Over the next two years, we’ll talk a lot about how organization and money establish who wins votes or how the Internet hijacks the process. Forget about it, the Boston Phoenix asserts: presidential politics conforms to a small number of rules that don’t much change from one campaign year to the next, and Rule #1 is the simplest of all:

Ideas. Win. Campaigns.

Sure, a winning campaign benefits from lots of things, from a ton of money and good press to a successful strategy. We’ve already watched Joe Biden implode, and we look forward to John McCain losing his temper in public for the first time.

But by focusing such heavily on these things, the media tends to overlook what a successful candidate needs above all: a central vision. A compelling idea.

In the end, voters don’t really care which organizers the candidates hire in New Hampshire; they care about where the prospective leaders promise to take the United States of America.

An idea is not a platform or a collection of boring policy proposals, or a bunch of ambiguous positions (cough, John Kerry).

Rather, it’s a broad animating concept that voters can rally around.

John Kennedy inspired America by proclaiming “It’s Time to Get This Country Moving Again.” After Watergate and Vietnam, Jimmy Carter reminded us that it needed a complete Washington outsider at the reins of government. Bill Clinton understood that a new Democratic Party needed to re-establish its appeal to the average voters - and that it was the economy (stupid) that mattered most to them.

This year, a lot of candidates have big ideas. As the first serious woman presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton will likely focus her campaign on the idea that a woman would be a very different and better type of leader than a man (whether Hillary represents that notion authentically is a different matter entirely, but that’s for another time).

Barack Obama, meanwhile, will undoubtedly articulate a similar vision from the perspective of race; he’s already begun to argue for a new beginning of partisan-free politics that could tie neatly into this theme.

The notion of the first female or black president is so powerful that New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, a fine candidate and himself the nation’s first credible Hispanic presidential aspirant, may have trouble getting traction just because he isn’t Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

The bottom line is that with Obama and Clinton in the race, the rest of the Democratic field better have big ideas of their own.

John Edwards, with his poverty-centered “two Americas” theme, has clearly given some thought to how he might compete with the front-runners , while the rest of the Democratic field doesn’t seem as prepared.

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The White House defended Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday from criticism from Republican Sen. John McCain that he was one of the worst U.S. defense secretaries ever for his handling of the Iraq war.

McCain, one of President George W. Bush’s key allies in the U.S. Congress on Iraq, is running for his party’s nomination to be president in 2008.

“I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history,” the Arizona senator and Vietnam War veteran said on the campaign trail in South Carolina on Monday.

The White House, caught between a rock and a hard place, backed Rumsfeld but was careful not to criticize McCain in doing so.

“We think Donald Rumsfeld was an enormously consequential and effective secretary of defense and somebody who led to the transformation of the
Department of Defense. Senator McCain holds a different point of view,” said White House spokesman Tony Snow.

Rumsfeld, the second-longest serving defense secretary, was widely blamed for the U.S. failure to bring stability to the Middle East amid growing public discontent over the administration’s Iraq war policy.

A day after Republicans lost control of Congress in elections last November due largely to concern about Iraq, Bush accepted Rumsfeld’s resignation and replaced him with Robert Gates.

George W. Bush needs McCain’s support in his efforts to secure $100 billion in new funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Asked if McCain’s comments should be chalked up to his jockeying for position in the 2008 election, Snow quipped: “I left the chalk at home.”

The same board that voted against Darwin and in favor of God in 2005 is now trying to remove God and religion from schools.

The recurring science-religion clash has erupted again in (where else) Kansas - the geographic center of the lower 48 states, and the very same state that previously ruled that scientific evidence for the evolutionn is “too scarce” to be the primary theory taught by educators.

Kansas’ Department of Education approved new, evolution-friendly science standards with a 6-4 vote last week, replacing ones that questioned the theory and had the support of “intelligent design” advocates.

The shift towards the evolution-friendly approach in Kansas schools is not the result of some scientific breakthrough, it’s merely the outcome of the elections that took place last year for the State Board of Education.

A coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats decided it’s time to favor Darwin over God again, making this the fifth change in standards for Kansas schools in less than eight years.

Conservative Republicans, who recommended in 2005 that students should receive their tuition inside the “intelligent design” frame, said after last Tuesday’s vote they weren’t planning to reopen the debate even if elections go their way in 2008. But the state law will require another review of school standards by 2014.

