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2008 Dems head to Iowa for July 4th |
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By Sam Youngman
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Posted: 06/27/07 08:07 PM [ET] |
Most of the Democratic presidential candidates will spend the Fourth of July holiday in the first-caucus state of Iowa, proving that at least for now, it continues to command the time, money and respect of the field.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (N.Y.) campaign is hitting the Hawkeye State with perhaps its biggest asset, former President Clinton, for a series of events next week.
The Clintons will be there for a few days, spending Independence Day in the cities of Clear Lake and Waterloo.
Sens. Joseph Biden (Del.) and Chris Dodd (Conn.) also will be in Iowa for the holiday, as reportedly will Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), though his campaign did not confirm the plans.
Dodd is spending most of the week in the state with his wife and two young daughters as part of what the campaign is calling his “River to River” bus tour.
“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the founding of our nation than traveling in Iowa and talking about the bold ideas and proven leadership it will take to bring America back to greatness,” Dodd said in a statement.
Biden and Obama will reportedly participate in the Urbandale Fourth of July parade.
Current Iowa front-runner and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) is currently scheduled to spend the holiday at his home in North Carolina with his family, according to a campaign aide.
That so many candidates are spending their time in the first-caucus-in-the-country state, not to mention that it’s the site of President Clinton’s first foray into the early-voting states, underscores the importance Iowa maintains in the process.
Some analysts considered the influence of early-voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire to be waning after delegate-rich states like Florida, California, New York and New Jersey moved closer in the calendar.
But with every state’s encroachment, the campaigns have said they see the early-voting states as more crucial than in previous years, insisting the momentum associated with early wins is more important than ever.
A steady influx of candidates, marching in parades and appearing at traditional house parties and town hall meetings, lends credence to what could have been interpreted as political pandering.
And the candidates are putting their time and money where their mouths are.
Dodd and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson have been buying TV time in Iowa for some time, and Obama took to the air there for the first time yesterday. Richardson will campaign in New Hampshire on the 4th.
Obama is hitting the airwaves as some polls in the state show him stalling. Richardson’s internal polls even show the governor moving into third place behind “likeliest” caucus-goers, ahead of Obama but behind Edwards and Clinton.
Obama’s campaign did not return requests for comment.
And Edwards, who has by most accounts been leading in Iowa, went on the air in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire this week, more than a week ahead of schedule.
New Hampshire has shown the same kind of inoculation to so-called Tsunami Tuesday as Iowa, hosting a steady flow of candidates from both parties.
Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Carrie Giddins said she did not want to speculate as to why candidates were picking Iowa over New Hampshire or Nevada, site of the second caucus, for the fireworks next week.
But she said “structured events” like the Urbandale parade, which thousands of Iowans will attend, provide candidates, especially those with day jobs in Congress, a place “where they can be seen and see more people.”
“Why not have someone else plan an event with 20,000 people and you just go?” Giddins said.
She added that the early interest in the race, particularly in the first caucus and primary states, have accelerated the kind of campaigning that traditionally would have been reserved for later in the year.
“This could be Labor Day four years ago,” Giddins said.
The top tier of Republican candidates was not as clear regarding holiday plans.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign didn’t respond by press time. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s campaign said he has no public events, and Sen. John McCain’s (Ariz.) campaign declined to comment at this time.
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