 In response to the Edwards's remarks, President Bush's homeland security adviser called them "irresponsible, ... offensive and outrageous".On September 1, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama joined Senator Edwards to stop campaigning in Michigan and Florida, two states that haf bucked their party's nomination schedule.On January 3, 2008, in the Iowa Caucuses, the first contest of the nomination process, Edwards placed second with 29.75 percent of the vote to Obama (37.58 percent), with Clinton coming in third with 29.47 percent of the vote.