News politics 2008-08-07 Andanh.com

Obama now wants standard 3 debates Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

WASHINGTON . Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday backed away from rival John McCain's challenge for a series of joint appearances, agreeing only to the standard three debates in the fall.

Obama's reversal on town hall debates is part of a play-it-safe strategy he's adopted since claiming the nomination and grabbing a lead in national polls. Advisers to the senator, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss strategy, say Obama is reluctant to take chances or give McCain a high-profile stage now that Obama's the front-runner.

In May, when a McCain adviser proposed a series of pre-convention appearances at town hall meetings, Obama said, .I think that's a great idea.. In summer stumping on the campaign trail, .McCain has often noted that Obama had not followed through.

On Saturday, in a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said the short period between the last political convention and the first proposed debate made it likely that the commission-sponsored debates would be the only ones.

Obama, Clinton ideas in platform Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

CLEVELAND . Platform writers for Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton worked side-by-side Saturday as the Democratic Party developed a policy statement to promote nominee-in-waiting Obama and keep Clinton backers involved.

The 20-member drafting committee heard Friday and Saturday morning from scores of party regulars, policy experts and hard-luck Americans before beginning a draft of the platform, which goes before the full platform committee Aug. 9 in Pittsburgh.

The committee, meeting through Sunday, reviewed a 44-page document principally written by Karen Kornbluh, who has worked on Obama's Senate staff. She said the draft included Obama and Clinton materials and was meant to highlight renewing core American goals.

Kornbluh said the Clinton materials in the draft include a commitment that .people who do the work in America will never be invisible to the Democratic Party,. echoing a common Clinton campaign theme.

Obama says would consider some offshore drilling Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. . Sen. Barack Obama said on Saturday that he would reluctantly consider accepting some new offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in exchange for stripping oil companies of tax breaks and extending several tax credits to spur the search for alternative fuels.

At the same time, Senate Republicans appear to have dropped their insistence on opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.

Obama has until now opposed any new offshore drilling. But in a wide-ranging news conference Saturday morning, he noted that there have been .very constructive. talks in recent days, and he applauded an $84 billion plan unveiled by a group of Republican and Democratic senators to permit such drilling while supporting an effort to convert most vehicles to using alternative fuels in the next 20 years.

.If we come up with a genuine bipartisan compromise, where I have to accept some things that I don't like in order to get energy independence, that's something I will have to consider,. Obama said.

And the award for the most melodic ... Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

Political morsels from the 128th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic weekend:

Beshear warbles

The most melodic political comment came from Gov. Steve Beshear.

Not since the late Gov. A.B. .Happy. Chandler has a Kentucky governor entertained a crowd with such wistful warbling.

Beshear, Grayson, Bunning are gazing into the future Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

FANCY FARM . While the 2008 U.S. Senate race was the onstage focus at the Fancy Farm Picnic, political intrigue offstage spread to 2010 and beyond.

Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning insisted that he will seek a third term in 2010, which could divert GOP Secretary of State Trey Grayson into the race for governor the following year.

Grayson, who hails from Northern Kentucky along with Bunning, has long been tagged by Republican officials as a top contender for the U.S. Senate or governor's office.

.I would strongly consider a run. for governor, Grayson said Saturday before the Fancy Farm Picnic began. He later added: .That's a likely path. A lot of it is timing and opportunity. We'll just see..

Jeers, jabs and plenty of hot air all around Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:14 EDT

FANCY FARM . In their first joint appearance of the 2008 campaign, the candidates for U.S. Senate did little more than survive their time in front of a crowd that was consistently more entertaining than most of the speakers.

.Some of them were very boring,. said state Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville, who is a Fancy Farm Picnic regular. .I think the governor made probably the best speech for the Democrats..

Gov. Steve Beshear led off the political speaking at the 128th annual picnic by salting his remarks with quips aimed at a clever bunch of Republicans.

After being jeered for his fox-hunting hobby, Beshear fired back by pointing out that many of those Republicans were keeping cool with fans distributed by a local funeral home.

