More cheer, less jeers from candidates

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton, during a Sunday stop at a sprawling veterans’ facility here, renewed her promise to improve care for military personnel and their families. Before leaving, she was presented with a fragile blue tree ornament and was mobbed by supporters as “A Holly Jolly Christmas” played in the background.

Christmas and campaigning were in constant juxtaposition over the weekend in Iowa and New Hampshire.

In past election cycles, political activity typically muted in the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. But the race to be first in the 2008 voting pushed Iowa’s caucuses to Jan. 3. New Hampshire’s primary is just five days later. The result has been a hectic, compressed holiday campaign season unlike any other.

“It’s a different calendar than any of us are used to,” Clinton advisor Ann Lewis said in Manchester, N.H., on Saturday. “The single biggest question for our camp, and probably every other camp, is: How do you campaign as intensely as you can -- every minute that you can -- and respect people’s sense of what they want to do for the holiday?”

On Sunday, the candidates seemed to temper their messages, mindful of alienating voters with harsh attacks on their rivals or with Christmastime phone calls pleading for support.

Republican hopefuls Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Mike Huckabee aired Christmas-themed ads on television, and Mitt Romney’s campaign temporarily pulled off the air a spot accusing Huckabee of being too free with granting pardons when he was governor of Arkansas.

On the trail, the candidates tried their best to blend their election arguments with holiday warmth.

In the Democratic race, Clinton attended a church service in Waterloo before stumping in Marshalltown, where she took a subtle jab at rivals Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards -- without mentioning them by name.

Romney did criticize McCain directly during a Peterborough, N.H., town hall meeting Sunday for failing to initially support President Bush’s tax cuts.

Ann Romney, wearing a red jacket with red bows stitched on the pockets, introduced her husband by telling the audience that they had spent the morning at church, where she was inspired by a 12-year-old boy who told the congregation the best gift “to give the savior” was gratitude.

“No matter what faith tradition we come from, it is a time of year we can contemplate and think about what it is that we are grateful for,” she said. The fact that the former Massachusetts governor is a Mormon has hurt his campaign among evangelical Christians, a key part of the Republican base.

The timing of the Iowa caucuses has also meant sacrifices for campaign staffers, some of whom chose to remain in Des Moines for Christmas in order to go back to work come Wednesday.

“My mom was not happy,” said Bob Brennan, 25, who works for Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.).

“She was a little angry with Iowa.”

Dodd, who moved his family to Iowa for the campaign, is taking staffers ice skating for Christmas Eve and has invited them to his home for hot cocoa afterward.

Voters, who are getting two campaign-free days, said they are looking forward to it.

Nurse Denise Dvorak, 44, a committed Clinton supporter, took an hour out of her workday Sunday to see the New York senator speak at the Iowa Veterans Home. Still, Dvorak, whose mailbox has been overflowing with mailers and whose phone rings several times a day with campaign calls, said it’s only right for politicians to ease up during the holidays.

“It takes away from the meaning of Christmas when there’s so much political stuff going on,” the Garwin resident said.

“It’s very good to have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to celebrate. The candidates get to spend time with their families too.”

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seema.mehta@latimes.com

maeve.reston@latimes.com

Mehta reported from Marshalltown and Reston from Peterborough.