Edwards Adds Staff, Reshuffles Roles

Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., greets supporters as she walks in the Fourth of July Parade Wednesday, July 4, 2007, in Clear Lake, Iowa. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green) (M. Spencer Green - AP)

"We need to be at the table. We need to be a part of that conversation, and that's exactly what Senator Obama said," Nelson said.

With more than 3 million members, the NEA is the nation's largest teachers union.

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MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) _ Hillary Rodham Clinton assured Iowans on Thursday that she is not asking them to turn back the clock in her 2008 bid, only calling for a return to the policies and values of her husband's presidency.

Speaking to more than 1,000 people at a sweltering rally in a park overlooking the Mississippi River, Clinton said she was committed to moving forward while reaching back for policies that left the nation in a better position to deal with its problems. Some critics have accused Clinton of wanting to return to the era of Bill Clinton's presidency.

"You don't go back in America," the Democratic senator from New York said. "If you're smart, you carry with you the values that have worked in the past."

After eight years in the White House and seven in the Senate, Clinton said she was the best person to lead the country. Key to her efforts would be balancing the budget, Clinton said, noting that the nation ran a surplus during her husband's two terms.

"Six and a half years ago, we had a balanced budget and a surplus in America," Clinton said. "All of that was squandered by the Bush administration."

She said soaring budget deficits have colored every policy decision facing the nation, forcing cuts to domestic programs and making it difficult to bargain with China and other countries that lend the United States billions to finance the U.S. deficit.

Clinton questioned whether the United States could seek tougher trade penalties against China when it's economically beholden to Beijing.

"How do you get tough on your banker?" she asked.

Separately, Clinton picked up the endorsement of Dick Gephardt, the former House Democratic leader who twice ran unsuccessfully for president in 1988 and 2004.

"She's got the strength and experience to deliver the kind of change America wants," Gephardt said.

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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) _ Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson is coming under scrutiny for using an electric utility lobbyist as on-loan staffer in the governor's office during this year's legislative session.

Attorney General Gary King said Thursday his office will review whether there were legal or ethical problems with the use of the lobbyist by the governor.

King, a Democrat, acted in response to a request by a clean energy advocate who questioned the propriety of the lobbyist working in the governor's office when Richardson was seeking approval of energy legislation that could affect utilities.

A lobbyist for Public Service Company of New Mexico, Art Hull, worked for Richardson as part of a program that is intended to give private sector officials a view of how state government work.

Hull remained on company's payroll while he worked in the governor's office and did not receive a state salary, said Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for Richardson.

Gallegos said Hull served mainly as a liaison between the governor's office and Republican legislators.

"We wanted to avoid any appearance of a conflict. So he wasn't involved in any of the negotiations on energy legislation," said Gallegos.

Ben Luce, who is leading a newly formed watchdog group called Break the Grip!, asked King to investigate Hull's work for Richardson.

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AP Education Writer Nancy Zuckerbrod in Philadelphia, AP writers Mike Glover in Muscatine, Iowa, Thomas J. Sheeran in Cleveland and Barry Massey in Santa Fe, N.M., contributed to this report.