Barack Obama
underscores his foreign policy differences with rival
Hillary Rodham Clinton ... Clinton garners endorsement from
black ministers in South Carolina, singer-actress
Barbra Streisand ... Mitt Romney suggests Rudy
Giuliani liked Clinton's 1993 health care plan.
___
OBAMA-FOREIGN
POLICY
Obama calls for
renewed approach to diplomacy, underscores his
differences with Clinton
Democrat Barack
Obama, confronting claims that he's light on foreign
policy, surrounded himself Tuesday in New
Hampshire with heavyweights who said his
differences with rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and
others are just what the country needs: A new leader willing
to talk with America's enemies and become a better
friend to struggling nations.
Obama, closing
the three-hour policy forum, said a president should be
unafraid to meet with tyrants and must restore the nation's
moral authority by ending torture, closing Guantanamo
Bay's military prison, and helping fight global
poverty and AIDS.
''Our ability to
lead has been set back by our bluster and our refusal to
talk to nations we don't like,'' the Illinois senator said.
''Our security and standing have suffered because of
the misguided war in Iraq that should have never been
authorized.''
Obama, who was
elected to the Senate in 2004, never mentioned Clinton, a
New York senator and the Democratic front-runner in national
polls. But Obama underscored some of his main
criticisms of her, recalling how he opposed from the
outset a war that she voted to authorize, and repeatedly
calling for greater openness in setting policy.
___
CLINTON-MINISTERS
Clinton endorsed
by S.C. ministers as rivals seek black support in early
voting state
Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton picked up
endorsements from dozens of black ministers Tuesday in South
Carolina, an early voting state where she and rival
Barack Obama have been courting the critical black
vote.
The clergy were
drawn to the New York senator for her views on health
care, jobs, and other issues, said a state representative
who helped organize the endorsements. ''They felt this
was the best candidate addressing their concerns,''
said state representative Harold Mitchell, a Democrat.
Nearly half of
South Carolina's Democratic primary voters are black, and
ministers can play a huge role in shaping the political
direction of their congregations. More than 60
ministers gathered with Clinton on a stage at a hotel.
Clinton also got
the endorsement of actress and singer Barbra Streisand.
Clinton's
campaign released her proposal to combat the spread of HIV
and AIDS, which in part focuses on fighting the spread
of the illness in minority communities. Clinton would
double the HIV/AIDS research budget at the National
Institutes of Health to $5.2 billion annually and spend
at least $50 billion within five years around the globe,
according to the campaign.
In Aiken, S.C.,
she was asked by one man about whether gays should be
able to openly serve in the military. ''I don't believe
'don't ask, don't tell' worked,'' she said of the
policy instituted during her husband's administration.
___
ROMNEY-HEALTH
CARE
Romney says
Republican rival Giuliani praised Clinton's health care plan
Republican
presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Florida on Tuesday
said rival Rudy Giuliani ''had nothing but praise''
when then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed a
universal health care plan.
Romney's campaign
cited a New York Times article quoting the
former New York mayor from 1994 as praising the
Clinton plan for ''doing some pretty good things.'' The plan
was never enacted.
''When Hillary's
plan first came out, Rudy Giuliani had nothing but
praise for Hillary's plan. Why the change? Why the change in
attitude? When it first came out, he was all roses and
petals for Hillary's plan. All full of praise. Now I'm
running for president, he's decided it's not such a
good idea,'' Romney said during a news conference after
touring a children's hospital.
___
EDWARDS-LABOR
Edwards expresses
support for striking writers
Democrat John
Edwards voiced his support Tuesday for striking television
writers, telling a boisterous rally in New York that he
would work to protect the rights of union members if
elected president next year.
''Stay strong,
stay together,'' Edwards implored members of the Writers
Guild of America, whose strike has entered its fourth week.
''It's about making sure these big corporations, these
big media conglomerates don't step on your rights --
that you have a real opportunity to share in the work
that you've been producing.''
