Today on the presidential campaign trail

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - IN THE HEADLINES

McCain tells N.H. voters to ignore money, negative ads ... Hoping to rebound, Clinton urges New Hampshire voters to vet and question candidates ... Obama reaches out to N.H. independents ... Kucinich, Hunter, Gravel cut from ABC News presidential debates set for Saturday ... Edwards puts Clinton back into the mix ... Loss behind him, Romney seeks rebound ... Huckabee hopes tax plan will boost his prospects in the Granite State

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McCain touts Iraq vision

HOLLIS, N.H. (AP) — Seizing on the buzz word of the campaign, Sen. John McCain told voters Friday if they're looking for change, they should remember how he helped turn things around in Iraq.

"I'm most proud of the change I brought about in Iraq that saved American lives," McCain said. "No one else was ready to make that kind of reform. I'm proud to stand here as a person who has reformed and reformed and reformed."

McCain was an early critic of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and called early on to increase the number of troops in Iraq. He spoke during a brief afternoon stop at the Hollis Pharmacy, where he was mobbed by supporters and the media.

The Arizona senator has emphasized New Hampshire in his campaign, and he is in a tight race here with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has far outspent him. In a jab at Romney, McCain told New Hampshire voters not to pay attention to money and negative ads.

"I know you are examining these candidates, and you can't buy an election in the state of New Hampshire. You have to earn it," McCain said. "Tell the candidates you want positive ads.

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Clinton retools campaign for N.H.

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — Fighting back from a devastating loss in Iowa, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to recalibrate her campaign in New Hampshire Friday by promising to answer as many voter questions as possible.

With a new urgency to her voice, the former first lady dispensed with much of her lengthy campaign stump speech and took her case directly to New Hampshire voters, whose state primary is Tuesday.

New Hampshire could make or break Clinton's candidacy. A good showing in this snowbound state may be her only chance to stem the bleeding from Thursday night's Iowa caucuses, where voters resoundingly rejected her message of experience in favor of a charismatic newcomer, Barack Obama.

At a rally in a freezing cold airport hanger, the New York senator urged supporters to cut through all the "static in the air" to learn what they could about her candidacy and that of Obama and John Edwards, who also edged her in Iowa.

"I want to know from all of you ... what do you want to know about us?" she said. "Who will be the best president based not on a leap of faith but on the kind of changes we've already produced."

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Obama appeals to N.H. independents

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama appealed to New Hampshire's famously unaligned voters, embracing all political persuasions and borrowing language from Republican John McCain, a favorite of New Hampshire's independent voters eight years ago.

"If you know who you are, if you know what you believe in, if you know your principles, if you know what you are fighting for, then you can reach out those you don't agree with," he told a crowd of more than 1,500, including students, assembled in a Concord high school. "If they are Republicans and independents who are working with me, that makes us stronger."

He said he would demand sacrifice from Americans when necessary and be frank about his goals and his approach to governing.

Then, lifting McCain's catch phrase, he added: "We need someone who exercises straight talk instead of spin."

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ABC cuts 3 from presidential debates

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News is eliminating Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter and Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel from its prime-time presidential debates Saturday night because they did not meet benchmarks for their support.

The Republican debate three days before the New Hampshire primary will include Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. It starts at 7 p.m. EST.

Shortly after that 90-minute forum, Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Bill Richardson will take the stage at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.

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Edwards makes his case to NH voters

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — Democrat John Edwards abandoned earlier signs that he would ignore Hillary Rodham Clinton in their mutual chase of Barack Obama on Friday, lumping his two presidential opponents together as "corporate Democrats" who would not fight hard enough for working Americans.

"Nothing will change if we trade a crowd of corporate Republicans for corporate Democrats," Edwards told more than 200 supporters and union activists in Nashua, N.H. The state's presidential primary is Tuesday.

Edwards did not mention Clinton or Obama by name, but later made it clear to reporters he was referring to both of them.

Shortly after Edwards narrowly eclipsed Clinton for second place in the Iowa Democratic caucus Thursday, he said the campaign had become a two-person race. But he seemed willing to put Clinton, the New York senator, back into the mix because she helps him develop the anti-corporate message he applies to both rivals.

"She's the one who has taken most of the special-interest money," Edwards campaign manager David Bonior said in an interview.

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Romney seeks rebound in New Hampshire

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney reached into the sports metaphor closet Friday as he sought to give perspective to an Iowa caucus loss that put added pressure on him to win next week's New Hampshire primary.

"This is still a nice, long process here," he told about 150 campaign workers who defied frigid temperatures and the 3 a.m. hour to greet his plane as it returned from the Midwest. "We've had, if you will, the first inning of a game that has, let's say, 50 innings in it."

He made several veiled jabs at Sen. John McCain, a congressional veteran who is challenging Romney's long-standing lead in New Hampshire.

"I want to go to Washington to bring the kind of can-do, change experience that I've had everywhere I've been," he said. "I changed a business. I helped change the Olympics. I helped change a state and I'm going to change Washington. We're going to take it apart, put it back together again, this time smarter, smaller and simpler."

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Huckabee pins New Hampshire hopes on tax plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Mike Huckabee said he hopes to follow his victory in Iowa's caucus with a win in New Hampshire by appealing to the state's famous fervor for low taxes.

The former Arkansas governor supports a "Fair Tax," a proposal to eliminate federal income taxes in favor of a 23 percent national sales tax.

"My tax plan, which would completely overhaul the tax system, is connecting with voters in New Hampshire," Huckabee said in an interview Friday on CBS' "Early Show." "We only have a few days to close the sale, but I think the momentum coming out of Iowa is going to be good for us, then we're on to South Carolina and Florida, where we're running first in the polls. We're going to have a great month."

Huckabee was boosted in Iowa by conservative evangelical voters, who are sparse in New Hampshire. He also lags behind rivals Mitt Romney and John McCain in polls of likely GOP primary voters in the Granite State.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Bill Richardson campaign in New Hampshire.

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THE REPUBLICANS

Mitt Romney, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani and Ron Paul talk to voters in New Hampshire.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"This feels good. This feels just like I imagined when I was talking to my kindergarten teacher." — Democrat Barack Obama, referring to an exchange with the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign over the longtime ambitions of their candidates, at an airplane hangar in Portsmouth, N.H.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

Seventy-two percent of New Hampshire citizens voted in the 2004 presidential election, according to the Census Bureau.

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Compiled by Ann Sanner.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_po/2008_race_rundown [link]