News

Pitched Contest for Pa. Youth Vote

04.06.08 -- 2:24 PM

By Kimberly Hefling - AP

Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are hustling for the youth vote in Pennsylvania as if they've never heard this is a state where the old hold sway.

Campuses in the cities and mountainsides are alive with political activism, stirred most notably by Obama in student registration drives aimed at replicating his success with young voters dating to the Iowa caucus in January.

How motivated are his youthful supporters? So motivated that Alyssa Beasley, 20, endured an encounter with the DMV so she could switch her driver's license from New Jersey and register to vote at the same time.

And how high are their expectations? In Beasley's case, very.

Deal on Mich., Fla. Unlikely Before June

04.06.08 -- 1:44 PM

By Darlene Superville - AP

A deal to allow delegates from Florida and Michigan to participate at the Democratic National Convention is unlikely before summer, party chief Howard Dean said Sunday.

Dean said that was partly because presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama want to focus on the coming round of contests. Next on the schedule are Pennsylvania on April 22 and Indiana and North Carolina on May 6, followed by several other states and U.S. territories. Voting ends June 3.

But he continued to express confidence that an agreement would be reached to seat delegates from both states.

Poll: Obama would be tougher candidate against McCain

03.31.08 -- 9:58 PM

By CNN - Emily Sherman

A new poll finds a majority of Republicans and Democrats feel Sen. Barack Obama would be a tougher candidate against the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in a potential fall match-up.

In a Gallup poll released Monday, 59 percent of Democratic voters believe Obama has the best chance at beating John McCain. Thirty percent said Clinton was more likely to win a matchup with the Arizona senator.

Republicans surveyed say Clinton would be the easiest to beat: 64 percent said Clinton would make a weaker fall opponent for McCain, while just 22 percent said Obama.

Michigan Delegate Compromise Offered

03.31.08 -- 5:44 PM

By Ken Thomas - AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Michigan congressman proposed an alternate plan Monday for seating the state's delegates at the Democratic National Convention, awarding delegates based partly on Michigan's Jan. 15 primary results and partly on the popular vote in all the nation's presidential primaries.

Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., in a letter to DNC Chairman Howard Dean, proposed that Michigan's 83 pledged delegates be chosen at congressional district conventions according to the results of the state's primary.

The party stripped both Michigan and Florida of their national convention delegates because they moved their primaries to January dates that were earlier than party rules allowed.

Obama Wins Most Texas Delegates

03.31.08 -- 5:26 PM

By Associated Press

Sen. Barack Obama has won the overall delegate race in Texas thanks to a strong showing in Democratic county conventions this past weekend.

Obama picked up seven of nine outstanding delegates, giving him a total of 99 Texas delegates to the party's national convention this summer. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the other two, giving her a total of 94 Texas delegates, according to an analysis of returns by The Associated Press.

Texas Democrats held both a presidential primary and caucus. Clinton narrowly won the popular vote in the state's primary March 4, earning her 65 national convention delegates to Obama's 61.

Dem Chairman Dean wants party contest decided by July 1

03.28.08 -- 6:02 PM

By David Morgan - Reuters

The Democratic Party chairman said on Friday he hopes the increasingly contentious rivalry between presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton can be decided by July 1 to avoid a fight at the party's convention.

Howard Dean, former Vermont governor and a presidential candidate in 2004, urged the two candidates to focus on the November general election battle against Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the likely Republican presidential nominee.

"I think it would be nice to have this all done by July 1," Dean said on ABC's "Good Morning America" program. "If we can do it sooner than that, that's all the better.

Obama Suggests Ex-Pastor Is Contrite

03.28.08 -- 5:47 PM

By Charles Babington - AP

Democrat Barack Obama seemed to suggest in an interview aired Friday that his former pastor has acknowledged that his controversial remarks were inappropriate and hurtful, although there are no public accounts of the minister having done so.

Obama discussed his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright on ABC's "The View," which was taped Thursday and aired Friday.

"Had the reverend not retired and had he not acknowledged that what he had said had deeply offended people and were inappropriate and mischaracterized what I believe is the greatness of this country, for all its flaws, then I wouldn't have felt comfortable staying there at the church," Obama said.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the senator's remarks did not imply that Wright has expressed misgivings about his statements.

Race is On to Define McCain

03.28.08 -- 5:31 PM

By Liz Sidoti - AP

The race is on to define John McCain.

The likely Republican nominee launched his first television ad of the general election campaign Friday, casting himself as a ready-to-lead wartime president in advance of a biographical tour to pivotal places in his life. Son of a military man, midshipman, Navy pilot, Vietnam POW, member of Congress for nearly three decades - this is the resume of the 71-year-old McCain.

"In some ways, I'm well-known to the American people. In other ways, I'm not well-known," McCain told The Associated Press on Friday.

The Democratic Party - still lacking a nominee - and its supporters offer a starkly different portrait. In their view, McCain is a Washington insider, backer of an unpopular war in Iraq, hair-trigger quick on Iran and indifferent on the economic woes of average Americans. They cast McCain as four more years of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Obama's Rough Patch Could've Been Worse

03.24.08 -- 6:57 AM

By MATT APUZZO - AP

Barack Obama refers to the past couple of weeks as a tough, turbulent stretch.

And why not?

His foreign policy adviser quit for calling Democratic presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton a "monster." Then he had to distance himself from his longtime pastor's fiery statements, a controversy that threatened his image as a uniter. He trails in polls in the upcoming Pennsylvania primary. Obama also watched his lead wither in national opinion surveys.

"There's no doubt we had a turbulent couple of weeks but we've had turbulent weeks in the past," Obama told reporters Friday. "... It's not going to be a smooth straight line. There's times when the campaign is going well and there's times the campaign is not going well."

Obama Sees Post-Wright Controversy Poll Edge Over Clinton

03.22.08 -- 2:51 PM

By Gallup

Barack Obama has quickly made up the deficit he faced with Hillary Clinton earlier this week, with the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on Democratic presidential nomination preferences showing 48% of Democratic voters favoring Obama and 45% Clinton.

Obama's campaign clearly suffered in recent days from negative press, mostly centering around his association with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Perhaps as a result, Clinton moved into the lead in Gallup's Wednesday release, covering March 16-18 polling.

But Obama has now edged back ahead of Clinton due to a strong showing for him in Friday night's polling, perhaps in response to the endorsement he received from well-respected New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former rival for the nomination.