If the speech I went to yesterday by Mike Huckabee presented the kinder gentler face of economic populism (with Republican characteristics), today’s Iowa City event with John Edwards offered the full-throated, full-throttle version.

While most people find their mailboxes filled with Christmas cards and the like, this time of year in Iowa (well, this time of year every four years) mailboxes are stuffed to overflowing with campaign direct mail.

Jacob Heilbrunn, author of the soon-to-be-released They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons, has a devastating critique of the mutually exploitive relationship between co-czar of the neocon establishment, Norman Podhoretz, and former New York mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani titled “Norman’s Conquest.

Michael Schiffer is The Washington Note’s blogger for the Iowa Caucuses and is a resident of Iowa.

I’ve seen Michael Schiffer smile — and by way of this blog entry, I’m encouraging the Stanley Foundation to get a pic of him up showing some teeth. Michael Schiffer was one of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s superstar national security advisers and was her legislative director.

Senator Obama’s campaign has amended some of what it sent my way on his experience with Europe and with European leaders.

Senator John McCain just sent the following Christmas and holiday message to his supporters — and I thought it worthwhile to post here. It surfaced emotions I felt when I saw the brilliant and disturbing Alex Gibney directed film, Taxi to the Dark Side which opens nationally on January 11th.

For those who want to watch the daily ticks in who’s up and who’s up less in the early primaries, this may be useful news: Reuters, C-SPAN and Zogby International have joined forces to poll Americans on the 2008 presidential election, starting with polls in the key U.S. presidential primary and caucus states.

John Edwards is surging on populist themes, but Matt Cooper thinks American business should not worry too much if he wins. Edwards’ Senior Economic Adviser Leo Hindery is mentioned in the Cooper article. I’ve had numerous discussions with Hindery — who is not anti-global but is pro-American industry and pro-American middle class.

The Times of London has picked up on the issue that Senator Obama has not convened a policy related hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on Europe and added to this something I reported yesterday — which was that Europe does not figure into Obama’s travel profile.