The union and
Hollywood studios were expected to resume negotiations in
Hollywood Tuesday. Writers have been on strike since
November 5 over payment for television shows streamed
over the Internet, claiming they are entitled to a
share of the revenue generated online.
Studios,
networks, and producers, represented by the Alliance of
Motion Picture and Television Producers, say it is too
early to know which business model will succeed on the
Web.
David Chase, the
creator of the hit crime series The Sopranos, was
among the union writers attending the rally in Manhattan's
Washington Square Park.
___
DODD-FUNDS
Dodd eligible for
public matching funds
Democratic
presidential candidate Chris Dodd became eligible Tuesday
for federal matching money to help finance a campaign
that is banking on a surprise finish in Iowa.
The Federal
Election Commission announced that Dodd had met the minimum
requirement to receive public funds from the Presidential
Public Funding Program, which is financed by taxpayers
who set aside $3 for the fund in their tax returns.
Dodd is seeking
to emerge as an alternative to better-financed rivals
like Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.
As of September 30, when candidates filed their latest
financial reports, Dodd had total receipts of $13.6
million. He raised $1.5 million in the third quarter,
covering July-September.
The presidential
fund matches the first $250 of each individual primary
contribution to an eligible candidate. To accept the money,
candidates must agree to an overall spending limit of
about $50 million and must meet spending thresholds in
individuals states as well. The limits do not include
money spent on staff, fundraising and several other costs
that could significantly increase the base limit.
Dodd joins
Edwards as the only two Democrats to be declared eligible
for matching funds so far. Obama and Clinton do not
plan to accept public money, freeing them from the
spending limits. Republican presidential candidates
John McCain and Tom Tancredo have also been declared
eligible for public funds. McCain said Monday he had
not yet decided whether to participate in the program.
___
RICHARDSON-FARMS
Richardson
couples farm plan with call for civility
Democrat Bill
Richardson campaigning in Iowa on Tuesday offered a
farm package that would limit payments to giant operations,
restrict large meatpackers, and provide incentives for
alternative energy production.
Speaking at a
farm near Council Bluffs, the New Mexico governor coupled
his plan with a call for civility in the race for the
party's presidential nomination.
''Let's keep the
mud where it belongs,'' Richardson said. ''We cannot
build America up by tearing each other down.''
Richardson's
package, some of which he'd discussed previously, calls for
a $250,000 cap on farm subsidy payments and a ban on
meatpackers owning livestock, a move designed to
improve competition for farmers' products.
___
BIDEN-RIVALS
Pressed to
criticize his rivals, Biden says he's done as much or more
for kids, minorities, labor
Prodded by a
supporter in Iowa to be more critical of his rivals,
Sen. Joe Biden said he passed the laws that Hillary Clinton
used to help children, has done as much on minority
issues as Barack Obama, and is more pro-labor than
John Edwards.
''When John
Edwards was a senator from North Carolina, he didn't walk
any picket lines,'' Biden said Tuesday.
The Delaware
Democrat, who trails badly in the polls in advance of the
January 3 Iowa caucuses, made his comments after a
supporter, J.R. Ackley, urged him to ''take on'' the
three front-runners in the race.
''It's like three
witches sitting around arguing about who's ugliest,''
Ackley said of Clinton, Obama, and Edwards, whom he said
lacked the experience that Biden has.
''I admit I've
been reluctant,'' Biden said.
He said Clinton
''has done really good work'' for 35 years helping
children. ''But I was actually writing the laws and getting
things changed.''
Biden called
Obama a ''great guy,'' then said, ''I spent time in the
projects'' and was a public defender.
As for Edwards,
he said: ''I love John. John talks about how supportive
of labor he is. And he is supportive of labor.... He's not
as pro-labor as I am.''
___
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
''Madame
President of the United States ... it's an extraordinary
thought. We truly are in a momentous time, where a woman's
potential has no limitations,'' Barbra Streisand in
endorsing Hillary Rodham Clinton.
STAT OF THE DAY:
Adults age 55 and
older constituted 31% of the voting-age population and
35% of those who voted in the 2004 presidential election,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (AP)
