Election Watch

Obama, McCain spar over immigration

07.07.08 -- 5:55 AM

By John Whitesides and Jeff Mason - Reuters

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain courted Hispanic support on Saturday, and Obama accused his White House rival of backing away from comprehensive U.S. immigration reform under pressure from his party.

In separate appearances before a group of Latino public officials, the two presidential contenders portrayed themselves as dedicated champions for Hispanics -- a fast-growing and critical swing voting bloc in November's election.

Obama took aim at McCain's approach to comprehensive immigration reform and his change of emphasis on legislation to offer a pathway to citizenship for the country's 12 million illegal immigrants.

McCain aide takes over day-to-day campaign duties

07.03.08 -- 6:52 AM

By LIZ SIDOTI - AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain put a top adviser in control of day-to-day campaign operations Wednesday after weeks of private concerns among Republicans that the GOP presidential campaign had not made the transition for the general election.

Steve Schmidt, a veteran of President Bush's re-election and a member of the Arizona senator's inner circle, will oversee daily political, strategy, coalitions, scheduling and communications efforts from the campaign's northern Virginia headquarters.

The campaign's estimated 300-person staff will report to Schmidt, who will report to campaign manager Rick Davis.

Davis will continue to focus on long-term planning, the vice presidential search, fundraising and the national convention but Schmidt's added responsibilities mean the campaign manager's load now will be somewhat lighter. Davis took the reins of the campaign almost exactly a year ago amid a major staff shake-up and has been the subject of Democratic criticism for his past lobbying work.

Republicans recycle Clinton's Obama barbs

06.24.08 -- 6:20 AM

By AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Hoping to spoil this week's political embrace of erstwhile foes Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Republicans are picking at festering wounds from the Democratic White House primary battle.

Presumptive nominee Obama and his vanquished foe will make a choreographed effort to repair party fractures at a fundraiser in Washington Thursday and, in an event rich with symbolism, in the town of Unity, New Hampshire, on Friday.

But backers of Republican candidate John McCain see the reconciliation offensive as a chance to detonate unspent political ammunition from Clinton's attacks that still litter the campaign trail.

Hagel says he'd consider VP offer from Obama

06.22.08 -- 7:33 AM

By ANNA JO BRATTON - AP

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said Friday he would consider serving as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's running mate if asked, but he doesn't expect to be on any ticket.

Hagel's vocal criticism of the Bush administration since the 2003 invasion of Iraq has touched off speculation that if Obama were to pick a Republican running mate, it might be Hagel. Hagel said in an interview with The Associated Press that after devoting much of his life to his country - in the Senate and the U.S. Army - he would have to consider any offer.

"If it would occur, I would have to think about it," Hagel said. "I think anybody, anybody would have to consider it. Doesn't mean you'd do it, doesn't mean you'd accept it, could be too many gaps there, but you'd have to consider it, I mean, it's the only thing you could do. Why wouldn't you?"

Adviser denies Obama showed naiveté on Jerusalem

06.18.08 -- 6:08 AM

By Claudia Parsons - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama misused a "code word" in Middle East politics when he said Jerusalem should be Israel's "undivided" capital but that does not mean he is naive on foreign policy, a top adviser said on Tuesday.

Addressing a pro-Israel lobby group this month, the Democratic White House hopeful said: "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided."

The comment angered Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as the capital of a future state. "He has closed all doors to peace," Saeb Erekat, an aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said after the June 4 speech.

Women voters lining up behind Obama

06.16.08 -- 6:22 AM

By Michael Finnegan - Los Angeles Times

Marilyn Authenreith, a mother of two in North Carolina, felt strongly about supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary.

But once the former first lady quit the race, Authenreith switched allegiance to Barack Obama, mainly because she thinks that he -- unlike Republican John McCain -- will push for universal healthcare.

"I can't understand the thinking of how someone would jump from Hillary to McCain," she said. "It doesn't make any sense."

Now that the Democratic marathon is over, Clinton supporters like Authenreith are siding heavily with Obama over McCain, polls show. And Obama has taken a wide lead among female voters, belying months of political chatter and polls of primary voters suggesting that disappointment over Clinton's defeat might block the Illinois senator from enjoying his party's historic edge among women.

Obama launches Web site to fight rumors

06.13.08 -- 6:18 AM

By Andy Sullivan - Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has launched a Web site to dispel rumors about his faith and patriotism and his wife's views on race that have dogged his candidacy for more than a year.

The Web site, at www.fightthesmears.com, offers detailed responses to several rumors that have continued to circulate online and in conservative news outlets despite efforts to knock them down, and encourages supporters to e-mail those responses to others.

The Web site says the Illinois senator's wife, Michelle, who like her husband is black, has never used the racially divisive term "whitey," as some blogs and conservative commentators have said.

Clinton wins most West Virginia delegates

05.14.08 -- 12:13 PM

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER - AP

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won most of the delegates in West Virginia's Democratic primary Tuesday.

Clinton added 20 delegates and Sen. Barack Obama won eight, according to an analysis of election returns by The Associated Press. All of West Virginia's delegates have been allocated.

Tuesday's primary left Obama with a 166.5-delegate lead in the race for the Democratic nomination. He has 1,883.5 delegates, including endorsements from party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton has 1,717, according to the latest AP tally.

The number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination increased by one Tuesday, to 2,026, with the election of Democrat Travis Childers to fill a vacant U.S. House seat in Mississippi. That increases the number of superdelegates to 797 and the overall number of delegates to 4,050.

Obama defends his patriotism, quarrels with McCain

05.13.08 -- 10:28 AM

By CHARLES BABINGTON and MATT APUZZO - AP

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Wearing a flag lapel pin, Sen. Barack Obama emphasized his patriotism and support for a strong and humane military Monday, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton implored West Virginians to sustain her hopes of somehow denying him the Democratic presidential nomination.

Obama expects Clinton to win Tuesday's primary in West Virginia, which has large numbers of working-class whites - a group that usually backs the former first lady - as well as a strong military tradition. He used his visit to Charleston to combat critics' claims that he is not particularly patriotic or ready to be commander in chief, in part because he never served in the military, usually does not wear a flag pin, and opposed the Iraq war from the start.

Obama broke from his usual practice by wearing the flag pin and reading his speech instead of talking without notes. He told several thousand people at the Charleston Civic Center that patriotism means more than saluting flags and holding parades. He criticized Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain for opposing a Democratic bill to expand education benefits for veterans.

"At a time when we're facing the largest homecoming since the Second World War," Obama said of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, "the true test of our patriotism is whether we will serve our returning heroes as well as they've served us."

Democrats favored in electoral map

04.26.08 -- 1:44 PM

By Liz Sidoti - AP

The electoral road to the White House favors Democrats this fall - either Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton - and has Republican John McCain playing defense to thwart a presidential power shift.

A downtrodden economy, the war in Iraq and a public call for change have created an Electoral College outlook and a political environment filled with extraordinary opportunity for the Democrats and enormous challenge for the GOP nominee-in-waiting.

Both parties count on victory in dozens of states that long have voted their way. The competition to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to win is expected to play out primarily in 14 states. All but one saw the greatest action in 2004. The exception is Virginia, a longtime Republican stronghold where Democrats have made inroads.

Eight of the states went for President Bush four years ago, including the crown jewels Ohio and Florida. Six, including big-prize Pennsylvania, voted for Democrat John Kerry. In the battlegrounds, far more electoral votes, 97, are up for grabs for Democrats than the 69 available for McCain to go after. Twice as many of the closest states - decided by 2 or fewer percentage points - voted Republican in 2004; they include New Mexico and Iowa, which the GOP won by 1 point.

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