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Campaigns Tout Homegrown Issues

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By ADAM NAGOURNEY, The New York Times

Published: January 3, 2008

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are navigating a far different set of issues as they approach the Iowa caucuses today than when they first started campaigning here a year ago, and that is likely to change even more as the campaigns move next to New Hampshire.

Although polls show Iowa Democrats still consider the war in Iraq the top issue facing the country, the war is becoming a less defining issue among Democrats and has moved to the back of the stage in the rush of campaign rallies, town hall meetings and speeches that are bringing the caucus competition to an end. Instead, candidates are increasingly talking about the mortgage crisis, rising gas costs, health care, immigration, the environment and taxes.

The shift suggests economic anxiety may be at least matching national security as a factor driving the presidential race.

The campaigns are moving to recalibrate what they are saying amid signs of this changing backdrop. Gone are the days when debates and television advertisements were filled with references to Iraq.

It's No Longer Just The War

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York recently produced a TV advertisement that attacked the Bush administration for failing to deal with "America's housing crisis."

Republican Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has begun talking about expanding health care coverage, an issue of particular concern in New Hampshire.

"People say that health care is a Democratic issue," Romney said. "Baloney."

Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina has a ready answer when asked about immigration at rallies here - a subject that rarely, if ever, came up at Democratic gatherings a year ago. He drew cheers at a New Year's Day rally in Ames when he said that while he would support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, he would insist that none could become naturalized "until they learned to speak English."

Part of the shift appears to stem from the reduction in violence in Iraq after President Bush's decision to send more troops there last year.

Clinton, who once faced intense opposition from her party's left over her vote to authorize the war, is rarely pressed on it, but Democrats say it is still a drag on her in Iowa. Arizona Sen. John McCain, a strong proponent of increased troop levels, now positions himself as having been prescient about what would work to quell the violence.

Populist Messages Emerge

"You see much more concern about the economy," said Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist. "You see much more concern about health care. When we started, it was principally concern about the war, and now it's a mix of war, the economy and health care."

Alex Castellanos, a senior Romney strategist, said much the same thing was happening on the Republican side and suggested it may have contributed to the success of Mike Huckabee, the Republican former governor of Arkansas. "As concern in the economy grows, you've seen in both parties this populist strain of appealing to voters," he said.

The shift in emphasis is also a reflection of the fact that New Hampshire is, politically, a very different place than Iowa, especially for Republicans. A central part of the Republican appeal in Iowa has been to social conservatives on issues like abortion and gay marriage. They have far less sway in New Hampshire.

In that state, where the primary is Tuesday, McCain, Romney and Clinton have begun broadcasting ads that talk about cutting taxes and reducing government spending. Those issues have historically proved to have great resonance with New Hampshire voters, and particularly with independents who are allowed to vote in either primary.

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