Clinton, Obama Fight For Advantage In Iowa

Democrats Also Skewer Bush And GOP At Jefferson-Jackson Dinner

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Dan Balz and Shailagh Murray.

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Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) drew sharp contrasts with one another Saturday night at a state party fundraiser over who is best able to lead the Democratic Party in next year's presidential election, less than eight weeks before Iowa's critical January caucuses.

A long night of political oratory that featured the six major Democrats ended with Clinton and Obama, in back-to-back speeches, taking aim at each other. Clinton sought to rebut criticism that she has been vague and calculating in her campaign and, targeting what her aides believe is one of Obama's weaknesses, argued that she has the strength and experience to move the country away from the policies of President Bush.

Obama was even more direct in trying to raise doubts about Clinton as a candidate, saying: "If we are really serious about winning this election, Democrats, then we can't live in fear of losing. This party, the party of Jefferson and Jackson and Roosevelt and Kennedy, has always made the biggest difference in the lives of the American people when we led not by polls but by principle, not by calculation but by conviction, when we summoned the entire nation to . . . a higher purpose."

The race in Iowa is currently a three-way contest among Obama, former senator John Edwards of North Carolina and Clinton, the national front-runner for the nomination. Most attention Saturday night was focused on the speeches of those three, but Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson used the evening to try to kick-start their candidacies into competition for upper-tier status.

With an estimated 9,000 party activists assembled at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, the candidates also took on Bush and the Republican Party, whom they accused of a misadventure in Iraq, of shredding the Constitution, and of ignoring the plight of 47 million Americans without health care insurance.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) served as emcee for the evening.

The Jefferson-Jackson dinner provided the candidates with an opportunity to preview their closing arguments in what is the costliest and most fiercely contested campaign ever in this state. The event also gave their staffs an opportunity to show off their organizational muscle, transforming the hall with a sea of signs and a wall of sound.

Edwards kicked off the speeches, attacking the Republican presidential candidates as "George Bush on steroids - more war, more division, more tax cuts for the rich, government for the lobbyists, by the lobbyists." In spirited language, Edwards recalled his history as a trial lawyer in asserting that he is the Democrat best positioned to challenge the power of special interests in the nation's capital.

As a lawyer, Edwards said, he often went into the courtroom to challenge corporations and insurance companies. "I beat them and I beat them and I beat them again, and I will beat those interests as president of the United States," he said.

Richardson opened his speech with a dig at Bush. To loud cheers, he said: "This election is about restoring the American dream . . . waking up one cold January morning in 2009 and seeing a Democrat elected to the White House and George Bush gone forever."

Biden said Bush squandered an opportunity to rally the world behind the United States after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and he added: "As long as we are squandering our credibility, our lives and our treasure in Iraq, no one, no one in the world is prepared to join us and follow our leadership in these other hot spots in the world."

Biden also attacked Republicans in general. "They confuse ideology with morality, and they have their values backwards," he said.

The speeches ran until well past midnight Eastern time, with the candidates' speeches interspersed with remarks from Iowa's elected officials and even an auction to raise funds for the Iowa Democratic Party. When Dodd got his turn at the microphone, with Clinton and Obama still waiting to speak, he joked, "Welcome to breakfast in Des Moines."

But Dodd quickly turned on Bush and the Republicans, saying they are responsible for "a greater assault on the Constitution" than any other administration in history.

Clinton held a narrow lead in an October Iowa Poll for the Des Moines Register, and her rivals recognize that a Clinton victory here in January could start her on a virtually unstoppable march to the nomination. Nevertheless, strategists here said this week that any of the top three candidates could win the caucuses, and all the campaigns were determined to demonstrate their organizational prowess and the passion of their supporters at Saturday's dinner.

The competition among the campaigns began Friday evening with a "sign war," in which young staffers raced one another to commandeer wall space in the auditorium for their candidates' placards. As the auditorium began to fill with people, the candidates' supporters marched through the corridors chanting, beating drums and raising the noise to ear-piercing levels.

