While I'm in the question-asking mood, let's talk about this post from Paul Mirengoff at Powerline yesterday complaining about the potential influence of liberal leaning newspapers like the Concord Monitor and Boston Globe for slamming Mitt Romney and endorsing John McCain. Mirengoff wrote:

It's extraordinary that these left-leaning organs might actually play a role in the selection of the Republican nominee. But that's the natural consequence of (a) New Hampshire's status as the first primary state and (b) the fact that non-Republicans can vote in that primary.

Paul goes on to say that unless Romney gets routed by McCain in New Hampshire, "Republicans should not view the result as a repudiation of the former Massachusetts governor by "those who know him well."

Nobody disputes that the Concord Monitor and Boston Globe are liberal papers. However, it seems to me the more interesting question is why the New Hampshire Union Leader and the Boston Herald, two decidedly conservative papers that would appear to be surefire supporters of the former Massachusetts Governor and indeed "know him well," have also slammed Romney and endorsed McCain.

Maybe there are histories and personal feuds dating back to his time as Governor that explain the animus towards him by these conservative papers, but it also seems clear that while the Republican field seems mostly congenial towards each other, they all appear to share a visceral dislike of Romney. This doesn't seem to be coincidence, and it can't be explained away by jealousy or by Romney's position in the polls.

When you flip a light on today be sure to give thanks to Thomas Edison, who on this day in 1879 first demonstrated the incandescent lightbulb. Now for the day's top election stories:

"Romney Claws Back in Iowa Polls" (Laura Meckler, Wall Street Journal) A series of new polls out show Mitt Romney back in command of Iowa, where a surging Mike Huckabee was threatening. Huckabee's response is to go on the attack questioning Romney's honesty.

"Huckabee, Romney Make Sunday Push for Evangelicals" (Michael Shear and Perry Bacon Jr., Washington Post) The Huckabee-Romney feud spilled over into the church pews over the weekend, with Romney aides traversing the state making a final pitch to evangelical pastors. Huckabee, meanwhile, made his case yesterday on "Meet the Press."

"Democrats Hammer State to Secure Votes" (Thomas Beaumont, Des Moines Register) With John Edwards leading his rivals in at least one poll, all three of the top Democratic contenders scoured Iowa yesterday for those last few votes.

"Democrats Try Various Styles, and Pronouns" (Mark Leibovich, New York Times) A slightly different focus on the same Iowa theme, reporter Leibovich takes a look inside all these Iowa rallies -- from Hillary Clinton's "Time to Pick a President" to Barack Obama's "Stand For Change."

"Bloomberg Moves Closer to Running for President" (Sam Roberts, New York Times) Could the siren song of history prove too much for NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg to resist? His aides, report Roberts, are out measuring interest, while the mayor himself is making sure to stay in the headlines.

"Giuliani Steers Clear of Political Fray" (Glen Johnson, Associated Press) While his two rivals Romney and Huckabee batter each other, Rudy Giuliani has been notably quiet, focusing his campaigning in Florida.

"Obama Makes Run to Middle" (Christina Bellantoni, Washington Times) Not quite as angry as his rival John Edwards, Obama is hoping that coming across as just your average Joe will sway those undecideds.

"McCain's Unlikely Ties to K Street" (Jeffrey Birnbaum and John Solomon, Washington Post) For a senator whose known for railing against pork spending and special interests, McCain's hobnobbing with wealthy CEOs and the like this campaign season raises some questions.

"Ron Paul's War Chest Swelled in 4th Quarter" (Mary Jacoby, Wall Street Journal) Whatever Paul's actual chances are in this race, he clearly has a future as a fundraiser if this whole presidential thing doesn't work out.

Get these and today's other election stories at RCP's Politics and Election page.

Kate Zernike's profile in the New York Times today raises an uncomfortable but relevant question: There are at least two other people running for President who've suffered personal tragedies along the same lines as - and in the case of Joe Biden arguably worse than - John and Elizabeth Edwards. Yet those candidates rarely if ever make mention of these tragedies during the campaign and they certainly don't cite their ability to endure personal tragedy as some sort of qualification for the office of the Presidency of the United States.

So why do the Edwardses frequently do this and why is it relevant?

Dan Balz of the Washington Post has not been alone in noting how, of all the candidates, John Edwards' efforts on the stump have reached a crescendo in these final days of the Iowa campaign -- an effort that has been matched by rising poll numbers in the RCP Iowa poll average. It is not a coincidence. Candidates do best what they've done before. If Ronald Reagan was a TV communicator par excellence, it was largely because he'd spent much of his adult life in front of the camera -- first making movies, then hosting TV's" General Electric Theatre" and "Death Valley Days." No one could charm an audience of around 75-100 for around 30 minutes like Jimmy Carter, who had perfected the skill teaching Sunday school for years in his native Plains, Georgia.

Trial lawyers may be out of favor in certain segments of America. But if there is one thing they know how to do, it is to give an effective closing at trial. North Carolinians know that few lawyers were as effective as Edwards was in front of a jury and those same skills are on display in the closing days of this Iowa campaign -- just as they were four years ago.

