Presidential primary calendar comes into focus with N.H. date
New Hampshire's presidential primary date is now set.
(CNN) - A major piece of the 2008 presidential nominating schedule fell into place Wednesday, when New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner announced that his state's first-in-the-nation primary will be held Jan. 8, just five days after the Iowa caucuses.
Gardner moved the primary up two weeks, from its initial tentative date of Jan. 22, to put New Hampshire ahead of other states that decided to hold primaries earlier to bolster their influence on the nominating process.
"I'm pleased to announce that another important American tradition will endure," Gardner said. "First and foremost, we were going to preserve the New Hampshire tradition, and this will let us do that."
New Hampshire has held the first spot in the presidential primary calendar since 1920. The distinction is enshrined in state law, and Gardner was authorized to change the date to preserve the Granite State's place at the head of the line.
New Hampshire sets January 8 primary date
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The New Hampshire presidential primary will be held January 8, 2008, New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner announced Wednesday.
- CNN Political Editor Mark Preston
Obama praises Oprah, gets into holiday spirit
Sen. Obama spent some time at a New Hampshire food bank on the eve of Thanksgiving.
(CNN) - While volunteering at a New Hampshire food bank Wednesday, Sen. Barack Obama told reporters that Oprah Winfrey is a close friend and key supporter who would be able to help spread his message to voters not yet tuned into the presidential race.
“Obviously to the extent that she can highlight some of the themes of our campaign and reach some people who might not otherwise be thinking about politics that’s great,” Obama said. The Illinois Democratic presidential hopeful added, “She's a dear friend and I'm real appreciative that she's wiling to take time out of her busy schedule.”
Obama said he plans to spend Thanksgiving in Chicago, where he will play host to his wife’s family.
“Michelle has all of these wonderful uncles as well as her brother who are great storytellers and I spend the entire day just listening to other people instead of talking,” he joked. Obama was keen to stress the importance of giving back during the holiday period. “Thanksgiving is a time when we’re grateful for what we have but we also are thinking about those who don’t have,” he said.
Related video: Watch Sen. Obama in New Hampshire Wednesday
- CNN Contributor Jamie Gray
Poll: Clinton, Obama top list of Thanksgiving dinner guests
Sen. Clinton has edged out Sen. Obama in a new poll.
(CNN) – The results are in for the turkey primary in the 2008 White House race.
Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani are the 2008 presidential contenders that voters would most like to have as guests for Thanksgiving dinner, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.
Sen. Clinton came in first overall. She was preferred by 27 percent of voters. Sen. Obama was second with 24 percent of voters wanting to have him at their dinner table for Thanksgiving. Rudy Giuliani took third with 22 percent of voters wanting the former Big Apple mayor to visit on Thanksgiving.
Sen. John McCain, former Sen. Fred Thompson, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney were in fourth, fifth, and sixth place respectively with 17 percent of voters wanting McCain to break bread with them, 14 percent wanting Thompson, and 7 percent wanting Romney.
Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,636 American voters between October 23 and 29 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
- CNN’s Emily Sherman and Martina Stewart
Dems won’t cross CBS picket line
Clinton and Edwards will miss a debate, if necessary, to honor the Hollywood writers strike.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Three of the contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination said Wednesday that they would not participate in a Democratic National Committee sanctioned debate next month if workers for CBS go on strike.
CBS is the broadcast partner for this final DNC debate, and the network’s news writers are threatening to walk out unless an agreement on a contract can be reached. Sen. Hillary Clinton, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and former Sen. John Edwards said they will not cross the picket line.
“The workers at CBS News have been without a contract for close to two and a half years,” Clinton said in a statement. “It is my hope that both sides will reach an agreement that results in a secure contract for the workers at CBS News but let me be clear: ‘I will honor the picket line if the workers at CBS News decide to strike.’”
Edwards expressed a similar sentiment on the eve of Thanksgiving saying he will “honor any picket lines at CBS News, up to and including the CBS presidential debate.”
He also announced that he and his wife, Elizabeth, will cancel a scheduled appearance the ABC daytime talk show, “The View” as a direct result of the current strike by the Writer’s Guild of Amerca.
