News politics 2008-05-27 Andanh.com

McCain: US, China could stop making nuke bomb fuel Tue, 27 May 2008 17:23 EDT
Republican presidential candidate John McCain called Tuesday for talks with China to negotiate a temporary halt to production of nuclear weapons-grade material and with Russia on a new treaty to destroy more nuclear weapons.

"Today we deploy thousands of nuclear warheads," McCain said. "It is my hope to move as rapidly as possible to a significantly smaller force." He did not set a specific goal but said the number would be consistent with U.S. security and global commitments.

Cautioning against relying solely on force or merely on talks, McCain proposed a bipartisan push to strengthen a broad array of international arms treaties and nuclear monitoring. And he criticized past administrations, both Democratic and Republican, for failing to halt the spread of nuclear weapons.

"We should also begin a dialogue with China on strategic and nuclear issues," the likely Republican presidential nominee said in a speech at the University of Denver. The goal would be to encourage China to conform to the practices of the other four nuclear powers recognized by the Non-Proliferation Treaty, "including working toward nuclear arsenal reductions and toward a moratorium on the production of additional fissile material."

Noting that the United States and Russia "no longer are mortal enemies," McCain said the two countries, as the owners of the majority of the world's nuclear weapons, "have a special responsibility to reduce their number."

Castro criticizes Obama plan to keep US embargo Tue, 27 May 2008 12:45 EDT
Former President Fidel Castro says Sen. Barack Obama's plan to maintain Washington's trade embargo against Cuba will cause hunger and suffering on the island.

In a column published Monday by government-run newspapers, Castro said Obama was "the most-advanced candidate in the presidential race," but noted that he has not dared to call for altering U.S. policy toward Cuba.

"Obama's speech can be translated as a formula for hunger for the country," Castro wrote, referring to Obama's remarks last week to the influential Cuban American National Foundation in Miami.

Obama said he would maintain the nearly fifty-year-old trade sanctions against Cuba as leverage to push for democratic change on the island. But he also vowed to ease restrictions on Cuban Americans traveling to Cuba and sending money to relatives.

He repeated his willingness to meet with Raul Castro, who in February succeeded his elder brother Fidel to become the nation's first new leader in 49 years.

Bush to hold fundraiser for McCain in Phoenix Tue, 27 May 2008 14:39 EDT
President Bush on Tuesday plunged into a fundraising tour for Sen. John McCain, but don't expect to see much of the two men together.

The president begins a three-day Western trip in Arizona, home state of McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee. Bush will cap the day by holding a closed fundraiser with McCain in Phoenix.

The event marks the first time Bush, whose popularity still sags at record lows, will appear with McCain since he endorsed him at the White House nearly three months ago. The two will appear together in public only briefly, for a photo at the Phoenix airport.

Bush is also holding two private fundraisers for McCain on Wednesday in Utah. Those events will also benefit the national Republican Party.

In the Albuquerque area, Bush touched down long enough to lead a private fundraiser for Republican congressional candidate Darren White, a local sheriff. New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, historically a safe one for Republicans, is considered wide open this year.

Obama says he will fight McCain for western states Tue, 27 May 2008 17:23 EDT
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama set his sights on the West on Tuesday, saying he will fight for states there that narrowly voted Republican in the last presidential election four years ago.

Obama, the Democratic front-runner, and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain were trading barbs as they began crisscrossing three western states that are likely to be pivotal battlegrounds in the November general election: New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado. President George W. Bush also was traveling west to raise funds for McCain and the Republican Party.

The two candidates recently have largely ignored Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's long-shot rival, who on Monday wrapped up three days of campaigning in Puerto Rico. The territory's primary on Sunday is one of just three left as the intense months-long battle for the Democratic presidential nomination winds down and Obama looks to be the inevitable nominee.

Obama is just 49 delegates short of the 2,026 needed to win the Democratic nomination. Clinton is trailing and has almost no chances of getting the nomination.

