Andanh.com

LENGTH: 30 seconds.

AIRING: nationally on cable television.

SCRIPT: Questioner: "President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years "

McCain: "Maybe 100. That would be fine with me."

Speaking in a broadcast interview, Obama also brushed aside a challenge from Hillary Rodham Clinton to debate before the May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. "I'm not ducking. We've had 21" debates, he said.

Trailing in delegates and the popular vote, Clinton has been stepping up the pressure on Obama for more debates before the upcoming primaries, which are crucial to her candidacy. She also has been reaching out to uncommitted Democratic superdelegates in hopes of capitalizing on her Pennsylvania primary victory.

Clinton's Pennsylvania victory was buoyed by support from working-class and white voters, but Obama dismissed the notion Sunday that race will be a factor in the presidential election.

"Is race still a factor in our society? Yes. I don't think anybody would deny that," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

Electoral College road to the White House favors Democrats; McCain playing defense ... Obama says no debates with Clinton between now and Indiana ... President Bush pokes fun at his potential successors at White House correspondents' dinner ...

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Democrats favored in electoral map

WASHINGTON (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.

After a noisy campaign rally, Obama donned sweat pants and a "USMC" shirt for a little action on the courts, with no ordinary companions. His 3-on-3 team included Alison Bales, a member of the WNBA's Indiana Fever.

Blake Hancock, a Marion high schooler was picked to take part in the game because he collected 150 voter registration forms, and he picked some high school friends and they joined Obama for about 15 minutes of half-court hoops.

Obama is noted for using basketball to get his exercise and is said to be a fierce competitor. He kept up with the younger competitors, but at one point joked with medics standing by that they might be needed.

And he proved to be effective, scoring four baskets that included a nifty left-handed three-pointer, along with four rebounds and a couple of steals.

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.

Both sides argue that their candidates can expand the playing field by making more states competitive than in previous elections. But they likely will only spend time and money to test that theory once they feel confident about higher priority states.

The GOP nominee-in-waiting rapped his Democratic rival for opposing his idea to suspend the tax on fuel during the summer, a proposal that McCain believes will particularly help low-income people who usually have older cars that guzzle more gas.

"I noticed again today that Sen. Obama repeated his opposition to giving low-income Americans a tax break, a little bit of relief so they can travel a little further and a little longer, and maybe have a little bit of money left over to enjoy some other things in their lives," McCain said. "Obviously Sen. Obama does not understand that this would be a nice thing for Americans, and the special interests should not be dictating this policy."

The Arizona senator deflected questions about his record on the Bush administration's tax cuts - he initially opposed them but now supports extending them - by again criticizing Obama.

"Sen. Obama wants to raise the capital gains tax, which would have a direct effect on 100 million Americans," McCain said. "That means he has no understanding of the economy and that he is totally insensitive to the hopes and dreams and ambitions of 100 million Americans who will be affected by his almost doubling of the capital gains tax."

The Fischer campaign started airing a 30-second TV ad that questions the management of nursing homes formerly run by Lunsford and Vencor, the Louisville-based company he co-founded. The ad, airing across the state, features an elderly woman, who is a paid actress.

"His business practices are totally unethical," says the woman, whose words are muffled at points during the ad.

Kim Geveden, political director for the Fischer campaign, said in a news release that Lunsford's "business and political history are an issue in this campaign."

He predicted voters would choose Fischer if reminded that Vencor "paid the largest fine ever levied for overbilling Medicare" and that "Vencor had a practice of evicting Medicare patients in favor of patients that had higher-paying private insurance."