Richardson Opposes Immigration Bill

Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani speaks in New York, Monday, May 21, 2007. Giuliani was there to receive the endorsement of local New York politicians for his 2008 presidential run. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (Seth Wenig - AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Rival biographies of Hillary Rodham Clinton are racing to the bookshelves with portrayals of the Democratic presidential candidate as a woman of single-minded drive, dogged by her husband's infidelities.

Revisiting Bill Clinton's marital misbehavior, Carl Bernstein asserts in "A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton" that she threatened to run for Arkansas governor as payback for her husband's dalliances and refused a divorce when he raised the subject in 1989.

"Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton," by longtime New York Times investigative reporters Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr., explores her Senate career in depth as well as her past. The Washington Post obtained prerelease copies of both books and reported on their contents Friday.

The Clinton campaign dismissed the books as a "20-year-old rehash" of issues surrounding the couple. "The news here is that it took three reporters nearly a decade to find no news," said campaign spokesman Phil Singer.

"Her Way" depicts the New York senator as a hard-driving politician fixated on secrecy, loyalty and her policy goals.

Yet the book says she voted for the Iraq war without reading the National Intelligence Estimate that contained doubts about the weapons of mass destruction that Iraq was said to have possessed, The Post said.

Philippe Reines, Clinton's Senate press secretary, said she "was briefed multiple times by several members of the administration on their intelligence regarding Iraq, which included the classified aspects of the NIE."

Publication of the biographies has shifted ahead several times in a contest for marketplace advantage and with the campaign for the Democratic nomination in full motion.

Little, Brown and Co. initially planned "Her Way" for release in August but moved it to June 19, original date of Bernstein's book. Then both were moved to early June. Alfred A. Knopf is releasing "A Woman in Charge" on June 5, three days ahead of "Her Way."

The Times is excerpting "Her Way" June 3, the day of the next Democratic debate.

The Post says that Bernstein, who teamed with Bob Woodward in the paper's famed Watergate coverage, traces efforts by husband and wife to keep a lid on Bill Clinton's encounters with other women.

Bernstein said Mrs. Clinton considered running for governor as a show of anger at her husband in 1990, when her husband would have been preparing to step down from the post to run for president.

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BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _ North Dakota will join at least a dozen other states holding presidential primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5 in what is shaping up to be a national primary.

Secretary of State Al Jaeger picked Feb. 5 as the date for North Dakota's presidential caucuses next year with encouragement from state Republicans, but over the objections of Democrats who preferred Feb. 12.

Jaeger said Friday that Feb. 5 was the best choice even though a half dozen or more other states are considering moving their presidential contest up to that date as well.

"Although the field is crowded that day, I believe the candidates will not overlook any state with a primary/caucus on or before that day if their goal is to be the clear front-runner on Feb. 6," he said in a statement.

Jaeger said state law does not allow him to select separate caucus dates for each party.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ Rep. Marsha Blackburn on Friday swung her support from the Republican presidential campaign of Mitt Romney to the as-yet unannounced White House bid of actor-politician Fred Thompson.

Blackburn, who served as a senior adviser to the Romney campaign and as national co-chairwoman of Women for Romney, cited her long association with Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, as the reason for supporting him.

Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said Blackburn had called the campaign before announcing her support of Thompson.

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Associated Press Writers Blake Nicholson in Bismark, N.D., Erik Schelzig in Nashville, Tenn., Calvin Woodward in Washington and Amy Lorentzen in Fort Madison, Iowa contributed to this report.