Hours before the dinner, Obama staged a boisterous rally that featured R&B singer John Legend and thousands of supporters wearing red T-shirts with the words "I'm fired up" on the front and "He's ready to go" on the back. Those are chants that Obama uses to close his stump speeches, and they have become a rallying cry for his army of volunteers.

Clinton supporters showcased their own T-shirt brigade, parading through the Veterans Memorial Auditorium and Hy-Vee Hall complex wearing yellow shirts that said "Turn up the heat" on the front and "Turn the country around" on the back - words that Clinton wove through her speech as she called on Democrats to unite to reverse the administration's policies.

Earlier in the day, Edwards attacked Clinton over an incident earlier this week, in which an Iowa college student said the Clinton campaign had encouraged her to ask a question about global warming. Fox News reported Saturday on a second such incident.

Edwards compared Clinton to Bush, who often campaigned in front of pre-screened audiences. "That's what George does: George Bush goes to events that are staged, where people are screened," he said, according to an account on Politico.com. "That's not the way democracy works in Iowa."

Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee said: "It is not a standard policy of the campaign, and it's not something we'll do moving forward. The senator has no idea who she is calling on when she's answering questions."

Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio) and former senator Mike Gravel of Alaska were not invited to speak because they are not running campaigns in Iowa.

[nextprophet]

WHO''S RON PAUL?
Ron Paul''s campaign has become a clearinghouse for voters like me who feel unrepresented by the Fascisct (globalist Republicans) and their Socialist comrades in crime (globalist Democrats). They''re actually one and the same. It''s all a phony, poorly staged left-right paradigm. Most people, though, are too distracted, dumbed-down, or outright brainwashed by mainstream media, which endlessly regurgitates scientifically-crafted streams of information aimed at keeping their eyes closed to the realities of the world around them, that they fail to recognize this. Those currently in power, and those being groomed to take [major] political power, are preselected by a "global elite," and whomever is eventually elected, will ultimately, serve their agenda, and not ours. People on the right and those on the left have many differences. Maybe irreconcilable ones. But they have a lot of common beliefs too, and our numbers and anger are of a considerable magnitude. No matter what happens in 2008, I personally believe Ron Paul will influence the national conversation about how much power our government should have over our lives; how much liberty we should give up for security; and whether we should continue moving along our current path towards a one world government. These are issues that, frankly, no one else is talking about as seriously and sincerely as Ron Paul. What''s for sure is that his growing army of supporters like me will be a force to be reckoned with in 2008.

[nextprophet]

YOU''RE A FROG IN A POT
My fellow Americans need to open their eyes to the fact that our republic, along with The Constitution upon which it was founded, is being flushed-down the toilet by our nations'' bought and paid for politicians and media. While the Oligarchs warn and incite fear in the sheeple about the prospect of terrorism, they at the same time leave our borders wide open, and then conduct illegal wars overseas that do nothing but incite the terrorism which their Orwellian Laws like the Patriot Act and the John Warner Defense Authorization Act pretend to protect us from. Wake up America! It''s not about protecting you from terrorism, or Global Warming, or any of that other fear-mongering garbage the sold-out, mainstream media feeds you 24/7. It''s about feeding the bankers and the military industrial complex, and facilitating the global elite''s ability to ratchet-down control over the American people, placing us into a total control grid where they can surveille, track and control everywhere we go and everything we do. It''s the groundwork for tyranny. It''s the New World Order plan of Bush, Clinton, Edwards, McCain, Giuliani, et.al., being executed quite beautifully. You''re a frog in a pot: In order to cook a frog, you don''t throw him into a pot of boiling water. If you do, he''ll resist and jump-out. What you do instead is, you turn the heat-up REAL SLOW, and by the time the water is boiling he won''t be able to jump out anymore, because it''s too late--he''s already doomed.

[nextprophet]

CLINTON ALLOWS BUSH TO PARDON HIMSELF
Buried deep inside Military Commisions Act, which was FULLY SUPPORTED by Senators Clinton, Obama and McCain, is a provision which pre-pardons President Bush and all the members of his administration for any crimes which they may have committed all the way back to September 11, 2001. Why that far back? That kind of makes you wonder. Huh? I can''t help but recall what Nixon said during an interview following the Watergate scandal when he said, "If the President does it, by definition, it''s not illegal." History never repeats itself, folks. It only rhymes. At least Nixon had enough class to wait for another President to pardon him for his crimes against our country. Bush apparently doesn''t want to take that chance. He has to consider the risk that Ron Paul will become our next President.

