Presidential Elections 2004

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, who rarely mentions religion and God on the campaign trail, said he was wrestling with how to talk about faith in parts of the country where it figured prominently in daily life. During a conversation with reporters on his campaign plane late Friday night, Dean said recent stops in South Carolina had moved him to try to be more forthcoming about his view of religion to connect with voters who speak openly of their relationship with God.

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said Friday he believed God has told him President Bush would be reelected in a "blowout" in November. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk," Robertson said on his "700 Club" program on the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network, which he founded. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way." "The Lord has just blessed him," Robertson said of Bush.

After a New Year's Day lull, the major Democratic presidential candidates were back on the campaign trail in force Friday, some continuing to target front-runner Howard Dean while others pressed their own agendas. Dean began what aides called a new strategy to avoid direct responses to the near-daily attacks on him by several of his Democratic opponents; he plans to leave that job to his campaign office.

While Howard Dean's rivals are focusing almost entirely on the first several states that vote in the Democratic presidential race, the former Vermont governor appears to be building enough strength in the next wave of contests that he could virtually clinch the nomination by mid-February, even if he stumbles early. With Dean's opponents forced to concentrate their efforts on Iowa and New Hampshire -- or, at most, the seven predominantly Southern and Western states that vote on Feb.

Seeking to sharpen his image as a populist bent on changing the nation's political system, presidential candidate John Edwards urged fellow Democrats on Saturday to support his bid to reinvent a country he said is now divided into "two Americas" -- one for the rich and powerful and the other for "everybody else."

There's no question its high political season in Iowa. Saturday night, former state Sen. Charlie Bruner was holding an annual holiday party for local Democrats at his home in Ames when a high-profile guest arrived: Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, followed by a gaggle of aides and reporters. As the Democratic presidential contender chatted with voters in the kitchen over pretzels, brownies and carrot sticks, another White House candidate blew through the door: former Vermont Gov.

For a lost soul like young Howard Dean in the early 1970s, this fabled ski town seemed the ideal place to drop out. He had just graduated from Yale with ordinary marks, and like many in his class left school troubled over the war in Vietnam and the uncertainties of how to find his way in life. He had skirted the draft because of a bad back, and had no desire to follow his well-heeled father onto Wall Street. All Howard Brush Dean III wanted to do was ski.

Zeroing in on growing anxieties about the costs of college, many of the Democratic presidential candidates are promoting ambitious proposals to ease the financial burden on students and their parents. None of the major proposals would establish brand-new government entitlements, but some would significantly expand existing federal initiatives to provide more college aid to families. The most dramatic ideas include a call by former Vermont Gov.

With Iowa's Jan. 19 caucuses approaching, Democrats chasing former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean relentlessly attacked his policies, temperament and credibility in a pointed debate Sunday. The focus was squarely on the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race throughout the two-hour session, as Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts accused him of flip-flopping on issues, Rep. Dick Gephardt charged that Dean supported Republican plans to cut Medicare in the mid-1990s and Sen.

It's the question everyone dreads: Name one of the mistakes you've made in your life. On Sunday, the Democratic presidential contenders gathered for a debate in this snow-blown city had to come up with quick responses to that query, and their answers ranged from the candid to the couched. For Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, his mistake came more than 20 years ago, when he voted for President Reagan's 1981 tax-cut program after failing to gain support for a Democratic version.