In the meantime, Darwin’s newly acquired advantage against God is not that certain, with another change possible in the next few years in the Board.

“I think we’re good for two years,” said board member Janet Waugh, a Kansas City Democrat supporting the new standards. “Who knows what the election will hold in two years?”

The Board recommended deleting paragraphs that dealt with the evolution vs. creation problem, and allowing school manuals to include key terms from evolution theory that refer to the common origin of life on Earth and random mutations that lead to the appearance of new species.

The new standards reflect mainstream scientific views of evolution.

“There seems to be a pattern,” said board member Steve Abrams. “Anything that might question the veracity of evolution is deleted.”

The decision came one day after the 198th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, which the University of Kansas celebrated with a costume party and an evolution theory-biased documentary called “Flock of Dodos.”

One wonders how Sen. Sam Brownback, who has declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2008 presidential race, feels about this.

We’re also curious as to whether we can circulate a petition to get the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster into the curriculum if Darwin happens to lose his bid for re-election.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Al Franken will run for the U.S. Senate in 2008 - and the author of Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot wants to be taken seriously.

The comedian and liberal talk-show host declared his candidacy Wednesday for the Minnesota seat currently held by Republican Norm Coleman.

His decision guarantees that the 2008 race will be more entertaining than usual and closely followed by national media.

Franken immediately confronted the central question he will face in the early going - whether a life-long comic should be taken seriously.

“Minnesotans have a right to be skeptical about whether I’m ready for this challenge and to wonder how seriously I would take the responsibility that I’m asking you to give me,” Franken said in a video message on his campaign website, launched at 1 p.m.

“I want you to know: nothing means more to me than making government work better for the working families of this state. Over the next 20 months I look forward to proving to you that I take these issues seriously.”

Offering personal stories about his childhood in Minnesota and about how his father and other family members were able to survive and thrive with the help of federal education and Social Security programs, Franken said the government should “have your back.”

“That should be our mission in Washington, the one FDR gave us during another challenging time: freedom from fear.”

Franken’s announcement came on the final day of his show on the liberal radio network Air America. His decision instantly makes him a serious contender and brings national attention to the race.

According to the Washington Post, Franken announced a few weeks ago he would leave Air America, tellng prominent Democrats off the record about his plans to seek office.

His name is well-known, and Al Franken is likely to be well-funded, but he’s expected to be challenged by several other Democrats, including wealthy trial attorney Mike Ciresi.

His candidacy will also test whether Minnesotans are in the mood for another celebrity-turned-politician, after the 1999-2003 governorship of former WWE wrestling star Jesse Ventura.

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Two key black political leaders in South Carolina who backed John Edwards in 2004 said Tuesday they are now supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

State Sens. Robert Ford and Darrell Jackson told The Associated Press they believe Hillary Clinton is the only Democrat who can win the presidency.

Both said they had been courted by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama; Ford said Obama winning the primary would drag down the rest of the party.

“Everybody else on the ballot [would be] doomed. Every Democratic candidate running on that ticket would lose because he’s black and he’s at the top of the ticket,” Ford said.

“We’d lose the House, the Senate, the governors, everything. I’m a gambling man. I love Obama. But I’m not going to kill myself.”

Apparently, these two aren’t alone in their assessment. Last month, a CBS News poll estimated that 52 percent of black Democrats would back Hillary Clinton, compared to 28 percent for Obama.

Ford was swayed by calls from both Hillary Clinton and her most influential ally - the Big Dog himself, former President Bill Clinton.

Solid support in Charleston, S.C., one of the key regions in the state with a significant black Democratic voting population, which Ford should provide, will inevitably help the Clinton campaign.

Jackson, who also is the minister of a large church in the state’s capital city, said John Edwards — a South Carolina native who won the state’s Democratic primary three years ago — had his chance.

“I feel as if he’s had his opportunity,” Jackson said.

The endorsements come just days before Obama and Clinton campaign in the state for the first time as official candidates in the presidential campaign.

Support from black voters is key in South Carolina, where 49 percent of the Democratic presidential primary vote came from blacks in 2004. The Palmetto State will host the first Southern primary for both the GOP and the Democrats in the 2008 race.