On Tuesday, Obama was heading to Nevada for campaign events in the Las Vegas area, where he was expected to focus on economic issues. In April, Nevada posted the worst foreclosure rate in the U.S., with one in every 146 households receiving a foreclosure-related notice, nearly four times the national rate.

Today on the presidential campaign trail Tue, 27 May 2008 12:55 EDT
IN THE HEADLINES

McCain offers plan to reduce nuclear weapons ... Bush joins McCain for fundraising - in private ... Conservative group's ads press Senate Republicans and Democrats to vote against climate bill ... Looking toward fall, Obama signals he'll fight for Western states that went to GOP in 2004

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McCain focuses on plan to reduce spread of nuclear weapons

DENVER (AP) - John McCain is faulting both Republicans and Democrats on their efforts to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Obama signaling he will fight for Western states Tue, 27 May 2008 15:26 EDT
It's the first event on the first day of a campaign swing through three Western states, and Barack Obama is covering all his bases.

He's got patriotism, a Memorial Day event for veterans. He's got cowboys, the location is the Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum. He's got Hispanic voters, Gov. Bill Richardson introduced him. He's even got a nod to the environment: The Organ Mountains loom behind him as birds sing and the warm New Mexico wind blows.

Obama is signaling, even before the Democratic primary formally wraps up, that he intends to fight this fall for Western states that narrowly went Republican four years ago.

New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado aren't definitely Democratic blue or Republican red. Instead, they're known as "purple states" by political junkies.

Together, they account for only 19 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. But those votes could be vital in a close race, particularly if Obama's weakness among white, blue-collar voters carries over from the primary race and cuts his chance of winning some other states where Democrats usually do well.

The era of big Clintons is soon over Tue, 27 May 2008 14:24 EDT
There's been a Clinton running for the White House or living in it for approximately forever.

Bill, it could be said, was born to run. Running became Hillary's destiny, too.

One quarter of Americans have never known life without a Clinton trying for or having the presidency. Millions have gone from diapers to diplomas in the time of the Clintons.

When Hillary Rodham Clinton finally exits the 2008 Democratic presidential race, she will end a decades-long, power-couple streak of unique political energy, savvy ideas, colossal policy flops and raw ambition dressed in pants suits and briefs, not boxers.

"Every day is an adventure," Bill said cheerfully at the start of it all. And how.

Fact Check: Clinton and the 1992 campaign Tue, 27 May 2008 17:47 EDT
Hillary Rodham Clinton often says her husband wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination in June 1992 in defending her decision to press ahead until the last primary votes.

Sixteen years ago, six contests in June did give Bill Clinton the necessary delegates for the nomination, but he had essentially won the nomination in March 1992.

Several Democrats have called on the New York senator to exit the race as she faces diminishing odds of becoming the party's nominee. With only three primaries left, Barack Obama is 48 delegates shy of the 2,026 needed to secure the nomination at the convention. He has 1,978 delegates to her 1,779.

Clinton says it is not unusual for candidates to continue to campaign until June, using Bill Clinton as an example.

THE SPIN:

McCain defends stand against veterans-ed bill Tue, 27 May 2008 02:03 EDT
Facing heat from Democrats, John McCain used a Memorial Day appearance to defend his opposition to Senate-passed legislation that would provide additional college financial aid to veterans.

The issue has become a point of contention between the Republican nominee-in-waiting and Democratic rival Barack Obama, who supports the measure. The two have squared off from a distance in recent days, at times with heated words.

Obama also spent Monday in New Mexico, a battleground state for the general election, while Democratic hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigned for a third day in Puerto Rico.

In his remarks Monday, McCain made no direct mention of Obama but seemed to poke at him nonetheless. McCain said his was the right position rather than the politically expedient one, suggesting Obama was on the wrong side of the measure sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia.

Last week, the Democratic-controlled Senate approved the bill, which would substantially increase educational benefits for service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Lawmakers blocked a more limited version that McCain supported.

Chinese Dir