Eblen: Fancy Farm speeches unappetizing Sun, 03 Aug 2008 08:21 EDT

FANCY FARM . I was glad I had just filled up on barbecue, because the political speaking Saturday afternoon at the 128th annual Fancy Farm Picnic was anything but satisfying.

This year's focus was Democrat Bruce Lunsford's challenge of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader who has held the seat for 24 years. It was no surprise that Lunsford and other Democrats would come out swinging . or that McConnell wouldn't even mention Lunsford's name, leaving that job to fellow Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning.

As always, the thousand or so people who crowded around the stage were mostly partisans who came to shout down speakers from the other party. And, of course, there were costumed characters walking through the crowd.

Young Republicans dressed as Arab sheikhs, .thanking. Lunsford for higher oil prices, through some stretch of the political imagination. Young Democrats dressed as characters with the names .Texas Oilman Mitch. and .Bush's Lapdog Mitch..

Obama says give Fla. and Mich. delegates full vote Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:41 EDT
Now that Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic nomination for president, he wants convention delegates from Florida and Michigan to have full voting rights at the party's national convention.

Obama sent a letter Sunday to the party's credentials committee, asking members to reinstate the delegates' voting rights when the committee meets at the start of the convention in Denver.

The delegates were originally stripped because the two states violated party rules by holding primaries before Feb. 5. The delegates from each state were given half-votes at a contentious party meeting in May, as part of a compromise designed to give two important states some role at the convention.

Obama's former Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, had won both primaries, though Obama's name was not on the Michigan ballot and neither candidate campaigned in Florida.

"I believe party unity calls for the delegates from Florida and Michigan to be able to participate fully alongside the delegates from the other states and territories," Obama said in the letter.

Va. legislator of interest to McCain Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

RICHMOND, Va. . John McCain's campaign has asked Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor for personal documents as the Republican presidential candidate steps up his search for a running mate.

Cantor, 45, the chief deputy minority whip in the House, has been mentioned among several Republicans as a possible running mate for McCain. A Republican familiar with the conversations between Cantor and the McCain campaign said Cantor has been asked to turn over documents but did not know specifically what records were sought.

The individual spoke on the condition of anonymity because neither the McCain campaign nor Cantor's office wishes to discuss the running mate selection process.

Cantor, through a spokesman, declined to comment. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said the campaign would have .no comment on anything related to the vice presidential issue..

Opposing views on what's wrong with America Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:04 EDT

MAYFIELD . U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell downplayed the effect negative news out of Washington might have on his re-election bid, saying that Americans are much more focused on the issue of high gas prices.

.Senate Republicans in the last few weeks have argued repeatedly that we need to stay on the subject of lowering the price of gas at the pump,. McConnell said. .Frankly, Americans don't care whether there's an election three months from now or not. They want a result..

McConnell sidestepped reporters' questions about what should happen to indicted Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, who was charged by the U.S. Justice Department last week for not disclosing $250,000 worth of home renovations allegedly paid for by an oil company.

.Look, this is a matter for Alaska and that legal process,. McConnell told reporters before the annual Fancy Farm Picnic in Western Kentucky. .I don't really have any other comment about it..

Clinton: 'I never made a racist comment' Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:08 EDT
Former President Clinton acknowledges there are some things "I wish I hadn't said" during the Democratic presidential nomination fight, but denies he made racist statements about Barack Obama.

Clinton, who had traveled to Rwanda for his private foundation's work to fight AIDS, charged that news organizations applied "a different standard" to his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. But when asked about it an interview broadcast Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America," the former president said that spending time on such recriminations "interferes with the issue, which is who should be elected in November."

"I bragged on Sen. Obama hundreds of times," he said. "Now, I will be glad, as soon as this election is over in January, to have this conversation with you and everybody else. I have very strong feelings about it."

Clinton cut a controversial profile throughout the Democratic delegate-selection process, championing his wife's cause and vehemently defending her on the campaign trail. But he also at times seemed an angry surrogate and he was harshly criticized for apparently disparaging Obama's early-season victory over his wife in the South Carolina primary. Clinton noted at the time that Jesse Jackson had won there 20 years earlier.

