A total of eight Democrats and seven Republicans are loosening up on Wednesday, one day before Iowa caucuses kick off, to compete for each party's presidential candidacy.
The following are brief profiles of some forerunners, potentially including the first female president, the first black president, the first Mormon president.
Democrats
Hillary Rodham Clinton:
The 60 year-old New York two-term Senator has been retaining head of the list in the fundraising and national polls. She emphasizes her White House experience from 1993 to 2001 as the First Lady during the campaign and tries to woo Democratic voters with an universal healthcare insurance program. Although being criticized for voting for Iraq war, she did not make any apology, citing some fault intelligence has misled her to vote. However, she vowed to immediately start a major troop withdrawal from Iraq should she be elected president. In addition, her husband, former President Bill Clinton is considered as an important political asset of hers.
Barack Obama:
Born by a Kenya father and an American mother in Hawaii in 1961,the Illinois Senator is vying for the first African-American president in the country. With only a little more than three-year in the Capitol Hill, he was jabbed by rivals as inexperienced and even "naive." However, by stressing his opposition to the Iraq war from the beginning and promising "changes" to Washington political environment, he has constituted a serious challenge towards Clinton by sticking to the second place in the national polls.
John Edwards:
During the second strike for the White House, the 54 year-old former North Carolina Senator did not see brighter prospect than four years ago with his supporting rate left far behind at the third place in the national polls. Wielding the banners of anti-poverty and labor rights protection, the lawyer from a blue-collar family called voters to join him in a "fight" to tear down "the walls" built by the rich and powerful surrounding Washington. Admitting his vote for the Iraq war was a mistake, he has already outlined a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq soon after he starts presidency.
Republicans:
Rudy Giuliani:
The Democrat-to-Republican, 63, slightly leads other candidates in the national polls with his record of handling post-Sept. 11 attacks as New York mayor and tries to convince voters that he is the only one who can block the Democrats' way to the White House. He favors hardline policies in national defense, anti-terror war and immigration issues but takes more liberal stances on issues including abortion and gay rights, which can hardly gain support from most conservative Republican voters. They also frown on his three marriages. It is foreseeable that he will not stand out in Iowa since he has largely bypassed the state and focused on later primaries or caucuses.
Mike Huckabee:
With slim fund and understaffed campaign team, the 52-year-old former Arkansas governor has surprisingly risen in the recent months and to the leading place in the local polls. As a long-term Baptist minister, he has mobilized a large number of conservative voters with his religious beliefs and support for ban on gay marriage and abortion. Strikingly different from other candidates ,he agrees to make government scholarship programs applicable to illegal immigrants' children, citing the young generation should not suffer from their parents' sins. Quick wit and humor in his speech and TV debates also won applause. However, he has to remove public doubt on his capability to handle national politics and foreign affairs before he can move farther.
Mitt Romney:
As the fifth Mormon who sought for presidency in the U.S. history, the former Massachusetts governor, 60, has built up a winning tendency in both of national and local polls. Despite his controversial religious belief, the Harvard graduate's huge success in business and commendable record in dealing with scandal-tainted Salt Lake City winter Olympics games in 2002, boosts support from many Americans who are expecting better economy and crisis management in the country. In addition, he made a U-turn change to his support to abortion and gay rights to court Republican conservative voters.
John McCain:
At 71, the Senator from Arizona launched another bid to the White House as the eldest candidates. With long-term service in the military and then in the Senate, the veteran politician was credited for his experience in defense and foreign affairs. Despite opposition by most Americans, he staunchly defends President George W. Bush's Iraq war policy and tried to justify the need to increase troop deployment to quell violence in the country. His supporting rate became buoyant in Iowa and New Hampshire recently as he pushes forwards a campaign faulted by inadequate staff and fund.
Source: Xinhua
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