Clinton’s campaign spokesman, Mo Elleithee, said they were happy to have Ford and Jackson’s support.

“We’re grateful we’re starting to get the support of some key leaders,” Elleithee said.

Presidential candidate Tom Vilsack offered a plan Tuesday to ween the nation off of fossil fuels and roll back greenhouse gas emissions to a fraction of current levels.

The former Iowa governor, who has tried to get Barack Obama to debate him in an attempt to gain greater exposure, said he would force new power plants to emit no carbon dioxide — one of the greenhouse gases blamed for rising earth temperatures — by 2020.

Vilsack said as president he would cap U.S. carbon dioxide emissions and create a credit-trading program to meet the cap.

“Energy security is the single most important issue facing America today,” Vilsack said.

“It affects us every minute of every day. It affects our health, our personal finances, our economy and our quality of life.”

Among his proposals was a 75 percent reduction in greenhouse gases produced by the United States by 2050, principally through a mandatory “cap and trade” program among businesses and other institutions.

President George W. Bush made a similar pledge to cap carbon emissions in his 2000 campaign, but broke it in 2001 after getting elected.

Bush continues to oppose mandatory emission caps, arguing that industry through development of new alternative energy technology can deal with the problem at a lesser cost.

We applaud Vilsack’s devotion to this monumentally important issue, but worry that his campaign will never gain the momentum needed to bring it enough attention. Anyone seen Al Gore lately?

[Cartoon above by Linda Eddy, courtesy of Iowapresidentialwatch.com. Follow the link to view many more of her creations.]

Laying out an optimistic vision of a “New American Dream” on Tuesday in a speech laden with 50 references to “America,” Mitt Romney became the latest aspirant to officially declare his entry in the 2008 presidential race.

Although the Republican is the former governor of Massachusetts, and has ties to Utah, he picked Dearborn, Mich., in the powerful heartland, to launch his bid.

Speaking at the Henry Ford Museum in front of a shiny Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, a classic Nash Rambler and an old DC-3 airliner, Romney exploited his Midwestern roots and the legacy of his father, George, a popular governor of Michigan who unsuccessfully sought the presidency in 1968.

“You know my father as a business leader, a governor, and as an advocate of volunteerism. But he came from humble roots. He laboured with lath and plaster. He never graduated from college. But like many other Americans, he made his dreams come true,” Romney said.

According to the Financial Times, Romney referred to his faith in God and the “sanctity of human life” but made no mention of his biggest political challenge: his Mormon religion.

Americans remain sceptical about the Latter-Day Saints.

A USA Today/Gallup poll on Tuesday found 72 percent of Americans would vote for a Mormon, as opposed to 94 percent for a black candidate and 88 percent for a female.

That’s all Americans. Evangelical Christians, a powerful influence in Republican primaries, have even more doubts about the religion.

Romney is polling a distant third behind Sen. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani in Republican polls (though the World Sports Exchange currently has him as the second strongest bet to win the nomination after McCain, in case you were wondering).

Regardless of polling, on the campaign trail Mitt Romney conveys a sort of presidential aura with a poise that exudes a calm, formal authority.

He lacks the immediate celebrity of Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor, and his charisma is low key. Yet at 59 and looking 39, Romney may benefit from physical comparisons with McCain, who would be 72 in January 2009.

He’s also taller.

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The White House took exception today to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assertion that the U.S. “overstepped its national borders in every way.”

But, as for Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s comments about Sen. Barack Obama - that his call for a troop withdrawal in Iraq should cause terrorists to root for Obama’s election as president - the White House simply says the prime minister speaks for himself.

Just your basic Monday morning in Washington.

With the White House sitting square in the middle of provocative comments flying from far corners of the world, the Bush administration was issuing its own provocative comments over the weekend in Iraq, with U.S. military authorities asserting that Iran is supplying deadly weapons being deployed against U.S. troops there.

But Putin’s comments at an international security forum in Munich over the weekend drew plenty of attention, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Russian president claimed that the U.S. has undermined security in the world and prompted other nations to pursue new weaponry with its “almost uncontained use of military force.” Putin said that American “unilateral, illegitimate actions have not solved a single problem. They have become a hotbed of further conflicts.”

