August 24, 2007 9:44 AM

Back Roads rest area

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Sometimes, even the most durable economy car needs a break.

So after covering 8,925 miles of Iowa's back roads in the last 4 1/2 months, the barnstorming bandwagon gets to rest in the driveway while we take a one-week hiatus from the campaign trail.

Watch for reports to resume after Labor Day.

Even so, before I went on a little busman's holiday to the land of Clinton, Giuliani and Bloomberg, I penned a lengthy analysis of how one half of the presidential contest is shaping up for the one-year sprint to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Watch for it Monday at RockyMountainNews.com.

And then, on Tuesday and Wednesday, look for Rocky columnist Mike Littwin's barnstorming profiles on Democratic front-runners Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, in case you missed even a single word that has been produced from the Rocky Mountain News' home office in Des Moines, click the "Full entry" for a sampling of some of what we've written about ALL your favorite and least favorite campaign trail critters -- elephants or donkeys.

Now would be a good time to leave COMMENTS, critiques, suggestions or back-seat driving tips before we get out the map and plot the next 8,925 miles.

Below is just a sampling of what we've written on each candidate, both in the quaint, old-fashioned paper-and-ink version of the Rocky Mountain News and at the "Back Roads to the White House" blog. For even more, search keywords (like candidates' names) HERE.

REPUBLICANS

* Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani

* Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney

* Sen. John McCain of Arizona

* Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee

* Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas

* Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado

* Rep. Ron Paul of Texas

* Rep. Duncan Hunter of California

* Businessman John Cox of Illinois

* (Likely candidate) former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee

* Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich

* (Rumored late-entrant) Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska

* Farewell to former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore

* Farewell to former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson

* * *

* A Republican debate in Des Moines

* LIVE COVERAGE of the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames


* * *

DEMOCRATS

* Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York -- and THIS

* Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois -- and THIS

* Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina

* New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson

* Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware -- and THIS

* Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio

* Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut

* Former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska

* * *

* A Democratic debate in Des Moines

* LIVE COVERAGE of Democratic labor forum

* * *

AND LEST WE FORGET...

Pat Paulsen

Frank Zappa

Posted by M.E. Sprengelmeyer at 9:44 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack