WASHINGTON -- Supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy are privately blaming aggressive campaigning by Bill Clinton for her recent decline in Iowa's pre-caucus polls.

In their opinion, the former president's strong defense of his wife pushes the contest for the Democratic nomination toward what Hillary Clinton wanted to avoid: a referendum on the Clinton administration, making her a symbol of the past rather than an agent of change.

A footnote: Democrats close to Bill Clinton blame Mark Penn, Sen. Clinton's chief strategist, for her decline. They grumble that Penn, a professional pollster, relies too much on polls.

MCCAIN'S CHOICE

Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign strategists are openly boosting Mike Huckabee in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses as their candidate's best hope for winning the New Hampshire primary five days later.

Reports have been leaked that McCain personally likes Huckabee and dislikes Mitt Romney. Apart from personal preference, the McCain camp acknowledges that a Romney victory in Iowa may trigger a win in New Hampshire and a chance to sweep subsequent primaries. The McCain insiders feel Huckabee will not be a serious candidate even if he defeats Romney in Iowa.

McCain, who did not contest Iowa in 2000, never had a chance there this time. His long shot for 2008 depends on independent voters in New Hampshire, who gave McCain a landslide victory against George W. Bush in 2000. These independents had been written off as voting Democratic in 2008, but neutral Republicans now think they may return to McCain -- unless they feel Romney has wrapped up the nomination.

ROMNEY'S CONSERVATIVE

David Keene, one of the conservative movement's seasoned warriors, braved freezing temperatures in Iowa this month to campaign there for Mitt Romney.

Keene had been considered a strong prospect to support Fred Thompson for president. However, after meetings with both Thompson and Romney, Keene decided Romney was the more viable candidate.

Keene is the longtime chairman of the American Conservative Union. But that organization does not make presidential endorsements, and the choice of Romney is Keene's own. He has been engaged in presidential candidacies at a high level dating back to Ronald Reagan's in 1976.

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