Asked in the interview whether he blames himself for his wife's loss, Clinton replied, "I've heard it from the press and I will not comment on it. ... There are things I wished I said. Things I wished I hadn't said, but I am not a racist. I never made a racist comment and I didn't attack him personally."

Obama proposes tapping oil stockpiles Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:44 EDT
Barack Obama put forward a broad energy plan Monday designed to end U.S. reliance on imported oil within 10 years and shore up his standing amid a tightening White House race and high-anxiety over gas prices.

Obama's new proposal, though, includes two significant reversals of positions he has taken in the past: He had steadfastly fought the idea of limited new offshore drilling and was against tapping the nation's emergency oil stockpile to relieve pump prices that have stubbornly hovered around $4 a gallon.

Not only did Obama push for drawing from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he also reiterated his changing position on offshore drilling - first revealed last Friday - suggesting that he could live with it if done in an environmentally sound way and as part of a bipartisan energy compromise.

In a speech in Michigan, the Democratic presidential nominee in waiting also endorsed long-term work on hybrid cars and renewable energy sources.

"Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face," the Illinois Democrat told a supportive audience as he embarked on a week to focus on energy issues. "It will take nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy," he said.

Obama asks DNC to let Florida, Michigan delegates cast full votes at convention Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:16 EDT
Seeking closure of the bitter dispute that rocked Florida's Democratic primary, presumptive nominee Barack Obama asked the national party Sunday to let the state's delegates cast full votes at the convention in Denver.

Practically speaking, whether Florida delegates have full or half votes won't matter because Obama won enough delegates in the primaries to claim the nomination. Still, Democratic leaders welcomed the gesture.

"Today is a proud day for all of us who fought so hard to ensure Floridians' votes are fully counted," said Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman in a statement.

Last year, the DNC ruled that Florida and Michigan could not attend the convention because their early primaries broke party rules. Upon the urging of four states entitled to hold the earliest contests, Obama and other candidates boycotted the two states, shutting Democrats in Florida and Michigan out of a historic primary season.

Shortly before Obama cinched the nomination, the DNC said Florida and Michigan could send delegates to the convention but cast only a half vote.

Obama is the star of McCain's campaign Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:36 EDT
There are at least two ways to explain the summer offensive John McCain has launched against Barack Obama, highlighted by last week's "Britney Spears" ad belittling the Illinois Democrat as "the biggest celebrity in the world."

One is that McCain, running in a lousy year for Republicans, needs to make this election about Obama.

The other is that this election already is about Obama - that whatever McCain says or does, the subject of Obama is going to dominate the coverage and conversation.

"It appears the McCain people are so frustrated with Obama's star appeal, and their sense that he is harder to criticize, (that) they've made the judgment they have to somehow tarnish him, rough him up, so that he doesn't look so great - even at the risk of making (McCain) himself look not so great," says Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold, who supports Obama, but is a longtime Senate collaborator and friend of McCain's.

"I don't think it's very pretty. I hope it doesn't work. But I think they've made a professional judgment that in order to win, this is what they have to do," Feingold said.

Old GOP bastions are new battlegrounds Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:54 EDT

WASHINGTON . Alaska is young. Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have growing populations and many black voters. Montana has seen recent Democratic inroads, and North Dakota has sent only Democrats to Congress since 1986. Indiana borders Barack Obama's home state.

The Democratic presidential candidate is putting money and manpower in all seven of these states . at levels unmatched by Republican rival John McCain.

For decades, these states have almost exclusively voted for Republican presidential candidates and have rarely seen any campaign action. Now, thanks in part to demographic and political changes, they are emerging as new battlegrounds.

.We have the organizational ability and the financial ability to compete there,. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said recently. .There is not a head fake among them..

Lunsford, McConnell contest: Issues, anyone? Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:54 EDT

PRINCETON . Throughout the weekend's political events in Western Kentucky, Democrats routinely gave the loudest cheers for Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell . for beating him, to be precise.

Sure, they clapped politely for McConnell's Democratic challenger, Bruce Lunsford, when he was introduced at Democratic Rep. Mike Cherry's back-yard rally in Princeton, for instance. But it was strong calls for the ousting of McConnell made by other Democratic officials that brought cheers and whoops.