The debate is scheduled to be held December 10 in Los Angeles, California. CBS news writers authorized their union leaders Thursday to commence a national strike if a contract could not be negotiated.
- CNN Political Producer Xuan Thai
Publisher says Bush's role in W.H. misinformation clarified in book
(CNN) - The publisher of an upcoming book by former White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Wednesday it will clarify how President Bush was "involved" in McClellan's giving misinformation to the media on the culpability of two officials in the Valerie Plame Wilson case.
"There's no suggestion in the book that the president deliberately lied and sent him to the podium to tell people something that wasn't true. But it's pretty clear Scott went into battle without proper body armor," said Peter Osnos, founder and editor at large of PublicAffairs Books.
"Scott's not suggested that the president was himself party to a conspiracy to mislead. But it's pretty damn clear that other people knew what they had done and didn't tell the truth," Osnos said.
McClellan, who was press secretary from July 2003 until April 2006, is declining interviews.
McClellan told CNN early this year that he believes the president was given assurances that Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, and Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser, were not involved in leaking to the press that Valeriei Plame Wilson was a CIA covert operative.
Romney: My campaign had nothing to do with anti-Mormon calls
Romney says he has no idea who was behind phone calls in New Hampshire
DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) - "You've got to be kidding" was GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's incredulous response.
The question: Is he confident that no one associated with his campaign was involved in so-called push-polling?
The practice is a political attack disguised as legitimate polling. Callers portray themselves as nonpartisan members of a polling organization, then provide negative or misleading information about a candidate in an effort to discourage voting for that person.
Romney appeared taken aback because the phone calls - reported in early presidential contest states of Iowa and New Hampshire - cast aspersions on him and his Mormon faith.
The calls also raised questions about deferments he received during the Vietnam War because he was doing missionary work in France.
Spy's husband: Book shows White House 'closed ranks' in leaking wife's identity
Watch former Ambassador Wilson's interview with John Roberts.
(CNN) - The revelation by a former White House spokesman that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were "involved" in the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson's identity shows how the White House "closed ranks" to protect themselves, her husband, Joe Wilson, said Wednesday.
The information - from an upcoming book by Scott McClellan - also shows how important it was to the administration to commute the sentence of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Wilson said on CNN's "American Morning."
"I think it now makes it very clear the extent to which the vice president was involved, which, of course, then makes it very clear how important to the vice president the commutation of Mr. Libby's sentence was," the former U.S. ambassador said.
Poll: Huckabee strengthening in Iowa
WASHINGTON (CNN) – A new poll shows former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Arkansas, strengthening his second place position in Iowa in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Huckabee still trailing former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Massachusetts, but pulling ahead of former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tennessee, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, R-New York.
The poll shows Romney currently at 28 percent, Huckabee at 24 percent, Thompson at 15 percent, and Giuliani at 13 percent.
The poll was conducted on November 14-18, 2007 and has a +/- five percent margin of error.
Edwards: I pay no attention to Clinton/Obama 'sniping'
Edwards said he wasn't familiar with the back and forth between Clinton and Obama regarding their foreign relations experience.
DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) – The same day Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama engaged in a war of words over foreign policy credentials—and the same day fellow Democrat John Edwards' own campaign criticized Clinton for "slinging mud" on the issue—Edwards himself said he's paid no attention to the "sniping."
Asked if Clinton was warranted in criticizing Obama's comments that his strongest foreign relations experience comes from spending four years as a child in Indonesia, Edwards said, "Can I honestly tell you…I spend not a nanosecond listening to what each of them are saying sniping toward each other, so I have no idea what you're talking about."
After a brief rundown given by reporters on the day's back and forth between the two, Edwards continued, "I don’t want any part of any of that. I think Senator Obama is completely entitled to talk about his whole life experience to allow people to judge whether he's prepared to be president."
Edwards was also asked what he felt his own foreign policy credentials were. After first saying that what matters is how well a candidate understands what's happening in the world, he added, "We don’t elect resumes president of the United States. We elect people president."
-CNN Iowa Producer Chris Welch
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