[nextprophet]

CLINTON MAKES BUSH DICTATOR
With the full support of Senators Clinton, Obama and McCain, President Bush recently signed into Law the John Warner Defense Authorization Act, which, according to Senator Leahy (VT), will actually "encourage the President to declare Martial Law." It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a Laws which limits the President''s ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act, helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic Law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush has now undone all of those prohibitions. The John Warner Defense Authorization Act, which was signed by the President in an unpublicized ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency," suspend Congress; The Constitution; and to take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of your Governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder." President Bush seized this unprecedented power on the very same day that he signed the equally odious Military Commissions Act. The two Laws compliment one another. One allows for torture and detention abroad of those who dissent and are stripped of their citizenship, while the other seeks to enforce acquiescence at home by allowing the President to order the military onto our streets in a domestic Law enforcement role, which is already being done. Vote for Liberty. Vote for Ron Paul.

[nextprophet]

CAMPING OUT WITH HALIBURTION
The John Warner Defense Authorization Act, which was supported by Clinton, Obama and McCain, permits militarized police round-ups and detention of protesters ("potential terrorists") and other "undesirables" for detention in facilities which are already contracted for and under construction by Kellog, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton. This Law, which was sold to an "emergency managed" and willfully gullible public in the wake of the 9/11 attacks as a necessary measure needed by our President in order to fight his "global war on terrorism," permits the indefinite detention of American citizens who resists the foreign and domestic agenda of our President. The Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International reported recently that global engineering and technical services powerhouse, Kellog, Brown & Root announced during January 2006 that its Government and Infrastructure division had been awarded a (no bid) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract to build these detainment camps with a maximum total value of $385 million over a five year term, and that this contract called for the company to build "temporary detention and processing capabilities" to augment existing U.S. government Detention and Removal Operations and to support "the rapid development of new programs." New Programs? Could it possibly get any worse? Why would the president be so concerned about Americans protesting? Aren''t we all happy campers?

[nextprophet]

ARE WE A NATION OF LAWS?
Consider the Patriot Act. The Law is 342 pages long, or 57,000 words, making it a bit longer than Dostoevsky''s "Notes from Underground" or, if you''re partial to pigs, about twice the size of Orwell''s "Animal Farm." The Patriot Act is the reigning champion of our government''s recent un-American activities. When it was first paraded before Congress and the Senate following the 9/11 attacks, few Members, other than Congressman, Ron Paul dared to vote against it. Most in Congress simply gave it their rubber-stamp of approval, without ever reading it. Why bother? It was, after all, named the "USA Patriot Act." It must be a good thing. Right? Now in effect, the Law wrecks a generation''s worth of constitutional protections against government snooping, legalizing police-state tactics in searches and seizures, criminalizing certain forms of speech and political activity, and opening the way for the mistreatment of foreigners in government custody and wholesale expulsions and imprisonment. It is a repugnant, unnecessary Law that goes against the very principles its name wrongly implies. Yet, it remains unchecked and unbalanced by public opinion, Lawmakers or the Courts. So, yes, we''re a nation of Laws. But the Laws aren''t much to speak of when they''re designed to hoodwink the public to win its docility. Neither is public responsibility much to speak of these days when its docility is secured with nothing more than a ploy-riddled play on the word "patriot."

[nextprophet]

VETERANS DENIED FREE SPEECH RIGHTS
Several pro-peace veterans were arrested when they protested their exclusion from a Veterans Day event in Boston by refusing to move away from a podium. The local chapter of a group called Veterans for Peace estimated 15 of its members and supporters were arrested Sunday at the event sponsored by the American Legion. Boston Police said several arrests were made, but did not have an exact number. The detainees were later released on bail. "We''re opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq; we''re opposed to the planned invasion of Iran," said group member Winston Warfield, a Vietnam War veteran." Warfield said the American Legion rejected their request to have a speaker at the event, which took place outside City Hall. A call to the American Legion office in Boston was not immediately returned Monday. "From our point of view, it''s a public affair."

