News politics 2008-05-02 Andanh.com

Analysis: Momentum, Obama.s distractions give Clinton hope Fri, 02 May 2008 11:31 EDT
Hillary Rodham Clinton has an unmistakable bounce in her step these days - a sense of energy and optimism that somehow belies the daunting challenge she faces in wresting the Democratic presidential nomination from Barack Obama.

"I feel good. We're making progress every day," she told supporters Thursday in Kentucky, which holds its primary May 20. "Wish I could be here for the Derby. ... I hope everyone's going to place a little money on the filly," a reference perhaps to horse Eight Belles and herself.

Buoyed by her convincing win in Pennsylvania's primary April 22, Clinton has been campaigning intensively before Indiana and North Carolina's contests next week. She's greeted by large crowds who respond enthusiastically to her plans for improving the faltering economy, and several polls out this week suggest she would be the stronger candidate to face Republican John McCain this fall, both nationally and in important swing states.

Obama, meanwhile, is still contending with the fallout from the controversy surrounding his former pastor and polls showing a tight contest in Indiana, where he once led.

While Obama has won several superdelegate endorsements this week, including that of former DNC chairman and one-time Clinton backer Joe Andrew, the former first lady has secured a few of her own after weeks of superdelegate drought. On Tuesday, she got a boost in North Carolina with the endorsement of Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, another superdelegate.

Obama says Clinton, McCain wrong on gas taxes Fri, 02 May 2008 11:26 EDT
Sen. Barack Obama said Friday a summertime suspension of the federal gasoline tax could cost 6,000 jobs in next week's primary state of Indiana, and accused Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain of "reading from the same political playbook" by endorsing it.

"This is a plan that would save you pennies a day for the summer months. That is unless gas prices are raised to fill in the gap," the Democratic presidential contender said.

At a news conference, Obama also disputed suggestions that he is an elitist.

"In fact, our lives when you look over the last two decades more closely approximate the lives of the average voter than any of the other candidates," the Illinois senator said.

"We've struggled with paying student loans. We've tried to figure out whether we have adequate daycare. I've actually filled up my own gas tank."

Today on the presidential campaign trail Fri, 02 May 2008 09:31 EDT
IN THE HEADLINES

In heart of farm country, McCain vows to veto ag bill because of 'unnecessary' subsidies ... New Mexico Democrats squabble over naming 12th superdelegate in nomination race ... Dodd says long nomination fight will hurt Democratic Party ... Clinton picks up Indianapolis Star endorsement

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McCain tells Iowans he would veto farm bill over subsidies

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Some things never change: Republican John McCain dislikes farm subsidies.

Obama reveals Top 10 'surprising facts' on Letterman Thu, 01 May 2008 18:51 EDT
Barack Obama's critics say it's what you don't know about him that matters. With a little help from talk-show host David Letterman, the senator is opening up.

Presenting "Top 10 Surprising Facts About Barack Obama," the Democratic candidate listed his first act if elected president: "Stop the fighting between Lauren and Heidi on 'The Hills.'"

In an appearance on CBS's "The Late Show" taped for broadcast Thursday night, Obama also admitted that in the Illinois primary he "accidentally voted for Kucinich."

"When I tell my kids to clean their room," he said, "I finish with, 'I'm Barack Obama and I approved this message.'"

And this: "I have canceled all my appearances the day the 'Sex and the City' movie opens."

Clinton, visiting Louisville, makes Derby pick Thu, 01 May 2008 17:41 EDT
Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton has urged a group of supporters to put their money on Eight Belles, the only filly in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

Clinton made her comments Thursday during a brief visit to Louisville to meet with supporters and volunteers.

Eight Belles will be the first filly in the Derby since 1999. Only three have won the race, with Winning Colors the last to do so in 1988.

Obama-Wright rift reveals divided loyalties in black church Fri, 02 May 2008 10:11 EDT
Sen. Barack Obama's break with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is putting black pastors and their congregations in a difficult position, their loyalties divided between a politician who could be the first black president and a celebrated preacher who many believe has been vilified.

The situation is complicated, ministers say, because there's a sense that both men have been treated unfairly - and that both have made mistakes.

Many black ministers defended Wright when his mo e incendiary remarks became an Internet sensation in March, saying context was needed to understand the black church's tradition of challenging injustice.

But Wright lost some of that support after his Monday appearance at the National Press Club in Washington, during which he claimed the U.S. government was capable of planting AIDS in the black community, praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and suggested that Obama was acting like a politician by putting his pastor at arm's length while privately agreeing with him.

The performance was enough for Obama to denounce Wright's comments as "divisive and destructive." That was just six weeks after he portrayed Wright, in a well-received speech on race, as a family member he couldn't disown.

A NC voter sizes up Obama, Clinton, and finally decides Thu, 01 May 2008 16:40 EDT
As a clinical research consultant working in North Carolina's Research Triangle, Meribeth Howlett knows how to get to the bottom of things.

