Most early head-to-head polls show John McCain and Barack Obama as the strongest candidates in a general election, a reflection of their slight edge over their primary opponents among independents, who make up at least a third of the electorate and often determine the outcome.

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...In earlier events, Obama argued that his message of inclusion and consensus amounts to "a politics of addition" that will attract independents and even some Republicans in November.

That argument resonated with Brian Hagmeier, who attended an Obama speech wearing a T-shirt that said "I'm the Republican Barack warned you about." Hagmeier said he has long been a Republican, but he is turned off by the party's candidates this year and likes what he hears from Obama.

"He's talking about just being an American and furthering the cause of America," said Hagmeier, an industrial technician from Coralville.

Read the full article from The Associated Press

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama doesn't appear to have to worry about his supporters staying at home if bad weather strikes Iowa on caucus night.

Despite a snowstorm that made travel difficult, an upbeat crowd of more than 900 people turned out Friday for a campaign stop at Northwest Junior High School in Coralville for the senator from Illinois.

"This is remarkable. ... What an unbelievable crowd," Obama said.

The snow didn't discourage Obama supporter Roberta Payne, 66, of Iowa City, from attending. In fact, this is the second time this month she's braved inclement weather to hear Obama speak.

Read the full article from The Cedar Rapids Gazette

Barack Obama is the Democratic candidate who best understands this critical moment in our nation's history. He is equipped to bring a fractured people together and possesses the gifts to move us forward, united with a common mission, ready to answer that call.

That is why we are endorsing the U.S. senator from Illinois in the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses.

Obama is a gifted orator. Yet, his skills extend beyond the stage of political theater. He has demonstrated a deep understanding of the challenges, home and abroad, our next president must confront. His record in Congress and the Illinois state senate indicates he has the ability to reach out to Republicans and Independents to identify sound, bipartisan solutions and take on special interests.

Read the full article from The Sioux City Journal

Barack Obama highlighted a plan here Friday to protect pensions, specifically in instances where top executives walk away with fat bonuses while workers lose benefits.

"Protecting basic retirement security in this country should be a central policy of the United States government and it will be when I am president," Obama told 300 people at Washington Junior High School.

Obama's plan would limit the circumstances in which retirement benefits could be cut if the employer faces other financial difficulty. It would also require private companies to disclose their pension fund investments and curb bonuses paid to executives while pensions for the workers they oversee shrink.

Read the full article from The Des Moines Register

Read the full article at The Iowa City Press-Citizen.

I remember wishing Hillary Clinton would run. Not last January, when she announced, but before the
2004 election, when someone with her intellectual heft and stature was needed to stand up to the
Bush/Rove/ Rumsfeld cabal and dismantle its agenda.

But Clinton didn't run then, and when she jumped into this year's race, days after Barack Obama, it
was a different field and a different moment.

This moment belongs to Obama.

The White House is virtually imploding after four more years of bungling the war, the economy and
domestic crises such as Hurricane Katrina. With the president's poll numbers in the 20s and Rove,
Rumsfeld and Ashcroft on the run, this is the moment for a fresh start.
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This newspaper has endorsed Clinton on the Democratic side. I respect its decision. But after
sitting through most of the same candidate meetings, watching, reading, listening and searching my
conscience, I've concluded Obama is the one who can best pull off what needs to happen.

Read the full article at The Des Moines Register.

U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack said today he is endorsing Barack Obama for president. He said that Obama, a senator from Illinois, offers the best chance to bring about change and healing.

"I believe he's our best candidate to change the way business is done, especially overcoming the partisan divide," Loebsack said in an interview this morning.

...Loebsack, who is in his first term, represents the heavily-Democratic southeast part of the state, including Muscatine County in the Quad-City area. A college professor who was active in Democratic grassroots politics long before he launched his bid for office, Loebsack pulled off a major upset last year when he defeated 30-year incumbent Rep. Jim Leach.

Read the full article from The Quad City Times

The presidential election of 2008 cannot be underestimated in
determining the future of the United States. This is no ordinary
election! It will chart what path this country will travel for the next
50 years.

Leadership will put us on the right path.

True leadership is very difficult to write about. Only after the facts
and results are in can it be accurately and precisely judged. However,
it can be perceived intuitively and be known. It is very difficult to
put in words because it is more than words. I am 78 years old.

Read the full article at The Quad-City Times.

Oprah Winfrey, the second-most admired woman in America, drew roughly
18,500 people in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack
Obama on Saturday in Des Moines.

Her campaign trail support is the Obama campaign's latest effort to best
his competition, particularly the most admired woman in America -
Hillary Clinton, according to a Gallup Poll -in the neck-and-neck race
to the White House. Winfrey came in second in that 2006 survey.

"I am not here to tell you what to think. I'm here to ask you to think,"
Winfrey said to a cheering crowd. Advertisement

The event sported one of the largest Iowa crowds so far in the 2008 race
for president.

Read the full article at href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=
2007712090334"
target="_blank">The Des Moines Register.

During my 85 years of life, I have voted for Republicans and Democrats, but I have never caucused. However, I will on Jan. 3, because I was and still am opposed to the war in Iraq!

In my opinion U.S. Sen. Barack Obama fills the bill. He has demonstrated thoughtful reasoning and insight in his continual opposition to the war.

Experience means very little if the decisions you have made during your tenure have been poor and misguided.

Obama brings a freshness to politics, the likes of which we haven't seen since the inspiring days of Bobby Kennedy. We can embrace this change from a man who has lived around the world and has shown the ability to work with differing opinions to find a common ground.

Read the Full Article at Quad-City Times.

Under the plan, middle and high school students would perform 50 hours of service a year.

In addition, Obama proposed a tax credit of $4,000 to help make college affordable but to receive the credit, the student would be required to clock at least 100 hours of service a year.

The ideas are part of a wider-range plan that would include quadrupling AmeriCorp and doubling Peace Corps volunteers, which Obama said is essential in helping the nation meet goals and restore the nation's worldly standing as a leader.

Read the full Article at The Des Moines Register.

In Obama, we have a candidate who has more to offer than a strategic plan or policy that will change America for the better. What Obama brings above all else is a renewed sense of hope. The past seven years have caused our hope for a better world, a better America, to waver. We have lost a national direction, and Obama can restore that.

But his campaign isn't based on hope alone. Obama has a realistic plan to get the troops out of Iraq, instead of some poorly thought out cut-and-run debacle; he has a commitment to making the U.S. energy independent, which would solve several of our Iraq problems anyway; he takes the changes occurring in our environment seriously and would put measures in place to reduce our impact; and his universal health insurance plan is as realistic as anyone else's.

And unlike some of his counterparts, Obama isn't anchoring himself on a one-issue platform. What needs addressed in America isn't just the war in Iraq; it isn't just health care; and it isn't just that - in the Democrats' view - Bush and his cronies need to be removed from power. Obama grasps the bigger picture.

Read the Full Article at Iowa State Daily.

Meeting with reporters on Sunday, Obama trotted out Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, who last month won a second term. He has focused on global warming and other environmental issues. "Senator Obama has made a promise and is willing an open-minded enough to listen to the mayor of the capital city of Iowa," Cownie said. "Together we can make change in Iowa."

Read the full article at WCF Courier.

Democrat Barack Obama is gaining ground among Iowa caucus-goers at what could end up being just the right time.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll had Obama overtaking Hillary Clinton for the lead in November.

That poll found that Iowa voters were looking for fresh ideas and had "lingering doubts about Hillary Clinton’s honesty and forthrightness."

Read the full article at Mason City Globe Gazette.