SNEAK PEEK: 'Poppin' the Cris'
Should all negative ads be forgot and never brought to mind?
December 31, 2007— -- 3 Days Until the Iowa Caucuses
It's hard to believe that we still are not even in the calendar year of the next presidential election, given how long the candidates have been campaigning and how long the pundits have been handicapping and speculating.
At the stroke of midnight, 2008 will finally be here. But before the corks are popped on the Dom P, Veuve Clicquot or Andre's (depending on how much your campaign raised in the fourth quarter), let's take a quick look back to see how far the Republican field has come in 365 days.
Last year at this time, the Republican field looked like this in an ABC News/Washington Post poll:
Rudy Giuliani – 34
John McCain – 26
Newt Gingrich – 12
Mitt Romney – 5
Mike Huckabee (who?) – 0
What a difference a year makes.
The latest ABC News poll showed a tighter, more spread out race with some new faces gaining significant support:
Giuliani – 25
Huckabee – 19
Romney – 17
Thompson – 14
McCain – 12
Who would have thought on this day last year that Mike Huckabee would be the frontrunner in the Iowa caucuses – or that the caucuses would come so soon after New Years?
After days of "polite contrast" ads running against him courtesy of the Romney campaign, and his own admission that Romney's attacks have hurt him in the polls in Iowa, Huckabee seemed poised to fight fire with fire and release his own attack ad.
But something funny happened on the way to the Downtown Marriott in Des Moines.
ABC News' Jake Tapper reports that the former Arkansas governor announced at a press conference that he had changed his mind and wasn't going to launch a negative ad against Romney after all. LINK
Tapper reports: "Huckabee now says he will run a positive campaign, even though he's been calling Romney 'dishonest' since Friday, spoke to the press surrounded by placards slamming Romney, and has a passage on his website comparing Romney to Seinfeld's lying friend George Costanza."
"It's never too late to do the right thing," Huckabee told reporters.
In a move that had reporters scratching their heads, Huckabee then showed the anti-Romney ad – the one he said he wouldn't run on television.
So what did that ad say? Per Tapper:
HUCKABEE: I'm Mike Huckabee and I approved this spot because Iowans have the right to know the truth about Mitt Romney's dishonest attacks on me and even an American hero, John McCain.
NARRATOR: Romney's record? Over 700 million in new taxes. Left office with a deficit. No executions. Supported gun control. And Romney's government-mandate health plan provided a $50 co-pay for abortion.
HUCKABEE: If a man's dishonest to obtain a job, he'll be dishonest on the job. Iowans deserve better.
ABC News' Teddy Davis reports that instead of that ad Huckabee will go up with two positive ads – one in Iowa on tax cuts and one in New Hampshire on "values."
It may be New Year's Eve but some campaigns may be too superstitious to pop open bottles of champagne. With the race as tight as it is, the candidates have largely refrained from answering the expectations and win/place/show questions (except for Fred Thompson, who must be instilling huge amounts of confidence in his supporters when he said Sunday he wants and needs to place second. Thompson clearly has never heard the idea that second place is really just the first loser.)
But today Mitt "Winter Olympics" Romney said he will get either gold or silver but then took it up a notch and gamely predicted he was going to win Iowa, ABC News Matt Stuart reports
"Until very recently, Romney has claimed only that he'd "like" to win Iowa, but refused to speculate," Stuart reports.
Romney packs his day with events in Iowa – seven events in nine hours. Huckabee brings Chuck Norris back out for a rally in Des Moines and McCain continues to have New Hampshire all to himself to try and woo Granite Staters before the masses arrive at the end of the week.
The Democratic frontrunners, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, all have four events and each travel to Council Bluffs (spaced out enough so as to avoid any awkward run-ins).
Keep an eye on…the Des Moines Register's web site around 10-ish ET for its final poll before the caucuses.
