Giuliani Is Out of the Hospital

Clinton Tallies Obama's Votes

DES MOINES -- Asserting that she has caught a wave of momentum over the past five days, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton pushed hard on the notion of her experience -- and the argument that her lead rival, Sen. Barack Obama, is lacking therein -- on Thursday as she rounded out a pre-Christmas swing through Iowa.

Clinton advisers held a conference call with members of Congress who are supporting her to address the number of times Obama voted "present," rather than yes or no, during his time in the Illinois legislature. Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York described the practice as evidence of a "lack of leadership" from Obama; Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio accused Obama of "avoiding taking stands on tough issues."

And Clinton herself suggested that on foreign policy, a vote for Obama would be no better than a vote for President Bush, cautioning that a foreign policy crisis in the future would require someone like her at the helm.

"It's tempting anytime things seem quieter for a minute on the international front to think that we don't need a president who is up to speed on foreign affairs and military matters," Clinton said while campaigning in Iowa. "Well, that's the kind of logic that got us George Bush in the first place."

The Obama campaign responded with a statement: "While Sen. Clinton takes a break from her 'likeability tour' to go back on the attack, Sen. Obama, the only major candidate who opposed both the Iraq war and the rush to war in Iran, will continue to demonstrate why he has the judgment to turn the page on the Bush-Cheney foreign policy."

-- Anne E. Kornblut

THE UNHOLY TRUTH?

No Cross in Ad, Huckabee Says

AMES, Iowa -- Bob Vander Plaats, Mike Huckabee's campaign chairman in Iowa, introduced the former Arkansas governor at an event here by noting that "this crowd has a very special greeting for you."

The audience shouted: "Merry Christmas!"

"And you know that it's okay if you say that," Huckabee told them, jokingly referencing the attention given to an ad he put on the air this week. In the spot, the former Baptist preacher mentions "the celebration of the birth of Christ," and wishes Iowans a "Merry Christmas," while sitting near a bookshelf that some have said resembles a cross floating across the screen.

"There was no hidden agenda," he said in Ames of the ad. "There was no floating cross. That is a bookshelf, but if people are seeing the cross in it, so be it."

"If I had used the name of Jesus Christ in vain and blurted it out as profanity, nobody would be talking about it. It would have simply been ignored," he told the crowd later in his speech. "But because I invoked his name on his own birthday to say to America, 'Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas,' somehow everybody sees in it something that isn't even there."

-- Perry Bacon Jr.

A CHECK FROM THEIR RICH UNCLE

FEC Certifies Matching Funds

The Federal Election Commission announced that it has certified $19.3 million in federal matching funds to the seven presidential candidates who have expressed an interest in receiving money to help them compete in the upcoming primaries and caucuses.

In 2004, the first round of matching fund payments totaled $15,417,353.84 to six candidates. Not all the candidates who applied for certification have declared their intention to use the money. If they decide to take the matching funds, they will be required to adhere to strict, state-by-state caps on spending that could put them at a competitive disadvantage during the primaries.

Former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) is one of those who has declared that he intends to use the funds, and he will be eligible to receive the most money of those who applied -- nearly $9 million.

-- Matthew Mosk