There are fewer than two weeks to go until the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, with Christmas and New Years in between, so perhaps it's time for a lighter look at the candidates for the presidency.

Since the spring, The Associated Press has been exploring the tastes, traits and backgrounds of the Democrats and Republicans running for their party's 2008 presidential nomination. AP asked them about their ideal jobs and their worst gigs, their hidden talents and their treasured possessions, to find out more about their personal side.

Deviating from their diets and drinking too much coffee and soda are among the worst habits that the candidates would own up to. Mitt Romney said his worst habit is an inability to sit still. Mike Huckabee can't settle on a television or radio station. Barack Obama can't give his BlackBerry a rest.

They spoke of their tastes in music -- opera, Orbison and goth rock winning favor -- and the can't-miss reality TV that they scarcely have time to see these days. John McCain revealed himself as the king of pets, owning 22 at last count, more than half of them saltwater fish.

Here are highlights from the personal side of Democrats Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson; and Republicans, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson. Thompson did not answer all questions because some were asked before he became a candidate.

Alternate Career Choice - Democrats

• Clinton: "Continue to work for causes and issues I care about, in a setting like a university or foundation."
• Edwards: Mill supervisor
• Obama: Architect.
• Richardson: Center field, New York Yankees.

Alternate Career Choice - Republicans

• Giuliani: Sports announcer.
• Huckabee: Bass guitar player for a touring rock band.
• McCain: Foreign service.
• Romney: Auto company chief executive.

Favorite Food To Cook - Democrats

• Clinton: "I'm a lousy cook, but I make pretty good soft scrambled eggs."
• Edwards: Hamburgers.
• Obama: Chili.
• Richardson: Diet milkshake.

Favorite Food To Cook - Republicans

• Giuliani: Hamburgers or steak on the grill.
• Huckabee: Ribeye steak on the grill.
• McCain: Baby-back ribs.
• Romney: Hot dog.

Favorite Reality TV Program - Democrats

• Clinton: "American Idol."
• Edwards: College basketball.
• Obama: "Other than the U.S. Senate on C-SPAN? I don't watch them too often."
• Richardson: "Fox News."

Favorite Reality TV Program - Republicans

• Giuliani: Baseball.
• Huckabee: "Nashville Star," USA Network's country music competition.
• McCain: Arizona Diamondbacks baseball.
• Romney: American Idol."

Favorite Fitness Activity - Democrats

• Clinton: Speed walking.
• Edwards: Running.
• Obama: Basketball.
• Richardson: Horseback riding and tennis.

Favorite Fitness Activity - Republicans

• Giuliani: Golf.
• Huckabee: Running.
• McCain: Hiking.
• Romney: Jogging.

Worst Work Habits - Democrats

• Clinton: Chocolate.
• Edwards: "Drinking soda."
• Obama: "Checking my Blackberry."
• Richardson: "Straying from my diet."

Worst Work Habits - Republicans

• Giuliani: "Talking too much."
• Huckabee: "Channel surfing on TV or radio."
• McCain: "Coffee."
• Romney: "Fidgeting."

"Sleeping In" Time - Democrats

• Clinton: "I feel lucky when I can sleep until 7 a.m."
• Edwards: 7 a.m.
• Obama: 8 a.m.
• Richardson: 7 a.m.

"Sleeping In" Time - Republicans

• Giuliani: 8 a.m.
• Huckabee: "Five a.m. is late for me. Most days I am up no later than 4:30 a.m."
• McCain: 8 a.m.
• Romney: 7 a.m.

Hidden Talent - Democrats

• Clinton: "I love crossword puzzles."
• Edwards: "Jump shot."
• Obama: "I'm a pretty good poker player."
• Richardson: "Boxing trivia."

Hidden Talent - Republicans

• Giuliani: "Listening."
• Huckabee: "Voice impersonations of dozens of celebrities."
• McCain: "Barbecue grill chef."
• Romney: "Singing."

Recent Music Purchase - Democrats

• Clinton: Carly Simon's "Into White."
• Edwards: U2.
• Obama: "The latest music purchase would probably be 'Ray' - the soundtrack from the Ray Charles movie."
• Richardson: George Strait, "50 Number Ones."