Soon, of course, the campaign will change from retail to wholesale and it remains to be seen whether Edwards' version of prairie politics will play nationally. And, Joe Klein may be right when he wrote yesterday that Edwards may be a tad too "hot" for some voters. But Edwards has done this before and, for this month at least, with the voters as his jury he should probably not be underestimated.

To read Steven Stark's complete "Presidential Tote Board" blog, go to www.thephoenix.com/toteboard/

Zogby/Reuters/C-Span is out with the second day of their daily tracking poll in Iowa. Here are the results:

Democrats
Clinton 30 (-1)
Edwards 26 (+2)
Obama 26 (-1)
Richardson 5 (nc)
Biden 5 (nc)

Clinton leads by 2.0% in the RCP Average for Iowa over Edwards and Obama who are tied.

Republicans
Huckabee 29 (nc)
Romney 27 (-1)
McCain 13 (+2)
Thompson 8 (nc)
Giuliani 7 (-1)
Paul (-1)

Overall Romney leads by just 0.4% in the RCP Average for Iowa.

Fred makes his final pitch to Iowa voters in this 17-minute YouTube:

Carol Marin of NBC5 and the Chicago Sun-Times was kind enough to have me on City Desk this week to talk about the '08 race. We taped the interview on Friday and it aired yesterday morning here in the Chicago area: Part One | Part Two

Things took a nasty turn yesterday between Mitt Romney and John McCain in the battle for New Hampshire. Here's a quick tick-tock of the day's events:

- Things started yesterday morning when Mitt Romney released an ad attacking John McCain on taxes and immigration.

- McCain responded by going on Fox and Friends and declaring that Romney is in "a tailspin."

- A bit later the McCain campaign announced the launch of this ad highlighting editorials from the New Hampshire Union Leader and the Concord Monitor slamming Romney which the campaign declared was in response "to Mitt Romney's negative attack ad."

The Romney campaign cried foul. On his campaign bus in Iowa, Romney told reporters:

"We worked very hard to make sure it was accurate and honest and looks at contrasting issues. I begin the ad by indicating he's an honorable man. I believe he is, and a good person. I make no attacks on his character. I make no attacks of a personal nature whatsoever.

"I've just seen the text of his ad," Romney added. "It's obviously of a very different nature. It's an attack ad. It attacks me personally. It's nasty. It's mean-spirited. Frankly, it tells you more about Senator McCain than it does about me - that he'd run an ad like that."

Shortly thereafter the Romney campaign blasted out the following statement, along with a link to a commercial McCain ran against George W. Bush in 2000, suggesting that McCain has a history of attacking his rivals:

"Senator McCain has a troubling history of neglecting substantive issues and getting personal in his attacks against those who happen to disagree with him. It's the McCain way.

We just happen to believe that Senator McCain's position on amnesty for illegal immigrants and his votes against President Bush's tax relief are the wrong policies for the Republican Party. We just simply disagree with him."

Last night the McCain campaign fired back with this statement:

"If voters didn't already know Mitt Romney, his crocodile tears might have been convincing. He's spent $20 million of his own money serially misrepresenting his positions and those of every other candidate. We just decided to share New Hampshire newspapers' assessment of him."

Finally, despite Romney's claims about the veracity of his ad with respect to McCain's record on taxes and immigration, Marc Santora of the New York Times wrote that, "On both topics, the commercial presents facts that could be construed either as selective or worse, misleading."

And in the Washington Post, Howard Kurtz came to the same conclusion:

Mitt Romney, who targeted Mike Huckabee in an earlier commercial, is now running the most negative campaign of any presidential candidate in either party.

Romney's description of McCain's failed immigration bill -- which was backed by President Bush -- is so selective as to be misleading. [snip]

This New Hampshire ad, like the anti-Huckabee spot in Iowa, comes as Romney's poll numbers are declining in both states. Romney tries to cushion the blow in both ads by saying a few nice words about his opponents before assailing their records.

It's certain the war will continue for the next ten days, what's unclear is who is more hurt by this kind of back and forth.

The Thompson campaign announced it has raised enough money to get on air in Iowa, though it's not clear for exactly how long they'll be able to keep this ad running:

New Research 2000 poll in Iowa (Dec 26-27; 500 Dem LV, 500 GOP LV) showing a ridiculously close race on the Democratic side, with Edwards and Clinton rising in the last 14 days and Obama slipping:

Democrats
Edwards 29 (+5 vs. last poll Dec 10-13)
Obama 29 (-4)
Clinton 28 (+4)
Richardson 7 (-2)
Biden 3 (nc)
Undecided 2

Clinton leads John Edwards by 2.0% in the newly updated RCP Average for Iowa, while Barack Obama is just 0.3% behind in third place.

On the Republican side, Huckabee has continued to gain, but Romney's rebound has closed the gap to 7 points:

Republicans
Huckabee 34 (+3 vs. last poll Dec 10-13)
Romney 27 (+5)
Thompson 11 (+2)
Giuliani 8 (-1)
McCain 8 (+1)
Paul 8 (+1)
Undecided 3

Huckabee leads Mitt Romney by 5.7% in the updated RCP Average for Iowa. McCain and Thompson are tied for a distant third place at 11% each.