With the first showdown only days away, US presidential hopefuls will take a break for Christmas and let their TV ads propagate some holiday cheer, but not without political undertones.
As expected, it looks like all the candidates have cleared their agendas of rallies and meetings at least on Dec. 25, though the first contest, the Iowa caucuses, will be held only nine days later.
But their TV alter egos will still be at work.
The rising star of the Republicans, Baptist minister Mike Huckabee has sparked a new controversy with a TV spot that ignores political correctness and heavily underscores the Christian dimension of Christmas.
With Silent Night gently playing in the background, Huckabee warmly invites voters to forget TV ads "mostly about politics ... and just remember that what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and friends."
Meanwhile, as the camera angles around him, a bookshelf appears behind his head with a frame whose shape strongly suggests a white cross.
Catholic League president Bill Donahue was outraged by Huckabee's apparent wink to Evangelists.
"What he's trying to say to the evangelicals in western Iowa [is]: `I'm the real thing,'" he said.
"You know what, sell yourself on your issues, not on what your religion is," Donahue told the Fox News channel.
Less controversial and deliberately funny, the former Republican mayor of New York City Rudolph Giuliani, in a white shirt and bright red sleeveless sweater, takes a back seat to Santa Claus.
Smiling, he rattles out his wish list: "I wish for peace with strength. Secure borders. A government that spends less than it takes in. Lower taxes for our businesses and families. And I really hope that all of the presidential candidates can just get along."
"Ho, ho, ho," Santa Claus booms back. "I was with you right up until that last one. Ho, ho, ho."
Also resorting to parody, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in her ad plays the role of a doting mother cutting wrapping paper and placing suggestive cards on Christmas gifts: one is labeled "Universal Health Care," another "Energy Independence," and a third, "Bringing our Troops Home."
"Where did I put universal pre-K? Ah, There it is," she says reaching for the card referring to pre-kindergarten services.
Less imaginative and more familiar, her rival Barack Obama plays up family ties in a woollen sweater sitting beside a Christmas tree. He lets his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia, nine, and Sasha, six, wish "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays."
"In this holiday season we are reminded that the things that unite us as a people are more powerful and enduring than anything that sets us apart," says Obama, touching on his campaign theme of unity and hope.
On a more serious note, Democratic candidate John Edwards breaks with the festive tone of the occasion and, in somber suit and tie with a modestly decorated Christmas tree in the background, reminds viewers of the underprivileunderprivilegedged, sticking to his campaign theme.
"One out of every four homeless people on our streets is a veteran. Thirty-seven million Americans live in poverty. Who speaks for them? We do," the senator from North Carolina said.
"This is the season of miracles, of faith and love. So let us promise together: you will never be forgotten again," he said.
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