White House hopeful Mike Huckabee says he won't attend conference due to Carter comments

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Republican presidential candidate and Southern Baptist minister Mike Huckabee said Tuesday he will skip a Baptist conference organized by Jimmy Carter after the former president called the Bush administration the "worst in history" in international relations.

The former Arkansas governor said he would not participate in the Baptist Covenant Program Celebration in Atlanta in January, scheduled to feature Carter and former President Clinton.

"Withdrawing from the gathering is one of the few ways that I can show my disappointment in the comments that were made this weekend," Huckabee said in a statement.

Huckabee criticized Carter for a statement he made to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for a Saturday story in which he said: "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history."

That comment, Huckabee said, "violated an unspoken code that you don't make personal attacks on others who currently hold the job. You just don't."

Huckabee also criticized the roster of speakers for the conference, which will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, as too political.

Organizers said Huckabee had not yet told them about his decision to pull out from the conference.

"It's not a political agenda," said Larry Brumley, an aide to the event's co-founder, Mercer University President Bill Underwood. "We do have obviously some people on the program who are current and formerly elected officials, but the New Baptist Covenant celebration is a nonpartisan, issue-centered event."

Carter, a Baptist, said Monday that when he made the comment, he was responding to a question comparing the Bush administration's foreign policy to that of Richard Nixon.

The White House has dismissed Carter as "increasingly irrelevant."

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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) _ Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Tuesday that he will consider a run for the Republican presidential nomination if a candidate hasn't stepped up to dominate the current field of contenders by this fall.

Gingrich said the race has not produced a clear leader and instead has left the party divided.

"If ... you still have a very fragmented field and there is room for a citizen candidate with very clear solutions and very bold solutions, then I would seriously consider running," Gingrich said.

Gingrich was attending book signings in Council Bluffs and suburban Des Moines for his latest historical book _ this one about World War II. He also spoke to the Iowa Federation of Republican Women and met with reporters.

He said he has been disappointed in the current campaign and is keeping open the option that he will enter the race.

The former congressman from Georgia has traveled heavily in key early states, such as Iowa and New Hampshire, touting his ideas and saying the current crop of candidates isn't dealing with the issues that should be part of the debate.

Gingrich said he planned to hold workshops in each of Iowa's 99 counties and to attend the GOP straw poll in Ames in August, though he won't actively campaign for support.

Unlike higher profile Republicans, Gingrich has not recruited a campaign staff and signed up supporters in Iowa.

Former Iowa Republican Chairman Michael Mahaffey said Gingrich will likely seek attention through the summer, but will eventually shy away from the race.

"At the end of the day, I think he doesn't run," Mahaffey said.

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WASHINGTON (AP) _ Presidential candidate John Edwards plans to begin airing television commercials in Oregon this week, tapping anti-war sentiment in liberal enclaves that could boost his fundraising and engage core Democratic voters.

The ads, focused on Iraq, are expected to run in heavily Democratic Eugene, Oregon's third largest city, and on local cable stations. The purchase of television time for the ad costs about $20,000, according to a rival campaign. That's a small amount designed to generate media attention and motivate political activists.

Edwards' spokesman Eric Schultz would not comment on the ads.

Strategists outside the campaign saw the hand of Joe Trippi at work in an effort to replicate tactics the Democratic operative used while working on Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2003. Trippi is now advising the Edwards campaign.

The Edwards campaign has been running some television commercials in Iowa and New Hampshire, more traditional venues for ads because they are early encounters in the presidential nominating contests. Edwards has also been running the ads on his Web site and inviting supporters to enhance them with their own video messages.

He also ran an ad in Washington, D.C., earlier this month demanding that Congress stand up to President Bush's veto of a withdrawal timetable for Iraq. Edwards has been trying to distinguish himself as the main anti-war voice among the leading Democratic candidates.

Oregon has added significance because it is among a number of states considering moving their presidential primaries up to Feb. 5.

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WASHINGTON (AP) _ AARP and other organizations pressed the presidential candidates on health care Tuesday with rallies in early primary states.

In Iowa and New Hampshire, advocates were bused to campaign offices to deliver a set of health care principles. In Nevada and South Carolina, volunteers trained for raising the issue at candidate forums and other events.

"Our national health care crisis cannot be solved with rhetoric _ the time for action is now, and with this alliance working together, we can begin to solve this crisis," said Bill Novelli, CEO of the AARP.

Other groups involved in the effort are the Alzheimer's Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association.

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WASHINGTON (AP) _ Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback says North America should end its reliance on foreign oil in the next 15 years.

In a speech Tuesday to the Set America Free Coalition in Washington, Brownback said the country needs to boost the supply of domestic oil with tax incentives, better drilling technology and drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Canadian Oil Sands in northern Alberta.

"For too long our foreign policy has been dictated, in part, by our need for foreign oil," said Brownback, a senator from Kansas. "It is in the interest of America's security for us to look at ways of lessening our dependence on foreign oil."

Brownback also wants increased production of renewable fuels such as corn-based ethanol, and he wants to explore coal-to-liquid fuel. And he seeks to reduce the country's oil demand with tax credits and other incentives to get people to drive plug-in hybrid cars.

Brownback's campaign said he would propose specifics later in the year.

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Associated Press writers Mike Glover in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Jim Kuhnhenn and Libby Quaid in Washington contributed to this report.