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Obama, Clinton Teams Trade Barbs

03.16.08 -- 7:30 PM

By Tom Raum - AP

Strategists for the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton exchanged calculated barbs Sunday over accountability and ethics and who is engaging in personal attacks.

Obama communications director Robert Gibbs called on Clinton to release full post-White House tax returns; disclose all congressional "earmarks," or pet projects she had inserted into spending bills; and release all documents on the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Library, including a list of donors.

"What is lurking in those documents?" Gibbs asked as the two campaigns had dueling phone conference calls with reporters. "There are gaps that need to be filled," said senior Obama strategist David Axelrod.

Clinton Disagrees With Ferraro on Obama

03.11.08 -- 6:16 PM

By PETER JACKSON - AP

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she disagrees with Geraldine Ferraro, one of her fundraisers and the 1984 Democratic vice presidential candidate, for saying that Barack Obama "would not be in this position" if he were white instead of black.

In a brief interview with The Associated Press, Clinton said she regretted Ferraro's remarks. The Obama campaign has called on the New York senator to denounce the comments and remove Ferraro from her unpaid position with the campaign.

Last week, Ferraro told the Daily Breeze of Torrance, Calif.: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."

McCain Declares Himself Cancer-Free

03.10.08 -- 5:19 PM

By Glen Johnson - AP

ohn McCain declared Monday he has been cancer-free since a bout with skin cancer 7 1/2 years ago, although the pending Republican presidential nominee underwent a full medical examination - including a cancer screening - earlier in the day.

The Arizona senator pledged to release the test results before the end of April, the same timeframe for releasing his income tax returns.

McCain cast the doctor's visit as a routine part of his medical regimen, but the 71-year-old senator has faced questions about whether he is beyond the risk of a recurrence of cancer.

Kucinich Faces Fight in Ohio District

03.03.08 -- 6:43 AM

By THOMAS J. SHEERAN - AP

Two failed White House campaigns have left Dennis Kucinich fighting for his political life against the toughest, best-financed challenge in his 12-year congressional career.

City Councilman Joe Cimperman, once a Kucinich admirer, has raised nearly $500,000 and landed high-profile endorsements from the mayor and the city's daily newspaper in a feisty campaign heading into Tuesday's Democratic primary.

"Mr. Kucinich is not a congressman, he's a showman," said Cimperman, 37, who has belittled Kucinich's Hollywood ties and criticized congressional votes Kucinich missed during his presidential campaigns.

Kucinich, 61, a liberal with a political resume stretching over four decades, sensed early that the Cimperman challenge was real. He abandoned his presidential campaign on Jan. 25, months earlier in the race than he did in 2004 when he also was polling in low one-digit numbers.

Bloomberg: I'm Not Running for President

02.28.08 -- 10:27 AM

By SARA KUGLER - AP

NEW YORK (AP) - Mayor Michael Bloomberg has squashed the notion of running for president this year, declaring that he will not seek the White House but might put his support behind another candidate who embraces bipartisan governing.

Apparently ending a dance of presidential speculation that began more than two years ago, the 66-year-old billionaire businessman said in an op-ed piece in Thursday's New York Times that he will not launch his own bid but will work to "steer the national conversation away from partisanship and toward unity; away from ideology and toward common sense; away from sound bites and toward substance."

"I listened carefully to those who encouraged me to run, but I am not - and will not be - a candidate for president," he wrote. "I have watched this campaign unfold, and I am hopeful that the current campaigns can rise to the challenge by offering truly independent leadership."

Clinton stumbles over new Russian leader's name

02.27.08 -- 6:58 AM

By Jeff Mason - Reuters

U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, who has argued she would be stronger on foreign policy than rival Barack Obama, stumbled over the name of the likely new Russian president on Tuesday while predicting he would not be an independent leader.

When asked at a debate whether she knew the name of the certain successor to President Vladimir Putin -- Dmitry Medvedev -- Clinton struggled to get it out.

"Medvedev -- whatever," she finally said.

Clinton to Donors: I'm Not Yet Dead

02.25.08 -- 9:29 AM

By BETH FOUHY - AP

Attempting to reassure anxious donors, Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday outlined a road map she said she will follow to beat Barack Obama in the Ohio and Texas primaries March 4.

Clinton insisted that her campaign is on track and moving forward, despite losing 11 contests to Obama since Feb. 5.

"I am very optimistic and extremely positive about what we're doing as we go forward in these states," Clinton said of Ohio and Texas, two delegate-rich states on which she has pinned the future of her candidacy.

Conservatives Say Obama Lacks Patriotism

02.24.08 -- 7:23 AM

By Nedra Pickler - AP

Sen. Barack Obama's refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism.

Now Obama's wife, Michelle, has drawn their ire, too, for saying recently that she's really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life.

Conservative consultants say that combined, the cases could be an issue for Obama in the general election if he wins the nomination, especially as he runs against Vietnam war hero Sen. John McCain.

Clinton Faces Daunting Delegate Deficit

02.21.08 -- 5:33 AM

By David Espo - AP

Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton must win 57 percent of the remaining primary and caucus delegates to erase Barack Obama's lead, a daunting task requiring landslide-sized victories by a struggling presidential candidate.

Obama's victories in Wisconsin and Hawaii on Tuesday - his ninth and 10th in a row - left him with 1,178 pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses in The Associated Press' count. Clinton has 1,024.

Another 1,025 remain to be awarded, most of them in contests in 14 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. It takes 2,025 to win the nomination.

Further complicating Clinton's challenge, Obama appears particularly well-positioned to win at least one of the remaining states with ease. Mississippi, with a primary on March 11, fits a pattern of Southern states with large black populations that he has won handily, including South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.

Clinton Looks to Ohio, Texas to Save Campaign

02.20.08 -- 2:21 AM

By Beth Fouhy - Associated Press

Texas and Ohio: Two states, two debates, one chance for Hillary Rodham Clinton to save her moribund candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The former first lady suffered another bruising night Tuesday, badly losing the Wisconsin primary and the Hawaii caucuses to Barack Obama. The Illinois senator has now crushed Clinton in 10 straight contests, amassing a growing delegate lead and building support among women and white working class voters who have long formed the core of Clinton's candidacy.

Clinton aides have tried gamely for weeks to downplay her chances in Wisconsin and shift focus to Ohio and Texas, two large, delegate-rich states holding primaries March 4. Texas offers a large population of Hispanic voters who have so far rallied to her candidacy, while Ohio is home to millions of blue collar Democrats her strategists believe are receptive to her populist economic pitch.

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