Later, at the Fancy Farm picnic, it was the same story, with anti-McConnell props, signs and cheers such as, .Send him home..

.I think the overriding unifying force for Kentucky Democrats across the state is a desire to replace Mitch McConnell with someone who can relate better to the majority of Kentuckians,. said Democratic state Auditor Crit Luallen. .I think that is the driving force, but it opens a great opportunity for Bruce Lunsford..

McCain visiting motorcycle rally, nuke power plant Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:03 EDT
Republican presidential candidate John McCain hopes to enhance his appeal to blue-collar voters and those in the Northern Plains with a visit to a giant motorcycle rally in South Dakota.

The Arizona senator will be campaigning for votes Monday at what amounts to an annual motorcyclists' Woodstock in Sturgis, S.D. The event, billed as the largest rally of its kind in the world, is known as the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. It features nine nights of entertainment, with bands including Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd and REO Speedwagon. McCain will speak about dinnertime.

Then to underscore his call for expanded nuclear power in the United States, McCain will tour a nuclear power plant in the battleground state of Michigan on Tuesday.

That trip comes a day after Democratic rival Barack Obama lays out his energy vision in a speech, also being delivered in Michigan.

This is the final week for McCain and Obama to compete for the public spotlight without having to share it with the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Obama says restore delegates Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:54 EDT

WASHINGTON . Now that Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic nomination for president, he wants convention delegates from Florida and Michigan to have full voting rights at the party's national convention.

Obama sent a letter Sunday to the party's credentials committee, asking members to reinstate the delegates' voting rights when the committee meets at the start of the convention in Denver.

The delegates were originally stripped because the two states violated party rules by holding primaries before Feb. 5. The delegates from each state were given half-votes at a contentious party meeting in May, as part of a compromise designed to give two important states some role at the convention.

Obama's former Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, had won both primaries, though Obama's name was not on the Michigan ballot and neither candidate campaigned in Florida.

State police armed with Taser guns Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:06 EDT

FRANKFORT . Kentucky State Police have spent more than $170,000 on Taser devices and cartridges that troopers will be using by September.

The purchases come amid a revenue shortfall that has forced the law enforcement agency to implement cuts, including a reduction in highway patrols to save gasoline and the elimination of driver education manuals that have traditionally been provided free to Kentucky teens.

Invoices show state police purchased 191 of the weapons in June at a cost of $145,000, plus $25,000 worth of cartridges and batteries.

Some question the timing of the pur.chase, considering the state's projected $900 million revenue shortfall during the next two years. Others applaud the move, saying it has the potential to save the lives of both troopers and criminal suspects.

Mich. House race focuses on Detroit mayor scandal Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:51 EDT
Voters on Tuesday weighed whether to nominate the Detroit mayor's mother for another term in Congress, deciding a primary that has focused in large part on a headline-grabbing sex scandal involving the mayor and a former top aide.

Voters also went to the polls in Missouri to pick nominees for governor, and in Kansas and Georgia to decide House and Senate races.

In Michigan, Democratic Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick has faced little opposition since first getting elected to the House in 1996 after nearly two decades in the state Legislature.

But the three-way primary campaign has been the toughest of her congressional career, forcing her to confront questions about Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's conduct and who could best represent the struggling Detroit district.

Because the district is heavily Democratic, the primary winner will be heavily favored in the November general election.

Newspaper: Black reporter booted from McCain rally Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:41 EDT
A newspaper has asked John McCain's campaign why a black reporter assigned to cover a rally was singled out by security and told to leave a backstage area.

Stephen Price, a reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, was among four Florida capital press corps reporters behind the scenes at a Panama City rally Friday when a Secret Service agent approached and asked if he were with the national media traveling with McCain. Price said no, and the agent told him he had to leave. Price said he then pointed out that there were other state reporters in the same area, but was still told to leave. The other reporters were white.

A Panama City police officer quickly approached with his hand on his holster and asked what the problem was, Price said. At the same time, Palm Beach Post reporter Dara Kam came to Price's defense and was told she also had to leave, Price said.

The other two reporters, Alex Leary of the St. Petersburg Times and Marc Caputo of The Miami Herald, weren't removed.

