KEY POINTS:
Democrat Hillary Clinton chose an interesting starting point to fire up her support in a week when political ambitions can go up in smoke.
Clinton chose a fire station in Denison, population 2000, as she and nine other presidential hopefuls scoured Iowa for support one week before the state's too-close-to-call nominating contest.
She touted her experience and rival Barack Obama made his case for change as Democratic and Republican candidates spent the day in Iowa, where next Friday voters in both parties kick off the state-by-state battle to choose candidates for the 2008 election on November 4.
Obama, a first-term US senator from Illinois who has been rapped by Clinton for having too little experience for the job, said he was the candidate who could end the partisan "food fight" and accomplish real change.
He poked fun at a comment from Clinton's husband Bill who said electing Obama would be a roll of the dice.
"The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result," he said in Des Moines before heading off to campaign stops around the midwestern state.
Clinton did not directly respond to Obama's comments, but slipped in a reference to her experience as she joined other presidential candidates in decrying the assassination of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
"I have known Benazir Bhutto for a dozen years and I knew her as a leader, I knew her as someone who was willing to take risks to pursue democracy on behalf of the people of Pakistan," she said.
- REUTERS