Her latest project was deciding whether to vote for Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary Tuesday. Now she's made her choice and voted by absentee ballot.

The Associated Press has been keeping up with Howlett, 43, since late last year as part of an AP-Yahoo News series of polls going back to the same group of people to see how their thinking about the campaign evolves.

For those living in Indiana and North Carolina, both holding their primaries Tuesday, it's decision time.

In the last few days, Howlett decided "I've heard enough from the pundits" and began reviewing campaign literature with the practiced eye of one who reads medical charts and oversees clinical trials.

Campaign ads rile Democrats Fri, 02 May 2008 02:06 EDT
Four prominent state Democrats signed a letter to U.S. Senate candidate Greg Fischer on Thursday asking him to stop running a negative ad against his rival.

The four -- state Auditor Crit Luallen, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, Attorney General Jack Conway and Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo -- described themselves as "concerned Kentuckians."

They urged Fischer to "remove your personal attack ad from the air immediately, take the high road, and spend the final weeks of the primary running a campaign focused on why you are right for the job, not divisive character attacks that are part of the reason Washington needs to change."

Fischer faces Bruce Lunsford, a Louisville businessman, in the May 20 Democratic primary election.

Instead of fostering a competitive primary, the four Democrats said Fischer's ad helps Republican incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is running for re-election.

Chandler draws mixed response Thu, 01 May 2008 02:04 EDT
Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler's decision Tuesday to back Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the presidential primary has touched off a brush fire of mixed responses from constituents over the last 48 hours.

Denis Fleming, Chandler's chief of staff, said what started as an avalanche of 300 to 500 critical calls -- including some "racially insensitive" statements -- on Tuesday shifted to more supportive responses on Wednesday.

"I don't think we were under any illusion that the endorsement would be immediately accepted by everyone. Our hope is that the decision will withstand the test of time and we hope prove itself to have been the correct one," Fleming said from Chandler's Washington office.

On Wednesday, staffers kept a tally of the phone calls: 154 favorable to 89 negative ones by 4 p.m. And the roughly 200 e-mails the offices received were "about evenly split," Fleming added.

Part of the uptick in positive responses could be explained by Obama's grassroots mobilization. Hillary Bullock, a volunteer organizer of Lexington-area Obama backers, said e-mails were dispatched to more than 600 local supporters "asking them to give his office a call and thank him for his endorsement."

Numbers, egos clash in meeting on tuition Thu, 01 May 2008 02:04 EDT
In a town where dull meetings loom like an unremitting pestilence, a hearing on proposed tuition rates Wednesday at the state Council on Postsecondary Education stood out for its clash of words, numbers and egos.

Council President Brad Cowgill, on his final day in the post, bickered with the presidents of the University of Louisville and Western Kentucky over their proposed 9 percent tuition increases, and he applauded Morehead State University President Wayne Andrews for his proposed average 7.5 percent increase.

Meanwhile, questions lingered much of the day over whether the council had offered Cowgill a 30-day interim job during a closed-door meeting and whether he might accept.

Cowgill confirmed Wednesday night that he had rejected the offer and was considering his next step in life, but wasn't sure that he would return to practicing law.

The Lexington lawyer was state budget director under former Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

Kentucky gains 16,333 new registered voters Fri, 02 May 2008 02:06 EDT
Kentucky picked up 16,333 new registered voters since November, but the growth rate was slower than in 2007 and off the pace of other states that have seen booms in new voters eager to cast ballots in the 2008 presidential primary.

Kentucky's voter rolls swelled 0.58 percent from November to April 21, the cutoff date for new registrations. That's about half the 1.04 percent increase between November 2006 and the May 2007 primary.

Secretary of State Trey Grayson said it's likely Kentucky failed to see a large spike this springfor two reasons:

.. The state makes voter registration available at public offices on a wider scale than many states, leaving fewer unregistered Kentuckians.

.. Kentucky's May 20 primary is among the last batch of states to vote in this presidential race, so many residents might not have expected to have a role.

State losing Medicaid funding for Oakwood Fri, 02 May 2008 02:06 EDT
In two weeks, the state will start paying the full cost for its Bluegrass Communities at Oakwood facility for the mentally disabled in Somerset.

On Thursday, the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services said it's losing federal Medicaid funding for Oakwood on May 15, following a final 30-day extension granted by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Prevention.

All but $18 million of Oakwood's $78 million annual budget comes from Medicaid.

While Oakwood is likely to transfer some of its 224 residents to other residential-care facilities or to community care, where Medicaid again would cover them, the majority will stay put, said Kerry Harvey, the cabinet's general counsel.

In recent years, regulators have cited Oakwood for a series of serious problems involving abuse and neglect of residents. In 2005, CMS finally "decertified" Oakwood, or removed its eligibility to receive Medicaid funds. The decision to end federal funding was put on hold while the state appealed, but an administrative law judge ruled against the state last month.

Chinese Dir