[nextprophet]

DEMOCRATS HOODWINKED BY HILLARY
Sadly, even though Clinton voted for the war in Iraq, and a host of Laws aimed at removing civil liberties; and our country''s sovereignty, Democrats are so blinded by her cult of personality that I predict they will overwhelmingly vote to put her crime family back into office. While I''ve made some progress in educating Liberals as to the phony staged consensus of the left-right paradigm, the fact remains that a majority of Democrats still see the White House as some kind of political Super Bowl, where the success of their "team" is the be all and end all - to the expense of America as a whole. The Punch and Judy show theater that was the "troop surge" debate in the Senate characterizes Hillary''s role in hoodwinking Americans perfectly. The debate is framed as not whether the U.S. should get out of the Middle-East altogether, but the relative minutia of whether to feed thousands of more troops into the meat grinder or not. A Clinton presidency will mean more war, more dead Americans, and a further desecration of the tattered shreds of what''s left of our Constitution. Clinton is the ultimate global elitist and represents the Democrats supposed base: the poor and downtrodden, about as much as Lindsay Lohan represents grace and dignity. I''m sure she informed the likes of David Rockefeller and Queen Beatrix as to her presidential aspirations during her last visit to attend the Bilderberger conference. Vote for a REAL AMERICAN. Vote for Ron Paul.

[nextprophet]

BILDERBERGERS RULE
The Bilderberg Group is a secretive gathering of global power brokers, which includes Hillary Clinton, and a virtual who''s who of other folks whose names you will recognize (Search Wikipedia: "Bilderberg Attendees"), has inspired layers of ridicule. In recent times, the deeds laid at the group''s doorstep have included the creation of the EU, the Iraq war, and the group''s current efforts to create a North American Union, which will erase U.S. borders and sovereignty. Their agenda: economic and political domination; one world government; and world population reduction. After it was leaked that a speech by John Edwards at their meeting in Italy, was one reason for his selection as John Kerry''s vice-presidential running mate in 2000, people began to ask, "Are the Bilderbergers now shaping the worldwide political scene?" Over 130 of the world''s most powerful monarchs, politicians and business leaders attend the annual, invitation-only gatherings in order to to discuss and orchestrate public policy worldwide. The hotels involved are closed-off to other guests and reporters. Guards are placed around the perimeter, and attendees promise to keep quiet about what they hear and say. "They do not have to sign anything, but they understand that they do not talk," said Maja Banck-Polderman, the group''s Secretary. Tony Gosling, a British reporter who has followed the group says, "I think that a forum where so many rich and powerful people meet should be open to public scrutiny."

[nextprophet]

RON PAUL WILL RESTORE U.S. SOVEREIGNTY
All of the trade deals and world government organizations, which all of the presidential candidates support (except Ron Paul), such as the ICC, NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA, are all a major threat to our nation''s sovereignty. They transfer power from our government to unelected foreign elites. The ICC wants to try our soldiers as war criminals. Both the WTO and CAFTA could force Americans to get a prescription to take herbs and vitamins. The WTO has forced Congress to change our laws to meet their needs, and not our own. If anything, the WTO makes trade relations worse by giving foreign competitors a new way to attack U.S. jobs. The NAFTA superhighway, being built by a Spanish company, is just one part of a plan to erase our borders and create the North American Union, a single nation State like the EU, out of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, with a new, unelected bureaucracy and money system. Forget about controlling immigration under the NAU scheme. There won''t be any borders anymore, or a free America. Our limited, constitutional government will be gone forever. Let''s not forget the UN either. It wants to impose a direct Carbon Tax on us. Ron Paul successfully fought this move in Congress last year, but if we are going to stop ongoing attempts of this world government body to rule over us, we need someone in the White House who knows how to say "No." We must withdraw from any organizations or treaty that infringes upon our nation''s sovereignty.