Political roundup

from IndianapolisStar.com
Frist leads informal GOP poll for '08

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - With home-field advantage, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist placed first in an informal poll of 2008 presidential hopefuls at a Republican conference Saturday night. The two-term Tennessee senator received 526 first-place votes, or 36.9 percent, in the Southern Republican Leadership Conference's "straw poll" sponsored by Hotline, a political digest. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney finished second with 14.4 percent and Sen. George Allen of Virginia finished third, tied with President Bush - who cannot seek a third term.


from Columbus (OH) Dispatch
Blackwell schedule lists more contact with two pastors
Meetings were not political, candidate says

Dramatic elections forecast
GOP scandals give Democrats best shot in years


from DesMoinesRegister.com
Primary changes could help Vilsack
03/11/2006 - Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack would face a unique challenge, should he run for president in 2008: Find a place besides his home state to generate all-important campaign momentum.

Romney courts GOP activists for 2008 bid
03/11/2006 - Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Friday that Iowa is a bright spot on a challenging election-year map for Republicans running for governor.

Edwards, McCain to appear at political events in Iowa
03/09/2006 - Prospective 2008 presidential candidates John Edwards and John McCain are scheduled to visit Iowa in the coming weeks.

Huckabee courts social conservatives
03/07/2006 - In the political equivalent of preaching to the choir, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee introduced himself to many of the Iowa social conservatives whose support he will need should he run for president.


from UnionLeader.com
Kerry tells NH voters: GOP on wrong path
Nashua - Former Presidential candidate John Kerry was in the state yesterday drumming up support for local Democrats and sounding like a man with his eye on higher office again.

Primary buzz is building early
With the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary slightly less than two years away, they’re already working for the political hearts and minds of a relatively small number of Republican and Democratic activists.

Almost unanimous DNC panel votes to put other states before New Hampshire
Washington, D.C. - An influential panel of national Democrats voted overwhelmingly yesterday to have one or two ethnically, economically and geographically “diverse” states join Iowa inholding presidential nominating caucuses before the New Hampshire primary in January 2008.