to President Bush's veto of the SCHIP bill. The legislation would have expanded federal funding for childrens' health insurance coverage and it had bipartisan support - though not currently enough support to pass the bill over Wednesday's veto.
More: Democrats begin to push to override veto of kids health insurance bill
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