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ELECTION 2008: ON THE TRAIL

January 25, 2008

Kucinich withdraws. Dennis Kucinich yesterday abandoned his second long-shot bid for the White House as he faces a tough fight to hold onto his other job - U.S. congressman. The six-term House member said he would make a formal announcement today. Kucinich, 61, has four challengers in the Democratic congressional primary March 4, and earlier this week he made an urgent appeal on his Web site for funds for his re-election.

The kids speak. From interviews of candidates' children by reporters for Scholastic News, who range in age from 8 to 15:

Tagg Romney on himself and his four siblings: "We're typical brothers. We fight every once in a while, but we love each other."

Bridget McCain: "My dad's best achievement is being a dad and also running for president at the same time."

Chelsea Clinton: "I'm sorry, I don't talk to the press and that applies to you, unfortunately. Even though I think you're cute."

Capitalist pig? Mike Huckabee criticized Mitt Romney's past as a venture capitalist yesterday, saying some workers lost their jobs as a result. Romney founded Bain Capital, a firm that developed a reputation for turning around ailing companies and earned him millions of dollars. Asked about Romney's experience, Huckabee said his rival's success came at the expense of workers. "If that's the turnaround, a lot of Americans would not want to see their lives turned around like that," Huckabee said. Romney defended the takeovers during a Fox News interview on Sunday: "Oftentimes, when an enterprise is in real trouble, you have to try and cut back to save it."