Clinton double act prepares for a fight

The music wasn't dying for Hillary Clinton, leading a Fourth of July parade in Clear Lake, Iowa, best known as the dateline for Don McLean's "American Pie", which recalled the deaths of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash after playing their last gig in the city.

But tragedy was not on the mind of Senator Clinton, however, wrapping up a three-day tour through Iowa, which in seven months will become the first state to cast votes to choose the 2008 presidential nominees. Rather, she appeared to have something to celebrate as her husband, Bill Clinton, for the first time tagged along as her back-up in stops up and down the state. This Independence Day, indeed, was notable for lofty spirits in the Democratic camp ahead of next year's election in contrast to a palpable gloom settling over Republicans. Separating the two main parties are the most recent fund-raising reports being released by all the main candidates.

The Democrats raised vastly superior sums compared with Republicans, a reflection, according to most analysts, of slumping enthusiasm for President George Bush, who remains mired in record low popularity ratings, and by extension candidates running under the banner of his party.

"The general mood is bad throughout the party," said Charles Black, an adviser to Senator John McCain, who reported raising $13m (£6.5m) in the second quarter of the year, a disastrous figure that fuelled speculation that his campaign will soon be running on thin air. The three leading Democratic candidates raised $68.5m in the three months compared to $48.7m for the top three Republicans.

Among the Democrats it was not Mrs Clinton, however, but her nearest rival Senator Barack Obama, who turned in the most stellar fund-raising performance, gathering in an astonishing $32.5m. The former first lady did less well, reporting about $27m.

The financial picture is a potential worry for Mrs Clinton who, with help now from her husband, is striving to establish herself in the minds of voters and is the clear front-runner among Democrats. For now, however, she remains well in the lead nationally in the most recent opinion polls. Topping Republican polls is the former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani, who also did least badly raising funds in the last quarter.

Iowa, indeed, poses an important challenge for Mrs Clinton. With its unique system of caucus voting, the state will be the first to voice its preferences for nominees ahead of the first-in-the-nation primary voting in New Hampshire. Polls in the state show her to be in a tight contest there not only with Mr Obama but also with the former North Carolina senator, John Edwards.

Earlier this year, a Clinton campaign memo leaked to the press suggested that Mrs Clinton was inclined to skip the Iowa contest altogether to concentrate on New Hampshire and other states. This week, however, she has proved that she intends to compete in Iowa with a full arsenal of ammunition.

And there is now no mistaking which weapon is likely to prove most important to her - her husband, who remains by far the most popular figure in the Democratic Party.

His appearances have shown intriguing role reversals for the husband and wife, with the former president showing uncharacteristic restraint by introducing his wife on each occasion and making sure to melt from the stage after speaking for just five or 10 minutes. It remains a tricky challenge for the Clinton camp: how to use the former president without allowing him to upstage the candidate. "We sort of changed roles now," Bill Clinton said at an outdoor rally at the University of Iowa. "I'm kind of out of politics and I'm a little rusty, so you'll have to forgive me." He used his minutes at the microphone to lavish praise on his wife. "When I first met Hillary I told her... she had the best combination of mind and heart," he told one crowd. "Thirty-five years later I am more convinced of it."

The Clintons do not hesitate to use their appearances to lambaste President Bush, mostly for the morass in Iraq and, more topically, for his decision earlier this week to commute the 30-month prison sentence of Lewis Libby, the former chief-of-staff of Vice-President Dick Cheney, found guilty this year for lying about his part in the unmasking of the CIA operative Valerie Plame.