SNEAK PEEK: Hitting the Trail in Vienna VA
Dodd has Iowa all to himself
November 29, 2007— -- 34 days until the Iowa caucuses
There are just over 800 hours left until voting begins, if you are partial to the Ron Paul way of counting down until the Iowa caucuses.
On Friday, six Democratic presidential candidates will step off the campaign trail in Iowa and head to Vienna, VA to make their case to DNC members at the party's annual fall meeting.
Democratic presidential hopefuls John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson are scheduled to speak during the morning session and Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton will speak during the afternoon session.
Edwards later travels to Iowa for the Culver-Judge holiday party.
The presidential hopefuls will speak to about 400 DNC members as well as supporters of their campaigns who can attend their session. They will not take any questions. DNC chairman Howard Dean is also expected to address the committee at 10:30 am ET.
Chris Dodd is skipping the meeting to stay on the trail and continue campaigning with firefighters in Iowa. He may be making the smartest move of all the candidates – or the most risky.
No candidate can really afford to waste any time away from Iowa between now and Jan. 3. Friday Dodd can highlight that he thinks it's more important to glad hand with Iowans than make his case to the party leaders. But he does risk alienating those 400 DNC members who do have sway in this nominating race.
Tivo Alert! John Edwards sits down with Charlie Gibson for ABC News' "Who Is?" series airing tonight on "World News."
Edwards talked about what makes him different in this campaign: "When I was running in the nomination process in 2003 and 2004, I'd spend most of my time thinking about being a candidate. And since that time, I've spent most of my time thinking about what I'd want to do as President. And those two things are not the same." LINK
On Friday at 8:00 pm ET C-SPAN airs an interview with Bill Clinton where the former president talks about his presidential records and the criticisms over the release of his wife's records from her time as First Lady.
Clinton said he wants to push the release of more documents, "including the request for documents about Hillary's time in the White House."
"They'll show how hard she worked on a wide variety of issues, and what she did in her travels around the world to advance America's cause. So, I'd like it if the records got out there," the former president said. We have proved that we are pushing this stuff out the door as soon as we can. I am not afraid to have my records made public. I worked hard. Hillary worked hard. Our people worked hard. We did our best to do a good job.
Bill Clinton takes to task the press and political opponents of his wife. "Essentially what's happened is that some members of the press and people in the political community who are on the other side of Hillary – which they have every right to be – are taking the position that, because she's running for president, all the rules should be suspended and they should get what they want, and they should get it now, whether we go through the regular processes of the Archives or not, and whether we treat people on a first-come, first-served basis or not."
Mike Huckabee jams with the Tilton (NH) School's rock band and speaks to students and residents at an event at the school. (We imagine him leading off with something like this: "In the words of AC/DC: We roll tonight... to the guitar bite... and for those about to rock... I salute you.) LINK
On the campaign trail…
RUDY GIULIANI
-- 11:00 am ET: Delivers remarks at a town hall meeting, Okatie, SC
--3:30 pm ET: Delivers remarks at a town hall meeting, Boca Raton, FL
MITT ROMNEY
--12:30 pm ET: Holds a campaign rally at Kirkwood community college, Cedar Rapids, IA
--1:45 pm ET: Holds media availability, Cedar Rapids, IA
--3:30 pm ET: Meets with college students, Dubuque, IA
--7:00 pm ET: Attends an Iowa Christian Alliance house party, Dubuque, IA
JOHN MCCAIN
-- 10:45 am ET: Participates in door-to-door campaigning with volunteers, North Myrtle Beach, SC
--11:50 am ET: Attends a meet and greet, North Myrtle Beach, NC
--12:40 pm ET: Holds media availability, North Myrtle Beach, NC
--2:45 pm ET: Attends town hall meeting, Seabrook Island, SC
--4:15 pm ET: Holds media availability, Seabrook Island, SC
FRED THOMPSON
--9:00 pm ET: Interviewed with wife Jeri on Larry King Live, Los Angeles, CA
MIKE HUCKABEE
-- 11:45 am ET: Speaks at the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce 2008 presidential forum series, Concord, NH
--2:00 pm ET: Plays with Tilton School's rock band and speaks to students and local residents, Tilton, NH
RON PAUL
--No public events
TOM TANCREDO
-- 2:00 pm ET: Addresses College Convention 2008, Manchester, NH
--7:00 pm ET: Attends house party, Hollis, NH
DUNCAN HUNTER
--Makes a morning call into B93.7 Radio
--12:00 pm ET: Makes public appearance at the Greenwood County Courthouse steps and attends a luncheon, Greenwood County, SC
As for the Democrats. . .
