Consider us gobsmacked. With less than a week to go before Super Tuesday, the primary date shared by a whopping 24 states, two candidates are bowing out of the presidential race today.
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who we chowed down with (so to speak) in Philadelphia, is set to endorse the man he was beating in November's polls, Senator John McCain. The Arizona Senator is now the Republican front runner. "You don't always win, but you can always try to do it right," Giuliani told supporters last night. Fred Thompson, who never really got the bus running in Iowa, has also ended his bid for president.
On the Democratic side, former senator and 2004 vice-presidential candidate John Edwards is expected to withdraw this afternoon after placing second in Iowa and third everywhere else. (Including, in a stinging rejoinder, in his native state of South Carolina, which Barack Obama won). With his exit and those of Joe Biden and Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic field will be narrowed down to two. To the best of our knowledge, it's the first time all this happened in January.
We pity the campaign workers whose last acts in the bullpen will be to cancel all those Super Tuesday travel arrangements.
It's almost here! The Iowa caucus is tomorrow, officially kicking off the 2008 Presidential primary season. Do you know who you're voting for? Neither do we!
If you're in Iowa right now, you're probably within a stone's throw of a major candidate. Barack Obama'sStand for Change tour takes him to Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Des Moines tonight, while Hillary Clinton can be spotted in Indianola, Mason City and Burlington. John Edwards threw a midnight caucus party in Atlantic, Iowa today, but he's hitting Iowa City and Cedar Rapids as well, with a caucus learning event in Grinnell tonight and a free rally with Bruce Springsteen concert afterwards.
On the Republican side, Mitt Romney has been attending house parties and has scheduled an Election Night party in West Des Moines. Both John McCain and Mike Huckabee are splitting their time in Iowa with other destinations; McCain's coming to Dubuque from Derry, New Hampshire where he's been stumping with Sen. Joe Lieberman, while Huckabee's off to Southern California tonight to be the first post-strike guest on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
The New Hampshire primary is next Tuesday, so don't let down your guard yet! Ready or not, the race is on for real.
Barack Obama dropped into New York last night, just days after John Edwardsmade an appearance in Washington Square Park. But Obama skipped Greenwich Village on this visit and went uptown, with a stop at the Apollo Theater.
The Democratic candidate has largely steered clear of race-based campaigning, but he certainly made a statement with his visit to Harlem. (Interestingly, Bill Clinton's offices are just a few blocks from the Apollo.) Chris Rock was in the audience, and a gospel choir provided some musical entertainment.
While the Apollo has hosted plenty of soul, R & B and jazz musicians, it's also hosted The Strokes and the Gorillaz. Every Wednesday is amateur night, an event that kicked off the careers of Billie Holiday, James Brown and Luther Vandross to name just a few. On December 28, the theater will host Forces of Nature Dance Theater for a Kwanzaa celebration.
Remember in high school when you had "Spirit Week," where everyone would come to school dressed up for '70s Day or Backwards Day or Crazy Hat Day? Presidential campaigns have 'em, too--or at least one does. Former Democratic senator John Edwards announced Monday the start of "America Belongs To Us Week."
No, he's not raiding your parents' closet; instead, Edwards is bouncing from the coast to the heartland to talk about his anti-corporate policies. Edwards joined a WGA rally in New York's Washington Square Park yesterday before taping an appearance with Brian Williams on NBC. Thursday he'll be speaking in Iowa City and Friday he'll make an appearance at the DNC Fall Meeting in Vienna, Virginia (with free Edwards T-shirts if you RSVP).
Over the weekend it's back to Iowa for more stump time. Edwards is currently third in the Democratic field behind Clinton and Obama, and the January 8 Iowa primary fast approaches.
CNN and the Nevada Democratic Party will host a debate in Las Vegas on Thursday, bringing a bunch of righteous candidates to Sin City. Everyone but Mike Gravel will be there, including Hillary, Chris Dodd and John Edwards. (Gravel didn't rake in enough cash to earn an invite, says CNN.)
Dennis Kucinich will be around town the day of the debate, including a lunch at Tipps Thai on Spring Mountain Road. Barack Obama is already touring southern Nevada, with stops in Boulder City and Pahrump today.
Thursday evening, candidates will duke it out at the Cox Pavilion at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, just a short drive from The Strip. Since the debate starts at 5, that should give everyone plenty of time to get over to see the late performance of KA by Cirque du Soleil at the MGM Grand.
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by egw
