Today's Top News

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.

Clinton Defends Husband on Racial Issues

02.24.08 -- 7:37 AM

By BETH FOUHY - AP

Hillary Rodham Clinton strongly defended her husband's record on civil rights Saturday at a forum in which she acknowledged "painful moments" in a presidential contest pitting the first woman candidate against a pioneering black contender.

At the annual State of the Black Union conference hosted by PBS's Tavis Smiley, Clinton pushed back hard on the notion that Bill Clinton had inflamed racial tensions while campaigning for her in the run-up to South Carolina's primary last month.

The former president - once so popular among black voters he was dubbed the first black president by novelist Toni Morrison - harshly criticized Barack Obama in South Carolina, producing a backlash among blacks that helped lead to his wife's crushing defeat there.

After that primary, the former president angered many by suggesting Obama had won the state simply because he was a black candidate campaigning in a state with a large number of black voters. Since then, Clinton has badly lost the black vote to Obama in every primary or caucus - including Louisiana's earlier this month.

In Texas, Clinton has history and Obama has buzz

02.24.08 -- 7:32 AM

By Claudia Parsons - Reuters

Hillary Clinton likes to remind Texans that she first came here to ask for their votes in 1972 as a young Democratic campaign worker.

"She's got history in Texas," said Doug Hattaway, a Clinton adviser who worked on Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000.

But her rival, Barack Obama, has more recent history on his side -- 10 straight wins in state votes that have turned him from underdog into the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to run for the White House in November's election.

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.

Exit polls: McCain still has conservative troubles

02.20.08 -- 2:54 AM

By CNN

John McCain still has trouble with GOP voters who consider themselves "very conservative," but his strength among moderates and those who say they are only "somewhat conservative" made up for the deficit among the more orthodox in Tuesday's GOP primary in Wisconsin, exit polls showed.

McCain voters were also slightly more concerned about the war in Iraq than the economy, which was otherwise the top issue on the minds of Wisconsin Republican voters.

McCain will handily win the primary, CNN projects, with more than 50 percent of the vote, according to the exit polls. CNN also projects that McCain will win the Washington state GOP primary, based on early results that showed him with a commanding lead.

Nearly half of the voters who said they were very conservative cast their ballots for McCain's chief rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. But McCain voters made up 38 percent of that number -- and 55 percent of the somewhat conservative Republicans went for McCain while 70 percent of the moderates followed suit.

Evangelical voters still flocked to Huckabee, a one-time Baptist minister.

Obama Cautions Road Ahead Is Still Tough

02.20.08 -- 2:36 AM

By Nedra Pickler - AP

Barack Obama welcomed his latest Democratic presidential primary triumph with a caution to exultant supporters Tuesday that they've all got "months and miles" to go and it won't be easy.

Obama addressed a boisterous rally in Houston on Tuesday night after defeating Hillary Rodham Clinton in Wisconsin for his ninth straight win. He looked for another boost later in the night in Hawaii, the state of his birth.

Obama almost literally stole the spotlight from his rival, beginning his speech before she had finished hers in Ohio. Cable networks cut away from her to the man now clearly the front-runner.

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.

McCain Still Short of Nomination

02.19.08 -- 7:41 AM

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER - AP

Not so fast, Sen. McCain. John McCain's campaign issued a statement last week claiming the Arizona senator had surpassed the number of delegates needed to secure the GOP nomination for president, after Mitt Romney endorsed him.

John McCain sure looks like he has the nomination all but wrapped up. But he isn't there yet, and here's why:

It will take 1,191 delegates to secure the Republican nomination at the national convention this summer.

Clinton and Obama Square Off in Wisconsin

02.19.08 -- 7:18 AM

By John Whitesides - Reuters

Democrats in Wisconsin and Hawaii make their choices on Tuesday in a heated presidential battle, with Hillary Clinton hoping to snap Barack Obama's winning streak ahead of big contests in March.

The pair's hard-fought nominating duel featured a sharp exchange on Monday over Obama's uncredited use of a political ally's speech lines, the latest in a series of sometimes harsh charges between the two White House contenders.

Public opinion polls show Obama and Clinton in a tight race in Wisconsin, where Obama aims to extend his string of eight straight victories in Democratic nominating contests. Obama, a Hawaii native, is a heavy favorite in that state.

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