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/ 31 December 2007

Civility abandoned in US as negative campaigning works

The presidential candidates in the United States stepped up their personal attacks on Sunday to try to squeeze out an advantage in the extremely tight contest for the Iowa caucuses, now only three days away. As Democratic and Republican candidates toured in the final push before the January 3 caucuses, new polls showed the negative campaigning was effective.

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/ 30 December 2007

Republicans facing first poll in disarray

Clad in an orange and grey hunting jacket and an orange cap, Mike Huckabee raised his 12-gauge shotgun, took aim and fired, bagging a pheasant for the benefit of watching reporters. As another shot flew over their heads, it became too much for one journalist who cried: ”Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Don’t shoot. This is traumatising.”

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/ 23 December 2007

Bill’s magic touch bolsters Hillary’s bid

Bill Clinton has never been one to avoid the limelight. Or stay on message. Last week, as he spearheaded a mission to rejuvenate his wife’s troubled presidential campaign, he showed that old habits die hard. In a publicity stunt at a grocery store in the vital first battleground state of Iowa, the ex-president caused brief chaos by breaking away to chat to the public.

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/ 22 December 2007

‘Calculating’ Clinton gets friendly

A dilemma confronts many Democratic activists in the United States. They respect Hillary Clinton’s intellect. They admire her performance in the debates. But it is difficult for them to commit to a candidate who not only voted in favour of the war on Iraq in 2002, but has refused to express contrition, or any deep emotion, about that choice.

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/ 5 December 2007

Can Obama depend on the Oprah magic?

Celebrity political endorsements do not get much bigger than Oprah Winfrey’s. But political experts say it is doubtful the popular United States talk-show host can sway votes to fellow Chicagoan and first-term Illinois Senator Barack Obama in the way she persuades viewers to turn books into instant bestsellers.

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/ 30 November 2007

Hostage drama in Clinton campaign offices

A man claiming to have a bomb walked into Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign offices on Friday and took hostages, police and witnesses said. The man had what appeared to be a bomb strapped to himself, said Bill Shaheen, a top state campaign official. He took two hostages, both volunteers, and released others, Shaheen said.

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/ 25 November 2007

Obama, the comeback kid, learns to talk tough

Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama once electrified the United States by preaching a ”politics of hope”. Unfortunately Obama then found himself outsmarted and outfought by his chief rival, Senator Hillary Clinton. Now Obama has, in effect, relaunched his campaign, coming out fighting against Clinton.