On the campaign trail…
RUDY GIULIANI
-- No public events scheduled
MITT ROMNEY
-- 10:15 am ET: Attends event with voters, Ankeny, IA
-- 11:15 am ET: Attends event with voters, Johnston, IA
-- 1:00 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Clive, IA
-- 2:45 pm ET: Attends event with voters, West Des Moines, IA
-- 3:45 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Norwalk, IA
-- 4:45 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Pleasant Hill, IA
-- 7:15 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Ames, IA
ANN ROMNEY
-- 11:15 am ET: Attends event with voters, Chariton, IA
-- 1:45 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Lamoni, IA
-- 4:00 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Creston, IA
-- 5:45 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Osceola, IA
MIKE HUCKABEE
-- 10:00 am ET: Attends event with voters, Sergeant Bluff, IA
-- 1:30 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Cedar Rapids, IA
-- 6:00 pm ET: Participates in event with voters, Des Moines, IA
-- 8:30 pm ET: Appears with Chuck Norris at rally, Des Moines, IA
JOHN MCCAIN
-- Attends event with voters, Tilton, NH
-- Holds media availability, Tilton, NH
-- 6:00 pm ET: Holds town hall meeting, Laconia, NH
-- Holds media availability, Laconia, NH
FRED THOMPSON
-- 4:45 pm ET: Drops by phone bank with supporters, Urbandale, IA
As for the Democrats. . . .
HILLARY CLINTON
-- 11:30 am ET: Attends event with voters, Ames, IA
-- 3:00 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Sioux City, IA
-- 6:30 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Council Bluffs, IA
-- 10:15 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Iowa City, IA
BARACK OBAMA
-- 12:00 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Des Moines, IA
-- 4:30 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Sioux City, IA
-- 9:45 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Council Bluffs, IA
-- 10:30 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Dubuque, IA
MICHELLE OBAMA
-- 3:30 pm ET: Attends event with voters, West Branch, IA
-- 5:45 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Anamosa, IA
-- 8:15 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Independence, IA
JOHN EDWARDS
-- 1:00 pm ET: Holds event with voters, Ames, IA
-- 3:45 pm ET: Holds event with voters, Fort Dodge, IA
-- 8:15 pm ET: Visits a phone bank with supporters, Des Moines, IA
-- 11:00 pm ET: Visits campaign office with supporters, Council Bluffs, IA
JOE BIDEN
-- 1:00 pm ET: Speaks to voters at event, Des Moines, IA
-- 3:00 pm ET: Speaks to voters at event, Indianola, IA
-- 5:30 pm ET: Speaks to voters at event, Knoxville, IA
-- 8:00 pm ET: Speaks to voters at event, Davenport, IA
CHRIS DODD
-- 12:00 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Clinton, IA
-- 2:30 pm ET: Attends event with voters, Davenport, IA
POLITICAL NEWS STORIES ON ABCNEWS.COM
ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: Change Is Constant in Democratic Race LINK
ABC News' Matt Stuart Reports: Romney Aims to Medal in Iowa LINK
ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Clinton Sharpens Rhetoric Against Rivals LINK
ABC News' Jake Tapper Reports: Huckabee Flip Flops on Going Negative LINK
ABC News' Sarah Amos Reports: What's Richardson's New Year's Resolution? LINK
ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf Reports: Putting the Republican in Paul's 'Revolution' LINK
ABC News' David Wright and Sunlen Miller Report: Obama: One Man's Second Choice LINK
ABC News' Christine Byun Reports: Thompson Goes to the Web LINK
ABC News' Brian Wheeler Reports: Biden's Purple Appeal LINK
ABC News' Donna Hunter Reports: Dodd's Pitch: Experience Equals Viability LINK
POLITICAL VIDEO ON ABCNEWS.COM
Matthew Dowd: Who's Up, In or OutPresident Bush's former chief campaign adviser talks about the race to '08. LINK
Democrats Battle in Des MoinesA look at the presidential contenders' closing arguments. LINK
Republicans' Closing ArgumentsIn Iowa Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are neck and neck. LINK
Hillary: No Formal Role for…Presidential candidate makes closing argument days before Iowa caucuses. LINK