White House press secretary Tony Snow replied today:

“We certainly disagree with the characterization of the United States… acting unilaterally… In fact, the United States has been working in every way, including with Russia, to work in a multilateral fashion…”

He pointed to the six-party talks among the U.S., Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and North Korea aimed at convincing the latter to suspend its nuclear weapons program. Diplomats suggested over the weekend that they could be on the verge of a long-sought agreement.

“If you take a look at the ongoing cooperation between the United States and Russia, it continues,” Snow said. “The president has regular and quite frank conversations with President Putin.”

But George W. Bush has not spoken with Prime Minister Howard of Australia since January 9, the White House maintains - a thinly-veiled attempt to dispute claims that Bush put his friend from Sydney up to his recent criticism of Obama.

Obama, who declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination over the weekend, has called for a cap on U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and also proposes to withdraw all combat troops by March 2008.

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Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack challenged a leading Democratic rival to a debate before union activists in Iowa later this month to talk about “central issues confronting America.”

But Barack Obama is not biting.

Vilsack is scheduled to participate in a Feb. 21 debate sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Carson City, Nev. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Obama opted to skip that debate, saying he’s committed to campaigning in Iowa that day.

Vilsack said he was willing to fly out immediately after the Nevada debate to attend a similar forum in Iowa.

“As you know, AFSCME represents workers throughout Iowa and they would be willing to organize a forum for us in any town on February 21,” Vilsack said in a letter to Obama’s campaign.

An Obama spokesman, said the senator would not participate in a February 21 debate with Vilsack or any of the other 2008 presidential candidates.

“Sen. Obama looks forward to participating in a number of debates during this campaign, but first he wants to personally meet with and hear from as many Iowans as possible about how we can change our politics,” Tommy Vietor said.

Obama has gotten heavy attention - most of it overwhelming praise - as he prepared to enter the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination over the past few months. More than 15,000 people showed up for his formal announcement in Springfield., Ill., on Saturday.

Vilsack left office last month and has struggled to get similar attention in his bid for the Democratic nomination. Despite being the first to throw his hat in the ring, he’s had a hard time garnering interest against the likes of Obama, Hillary Clinton or John Edwards.

Outside the old state Capitol in Springfield, Ill., where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “a house divided against itself cannot stand” speech against slavery in 1858, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) officially entered the 2008 presidential race with a vow to take the country back and change the fundamental nature of our politics.

The 45-year-old has been dubbed the Democratic Party’s rising star and has certainly enjoyed star status during his travels, even before he officially announced his candidacy in the 2008 election.

Still, critics believe his lack of experience - he’s been in the U.S. Senate a whole two years - will keep him from becoming the nation’s first black president.

Obama shrugged off questions about his experience and resisted efforts to define his candidacy by race, saying fresh perspective is needed to break through gridlock on issues like health care, energy policy and of course, the Iraq war.

Asked on 60 Minutes Sunday if his color would hinder his chances, Barack Obama said, “No. If I don’t win this race it will be because of other factors - that I have not shown to the American people a vision for where the country needs to go.”

Some 10,000 attendees at the “State of the Black Union” conference last weekend at Virginia’s Hampton University greeted Obama’s presidential announcement with mixed reactions.

The subject came up several times during the annual two-day symposium, which examines progress the African-American community has made in this country and the problems that continue to exist.

“I think the identity politics should not be based on race,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, a 2004 presidential candidate. “It should be based on agenda and policy - who stands for our best interests. We cannot put our people’s aspirations on hold for anybody’s career, black or white.”

Some blacks wonder if Obama’s mixed-race heritage hampers his effectiveness on African-American issues. Others complain he didn’t earn his political stripes in the 1960s civil rights movement. Others wonder about his Ivy League education and upscale Chicago address.

In fact, a CBS News poll last month showed Hillary Rodham Clinton ahead of Obama among African-American voters, 52 percent to 28 percent.

Without naming Obama, Sharpton added that “just because you’re our color doesn’t make you our kind.” He pointed to President George W. Bush’s two secretaries of state, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, as examples of African-Americans who haven’t necessarily worked in the interest of the African-American community.

Sharpton also said Obama should’ve declared his presidential run before the predominantly African-American audience at the Hampton conference, rather than in the state he represents on Capitol Hill. Sharpton said Obama needs to declare “what’s his embrace of our agenda.”