Recent Music Purchase - Republicans

• Giuliani: Verdi's "Macbeth."
• Huckabee: Evanescence, the goth rock group from Little Rock, Ark.
• McCain: Likes "Sounds Of Summer - The Very Best Of The Beach Boys."
• Romney: "Selection of Roy Orbison songs from iTunes."

Home Task That Needs Tending - Democrats

• Clinton: "Organizing my closets."
• Edwards: "Clearing paths in the woods."
• Obama: "Too numerous to list."
• Richardson: "Taking out the garbage at the mansion."

Home Task That Needs Tending - Republicans

• Giuliani: "Cleaning the fireplace."
• Huckabee: "Cleaning garage."
• McCain: "Grilling."
• Romney: "Clean the gutters."

Recent Work Of Fiction Read - Democrats

• Clinton: "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin (It's actually a work of nonfiction).
• Edwards: "Exile" by Richard North Patterson.
• Obama: "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson.
• Richardson: "The administration's energy plan."

Recent Work Of Fiction Read - Republicans

• Giuliani: "The Beach House" by James Patterson and Peter De Jonge.
• Huckabee: "My oldest son's screenplay."
• McCain: "A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway.
• Romney: "Term Limits" by Vince Flynn.

Pets At Home - Democrats

• Clinton: "Seamus, our Lab."
• Edwards: Golden retriever and chocolate Lab.
• Obama: None.
• Richardson: Cats Jake and Squeaky.

Pets At Home - Republicans

• Giuliani: None.
• Huckabee: Jet the 9-year-old black Lab, Sonic the 1½-year-old Shih Tzu.
• McCain: Sam the English springer spaniel, Coco the mutt, turtles Cuff and Link, Oreo the black and white cat, a ferret, three parakeets and 13 saltwater fish.
• Romney: Family recently lost Marley, a Weimaraner.

Best And Worst Grades - Democrats

• Clinton: "I always loved history and got good grades, but I never did well at math."
• Edwards: Best, English; worst, chemistry.
• Obama: Graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law; D in 8th grade French.
• Richardson: A in spelling; F in music.

Best And Worst Grades - Republicans

• Giuliani: Best, constitutional law and contracts in law school. Worst, tax in law school.
• Huckabee: A+ (100 percent average) in debate; C in 9th Grade algebra.
• McCain: "I never got good grade."
• Romney: A to F. "Fortunately, I got more A's than F's."

Shunned Foods - Democrats

• Clinton: "I like nearly everything. "I don't like, you know, things that are still alive."
• Edwards: "I can't stand mushrooms. I don't want them on anything that I eat. And I have had to eat them because you get food served and it's sitting there and you're starving, so you eat."
• Obama: "Beets, and I always avoid eating them."
• Richardson: Mushrooms, specifically. "I'm not a big vegetable eater." Recalling the first President Bush's distaste for broccoli, he said: "I sympathize with that fully."

Shunned Foods - Republicans

• Giuliani: Liver.
• Huckabee: "Carrots. I just don't like carrots. I banned them from the governor's mansion when I was governor of Arkansas because I could."
• McCain: "I eat almost everything. Sometimes I don't do too well with vegetables."
• Romney: "Eggplant, in any shape or form. And I've always been able to avoid it."
• Thompson: "Not much. I've tried to do better about that. I jokingly say that we kind of have a diet around our house that if it tastes good, you don't eat it. I haven't quite got there yet. There's not much that I turn down. That's a good thing on the campaign trail because you get quite a variety."

Worst Job - Democrats

• Clinton: "Sliming fish in a fish cannery in Valdez, Alaska."
• Edwards: Textile mill. "I cleaned out overhead in the weave room, which is where all the crap goes. And I'd be up there climbing around, knocking the stuff down. And it would go down on the looms. The weavers would be, uh, not happy with me for that."
• Obama: Scooping ice cream at a Baskin-Robbins and eating too much of it.
• Richardson: Landscaping, while playing baseball on Cape Cod in 1967. "The pay was terrible. I remember it was backbreaking work."