Caputo, however, said that initially he also was told he had to leave the area.

AdWatch: McCain now says country is "worse off" Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:31 EDT
TITLE: "Broken."

LENGTH: 60 seconds.

AIRING: In the 11 states where McCain is running ads.

SCRIPT: Announcer: "Washington's broken. John McCain knows it. We're worse off than we were four years ago. Only McCain has taken on big tobacco, drug companies, fought corruption in both parties. He'll reform Wall Street, battle Big Oil, make America prosper again. He's the original maverick. One is ready to lead - McCain."

McCain: "I'm John McCain and I approved this message."

Obama, McCain diverge on solution for energy woes Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:31 EDT
Democrat Barack Obama blamed Republican energy policies for some of the nation's economic woes Tuesday as his GOP rival John McCain advocated a large expansion of nuclear power.

Both candidates roamed the economically depressed Rust Belt touting their energy plans as concerns about $4-a-gallon gasoline and job losses have emerged as the presidential campaign's hottest issues.

Obama told an audience in Youngstown, Ohio, that the Bush energy policy, crafted in large part by Vice President Dick Cheney, an ex-oilman, tilted to provide tax breaks and favorable treatment for Big Oil and that McCain would expand oil industry tax breaks by $4 billion.

Obama has proposed an excess profits tax on Big Oil to finance a $1,000-per-family energy rebate to deal with high fuel costs.

Exxon-Mobil "makes in 30 seconds what the typical Ohio worker makes in a year," Obama said. "We need more jobs and economic development. Why don't we focus on clean energy and reopening factories and putting people back to work? Nobody is benefiting from jobs that are leaving the community," he said.

FBI used aggressive tactics in anthrax probe Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:06 EDT
Before killing himself last week, Army scientist Bruce Ivins told friends that government agents had stalked him and his family for months, offered his son $2.5 million to rat him out and tried to turn his hospitalized daughter against him with photographs of dead anthrax victims.

The pressure on Ivins was extreme, a high-risk strategy that has failed the FBI before. The government was determined to find the villain in the 2001 anthrax attacks; it was too many years without a solution to the case that shocked and terrified a post-9/11 nation.

The last thing the FBI needed was another embarrassment. Overreaching damaged the FBI's reputation in the high-profile investigations: the Centennial Olympic Park bombing probe that falsely accused Richard Jewell; the theft of nuclear secrets and botched prosecution of scientist Wen Ho Lee; and, in this same anthrax probe, the smearing of an innocent man - Ivins' colleague Steven Hatfill.

In the current case, Ivins complained privately that FBI agents had offered his son, Andy, $2.5 million, plus "the sports car of his choice" late last year if he would turn over evidence implicating his father in the anthrax attacks, according to a former U.S. scientist who described himself as a friend of Ivins.

Ivins also said the FBI confronted Ivins' daughter, Amanda, with photographs of victims of the anthrax attacks and told her, "This is what your father did," according to the scientist, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because their conversation was confidential.

Obama leads McCain nationally in AP-Ipsos poll Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:26 EDT
Solid margins among women, minorities and young voters have powered Barack Obama to a 6 percentage point lead over John McCain in the presidential race, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Obama is ahead of his Republican rival 47 percent to 41 percent, The Associated Press-Ipsos poll showed. The survey was taken after the Democratic senator from Illinois had returned from a trip to Middle Eastern and European capitals, and during a week that saw the two camps clash over which had brought race into a campaign in which Obama is striving to become the first African-American president.

McCain, the senator from Arizona, is leading by 10 points among whites and is even with Obama among men, groups with whom Republicans traditionally do well in national elections.

Obama leads by 13 points among women, by 30 points among voters up to age 34, and by 55 points among blacks, Hispanics and other minorities, the poll shows.

Independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr both won support from less than 5 percent of the registered voters surveyed. When people were asked who they would support if Nader and Barr were not on the ballot, Obama's lead over McCain was virtually unchanged.

