With more than two years to go before the 2008 presidential elections, the nominal frontrunners for both the Democratic and Republican parties are already in what looks like campaign mode.
Republican senator John McCain was in Ohio yesterday in the middle of a seven-day tour that is taking him to the key primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as critical states such as Florida, Minnesota and Ohio that were closely fought in the 2004 presidential election.
Democratic senator Hillary Clinton was set to deliver a speech to the Chicago Economic Club last night blasting the economic record of President George W. Bush.
While neither has officially declared an intention to run for president, both are increasingly aiming their political messages at respective party bases.
Mr McCain, a Vietnam war hero who has been a harsh critic of the Bush administration over its policies on torture and wasteful defence spending, has made his political reputation as a maverick willing to speak his mind even if it clashes with the Republican political establishment. His political action committee, called Straight Talk America, is named to capitalise on that reputation for independence.
But in recent months Mr McCain has repeatedly praised Mr Bush's leadership, and has brought on two of the president's senior political advisers during the last campaign. He also voted in favour of extending some of Mr Bush's tax cuts, after having been one of only two Republican senators to vote against the $1,135bn (€946bn, £652bn) tax reduction in 2001.
More controversially, he has agreed to deliver the commencement address next month at Liberty University, headed by Reverend Jerry Falwell, the Christian conservative founder of the Moral Majority who has blamed America's "permissive" culture for everything from the breakdown of the family to the September 11 attacks. Religious conservatives are a powerful constituency in the Republican party, and their support is likely to be vital for anyone seeking nomination for president.
In television interviews over the past week, Mr McCain - who once denounced Mr Falwell as an "agent of intolerance" - has insisted he can speak at the university without embracing all of its values. But he told NBC interviewer Tim Russert: "I believe the Christian right has a major role to play in the Republican party."
Ms Clinton, seen as the clear Democrat front-runner, has more quietly assembled a huge staff through her political action committee and has raised a $17m war chest.
While she has carefully built a reputation as a moderate on issues such as abortion and national defence, in recent weeks she has also become increasingly outspoken on issues attractive to the Democrats' liberal base. In an interview with Bloomberg in advance of the speech last night, she said that soaring healthcare costs and growing trade and budget deficits were threatening economic stability.
"The rich are getting richer, everybody else is marching in place," she said. "I don't think that's good for us."
She was also quick to denounce reports that the administration might be considering the use of tactical nuclear weapons to prevent Iran from acquiring a bomb, saying that Mr Bush should take the nuclear option "off the table".