Worst Job - Republicans

• Huckabee: "Washing windows at JCPenney's and stocking shelves when I was 14 years old. ... It was a great job and it was a great company but they worked me hard. Just as I'd get all the fingerprints wiped off the door, somebody would come and they'd put their hands all over the glass. To this day, I'm still very sensitive about never touching the glass, but touching the handles because I had to wipe those windows so many times."
• McCain: "I've never really had a bad job."
• Romney: "Worst job was probably spending about a week sawing a sewer pipe at the ranch in Idaho I worked at. And getting down in the sewer and sawing through a sewer pipe that still had active sewage occasionally passing through it."
• Thompson: "I've worked in a factory, I was a bouncer at my uncle's drag strip, I worked at the post office, I sold children's shoes, I sold ladies', I sold men's clothing, I was a night clerk at a motel. I can't think of a job that I had that I wasn't thankful for at the time."
• Giuliani: Declined to answer.

First Cars - Democrats

• Clinton : A 1963 Oldsmobile Cutlass with a battery she kept in her law-school dorm on cold nights so the car would start when she needed it. (Now: A Ford hybrid, and Secret Service vehicles as former first lady)
• Edwards: Plymouth Duster. (Now: Ford Escape hybrid, 2004 Chrysler Pacifica midsize SUV, 1994 GMC truck.)
• Obama: Grandfather's Ford Granada was the first car he used extensively. (Now: Chrysler 300C, a full-size sport-luxury sedan.)
• Richardson: Secondhand Ford Mustang. (Now: Official state vehicles and "Jeep Wrangler, although my security doesn't like me to drive."

First Cars - Republicans

• Giuliani: A used Dodge. (Now: "I don't drive, I navigate.")
• Huckabee: Mercury Montego. (Now: 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe and 1995 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck)
• McCain: 1958 Corvette. (Now: Cadillac CTS, a midsize luxury sedan)
• Romney: A used 1963 Rambler Classic, which he got in 1965 when he went to college. (His father, then Michigan governor, had helped develop the Rambler as American Motors chief) (Now: 2005 Ford Mustang convertible and 1962 Rambler American.)
• Thompson: Red pickup. Now: Unknown.

Favorite Gadgets - Democrats

• Clinton: iPod
• Edwards: iPod
• Obama: BlackBerry
• Richardson: BlackBerry, "my Crackberry."

Favorite Gadgets - Republicans

• Giuliani: CD player
• Huckabee: "Probably my laptop. Or my bass guitar and amplifier."
• McCain: Razr cell phone and the TV remote
• Romney: BlackBerry
• Thompson: iPod

Misconceptions - Democrats

• Clinton's campaign: "Too many to choose from; she is the most famous person nobody really knows."
• Edwards: "That I have an accent. Actually, the rest of the country does."
• Obama: No answer.
• Richardson: "That politicians are late. I work very hard to be on time."

Misconceptions - Republicans

• Giuliani's campaign: "That he's too serious."
• Huckabee: No answer.
• McCain (grinning): "I think there are many, starting with my good looks, winning personality, the fact that I have never lost my temper. Frankly, I think there's been enough visibility in all these years in public office that Americans have me pretty well figured out, both failings as well as virtues."
• Romney: "It probably relates to the issue you raised the other day that I changed positions on a number of issues. And that is just not an accurate characterization."
• Thompson's campaign: "Really not much of a break dancer."

Prized Possession - Democrats

• Clinton: No answer
• Edwards (laughing): "I hate these questions because they always require more thought than I have time to give them. Prized like long-term or short-term? My running shoes are very important to me."
• Obama: "Photograph in my office of the cliffs of Oahu's South Shore, where my mother's ashes are scattered."
• Richardson: "Baseball signed by Ted Williams."

Prized Possession - Republicans

• Giuliani: "My grandfather's pocket watch."
• Huckabee: "Probably my Tobias bass guitar or maybe, I've got a handmade musket rifle that was made by a guy in Eureka Springs, Ark. I've hunted turkey with it. It's really an amazing firearm. Probably one of those two as far as just real heirlooms."
• McCain: "I have a baseball signed by Ted Williams, my childhood hero, a Marine pilot as well."
• Romney: 1962 Rambler American, which his sons bought for him. "The last year that my dad was president of American Motors and made Ramblers was 1962, so it's a connection with my dad and that era."
• Thompson (tongue in cheek): "Trophy wife."