The Times’s Adam Nagourney looks at how California, armed with an early primary, is changing presidential politics:

Its sheer size, its concentrations of both liberals and conservatives, its status as a money tree for candidates and its role as fertile ground for policy innovation make California especially likely to wield additional clout this time around. The result is not just a change in tactics; it is altering the dialogue of the presidential contest in substantive ways. It is forcing candidates to turn their attention to issues, debates and controversies that have historically drawn little attention on the early playing fields of Iowa and New Hampshire.

“The most striking example is global warming, an issue that was rarely raised in the past two presidential campaigns,” Mr. Nagourney adds.

Nevada, too, has gained new prominence, especially among Democrats, with its Democratic caucus set to occur just after Iowa’s. That means Hispanic voters, sought after by both parties in the general election, are now a key constituency early in the process. The Associated Press reports on efforts to turn them out for the Nevada caucuses, quoting Andres Ramirez, a voter outreach director:

That means networking with Hispanic clubs and churches, and courting Hispanic celebrities to make public service announcements and appear at local events, he said. In September, “mock caucuses” are scheduled to walk high school students in Hispanic communities through the caucus experience, though participants will pick their pop star of preference, rather than presidential candidates. In addition, there are plans for a Nevada Democratic Party-sponsored soccer team — Los Democratas — to play in one of Las Vegas’ several competitive and largely Hispanic adult leagues. Just off the sidelines, there will be a registration table with materials and banners.

John Edwards is “sounding a clarion call of a sort not heard on the presidential campaign trail since Robert F. Kennedy’s run in 1968,” writes Alec MacGillis in The Washington Post. “A millworker’s son who became a multimillionaire trial lawyer, Edwards brings to the subject a hard-edged rhetoric and a host of proposals culled from the University of North Carolina’s poverty center, which he started and ran after his losing campaign for vice president in 2004.”



The Post also parses a series of interviews with Tampa supporters and polls to gain insight into how Senator Barack Obama’s race will factor into the election.

The Los Angeles Times looks at how candidates’ family histories’ have an impact on presidential campaigns, noting that in an earlier era, Rudolph W. Giuliani, now on wife No. 3, would not have even had a chance at the White House.

Mr. Giuliani’s commencement address at the Citadel on Saturday included a call for increased troop strength in the Army and new special forces trained to handle post-combat operations.

Mitt Romney also gave a commencement address on Saturday, and like Mr. Giuliani, he is struggling to appeal to the Christian right — though, in his case, his Mormon faith, not multiple marriages, is posing a hurdle. Mr. Romney spoke at the Rev. Pat Robertson’s Regent University, where, The Boston Globe’s Scott Helman reports, there was some student dismay over the chosen speaker.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would ultimately vote for a supplemental Iraq spending bill regardless of whether President Bush ultimately agrees to any sort of withdrawal timeline, benchmarks or other conditions. However, she said, Democratic presidential candidates will not ultimately be held responsible for Iraq because it’s the president’s war. From The A.P.’s Mike Glover: