Holiday wishes test hopefuls’ creativity

Running for the Democratic presidential nomination presents a wide array of thorny issues for the candidates, but few are so fraught with pitfalls as what kind of holiday greeting to send out this time of year.

Even the gruff former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean tap-danced to the tune of nearly every conceivable end-of-the-year holiday in his greeting dispatch.

“Happy holidays to all who are celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa this season, and may each of us have a happy new year,” Mr. Dean, a Congregationalist, said in an e-mail Friday. No word from his campaign on why he excluded Ramadan, celebrated last month by Muslims.

Other candidates avoided listing any of the possible holidays — or any hint of favoritism for any one of them.

Sen. John Edwards, a North Carolina Methodist, mailed out a card bearing a photograph of his entire smiling family.

Inside is printed a conversation between daughter Emma Claire Edwards, 5, and her parents from November.

“What are you doing?” Emma Claire asked.

“Trying to think of the words for the Holiday Card,” replied Mr. Edwards and his wife.

“Words? Like the words Daddy says?”

“Yes. What words do you think we should say to our friends?” they asked.

“Love,” replied Emma Claire, according to the card.

“Okay.”

Still others avoid the whole mess by simply allowing supporters to pick out cards on their campaign Web sites that suit them best.

Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, a Catholic from Ohio, offers 37 different holiday cards on his Web site, although none veer into any explicit reference to religion.

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