HILLARY CLINTON
--2:00 pm ET: Attends DNC Fall meeting, Vienna, VA
BARACK OBAMA
-- 9:30 am ET: Attends the DNC Fall meeting, Vienna, VA
JOHN EDWARDS
--8:30 am ET: Speaks at the DNC Fall meeting
--Attends the First Annual Culver-Judge holiday party, IA
JOE BIDEN
-- 1:30 pm ET: Addresses the DNC Fall meeting, Vienna, VA
CHRIS DODD
--10:00 am ET: Firefighters for Dodd, Ft. Dodge, IA
--3:15 pm ET: Firefighters for Dodd, Boone, IA
--5:00 pm ET: Dodd and Rep. Patrick Kennedy join firefighters for Dodd and meet with other unions, Ames, IA
--7:00 pm ET: Firefighters for Dodd, Nevada, IA
BILL RICHARDSON
-- 10:30 am ET: Speaks at the DNC Fall meeting, Vienna, VA
DENNIS KUCINICH
--8:00 am ET: Attends the Faith in Action Initiative breakfast at the DNC Convention, Vienna, VA
-- 12:50 pm ET: Delivers remarks at the DNC Fall meeting, Vienna, VA
MIKE GRAVEL
-- No public schedule
At the White House. . .
PRESIDENT BUSH
--10:40 am ET: Participates in a meeting on World AIDS Day (closed press)
--11:25 am ET: Makes a statement on World AIDS Day
SECRETARY OF STATE RICE
--11:30 am ET: Attends Foreign Service Institute groundbreaking ceremony
POLITICAL NEWS STORIES ON ABCNEWS.COM
ABC News' Charles Gibson Reports: Who Is: John Edwards? LINK
ABC News' Richard Esposito Reports: Giuliani's Mistress Used NYPD as Taxi Service LINK
ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf Reports: Do-Nothing Déjà Vu? LINK
ABC News' Jake Tapper Reports: The Plant LINK
ABC News' Christine Byun Reports: Thompson Defends Attack Ads LINK
ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: Edwards: Garnish Wages to Cover All LINK
ABC News' Jan Simmonds Reports: Rudy Calls Out Dem Rivals in New Ads LINK
POLITICAL VIDEO ON ABCNEWS.COM
Giuliani and Romney RumbleABC's Jake Tapper breaks down the accusations. LINK
Who Is John Edwards?Candidate talks about childhood, dating his wife. LINK
Inside the White House Christmas Find out why the tree was not the main draw. LINK
Sanctuary City vs. Sanctuary MansionRudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney rapid fire on immigration. LINK
McCain, Paul Clash on IraqMcCain to Paul: "We allowed Hitler to come to power with that kind of attitude of isolationism" LINK
Fred Thompon's First Negative AdThompson releases ad attacking Romney and Huckabee during YouTube debate (CNN). LINK
GOP Debate for 2008Candidates raise the stakes in the latest Republican presidential debate. LINK
A White House ChristmasCheck out how the first family decorates their home for the holidays. LINK
The GOP DebateA discussion about the candidates and the debate. LINK
Musharraf Is Sworn InOne day after stepping down as military chief, he enters first term as a civilian. LINK