Clinton snaps up crucial 2008 boost - Yahoo! News

Clinton snaps up crucial 2008 boost - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton on Monday snapped up a prime political endorsement in Iowa, which holds the critical first state votes on choosing 2008 presidential nominees. Clinton bolstered her already formidable political machine by enlisting former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack, as she raced towards a key March 31 fundraising deadline seen as a pivotal early test of the packed race. Vilsack, and wife Christine, also a popular Iowa campaigner, will help Clinton reach into every corner of the midwestern state, which expects candidates to pursue an intense, often one-on-one, engagement with voters. 'Hillary Clinton has been tried and tested like no other candidate for president,' said Vilsack, who briefly mounted his own 2008 bid, appearing beside the former first lady in the midwestern state's capital, Des Moines." Clinton said she was "absolutely thrilled and honored" with the endorsement, which may come as a blow to Senator Barack Obama, Clinton's closest nationwide Democratic rival who has little history in the state. In Iowa, Clinton's closest challenger is former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards', who last week announced his campaign would go on, despite the return of his wife Elizabeth's cancer. Edwards has blitzed the state for the past two years, and his populist campaign targeting those disposessed by the flight of blue collar jobs abroad, has also drawn strong support in the state. In the latest American Research Group polling in Iowa, Clinton had edged one percentage point ahead of Edwards, winning the support of 34 percent of likely Democratic caucus goers. Obama, expected to return to Iowa this weekend, had only 16 percent. The Vilsack endorsement will likely provoke speculation Vilsack is angling to be Clinton's running mate if she wins the nomination, or is hoping for a possible cabinet job if she wins in November 2008. Clinton did not comment on such speculation, but said at a townhall meeting carried by ABC television that she hoped the Vilsacks would remain active in public life.