Critical of McCain, Obama quiet on own energy vote Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:33 EDT
Democratic candidate Barack Obama criticized Republican John McCain on Tuesday for taking a page out of "the Cheney playbook" on energy, overlooking his own support of oil-friendly policies that the unpopular vice president helped to craft.

Vice President Dick Cheney, a former oilman, early in the Bush administration helped draft an energy policy that Obama asserted is biased in favor of tax breaks and favorable treatment for big oil. Obama's remarks were an attempt to capitalize on Cheney's unpopularity.

"President Bush, he had an energy policy. He turned to Dick Cheney and he said, 'Cheney, go take care of this,'" Obama said. "Cheney met with renewable-energy folks once and oil and gas (executives) 40 times. McCain has taken a page out of the Cheney playbook."

In stumping Tuesday in this key battleground state, Obama sought to link the troubled economy with Republican policies and offer his own energy plan in contrast. He has tried to cast McCain as more concerned about oil company profits and drilling than an overall energy strategy.

However, Obama himself voted for a 2005 energy bill backed by Bush that included billions in subsidies for oil and natural gas production, a measure Cheney played a major role in developing. McCain opposed the bill on grounds it included billions in unnecessary tax breaks for the oil industry.

Young people finding Obama way cooler than McCain Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:58 EDT
Forget the war for the White House for a moment. Among young people, Barack Obama appears to be beating John McCain in the battle for "cool."

"Obama is a tad cooler than McCain on probably 57 fronts," said Emily Goulding, 25, of Los Angeles. "Obama's better looking than McCain, Obama's more stylish than McCain, Obama's more fit than McCain. He refers to better music than McCain."

"Obama's big with the kids, everyone knows that," said Tom Johnson, 21, of Norfolk, Va. "McCain - that guy's not cool. I just can't call McCain cool."

"It's got to be Obama," said David Munn, 20, of Keene, N.H. "He's younger, I think he has more of a connection with my generation. I just think he communicates better to my generation, especially with issues in Iraq. (McCain) is all right, but not as cool as Obama."

According to these members of Generation Y, Obama, 47, has the "cool" thing down. He's an avid basketball player, listens to Jay-Z on his iPod and was on the cover of this month's issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

McCain ad pushes independence, distance from Bush Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:51 EDT
John McCain conceded in a new television commercial on Tuesday that "we're worse off than we were four years ago," and said he is the candidate best positioned to usher in an era of change.

"Washington's broken. John McCain knows it," says the commercial, which is implicitly critical of both President Bush and Barack Obama.

It is unusual for a presidential candidate to part company with an administration of the same party, but McCain has little choice, with public opinion polls showing the public is eager for change after eight years of the Bush administration.

Just seven months ago, McCain said in a debate that "Americans overall are better off" than eight years ago "because we have had a pretty good prosperous time with low unemployment and low inflation." Even so, he added that "things are tough right now."

Set to run in battleground states, the new commercial does not mention Obama but it suggests the first-term Illinois senator is unprepared to be president by saying McCain is the one "ready to lead." It also tries to seize Obama's message of change and cast McCain, a four-term Arizona senator, as a change agent.

Ads slam Lunsford's position on unions Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:02 EDT

FRANKFORT . A Washington-based group with Kentucky advisers is running ads in the state against Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford for his support of a bill dealing with union workplace elections.

The TV and radio ads are part of a larger, eight-state campaign against candidates who support a bill that would allow a work force to unionize without holding a secret ballot election, said J. Justin Wilson, managing director for the Employee Freedom Action Committee.

He emphasized that the non-partisan, non-profit group is not associated with Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's campaign against Lunsford.

The group's ads accuse .some union bosses and their politician friends. of wanting to do away with secret-ballot elections. They contend that employees could be .exposed to intimidation. in joining a union.

Beshear calls for frugal road projects Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:52 EDT

State highway engineer Gilbert Newman recently stopped at a country store and told a surprised clerk that a bypass was planned for the area.

.Why,. the woman responded. .We don't have any traffic..

It's these kinds of projects . bypasses in areas with no congestion and four-lane roads for areas with little traffic . that Newman and the state Transportation Cabinet say need to be eliminated or scaled back.

In a news conference Monday, Transportation Cabinet officials unveiled an initiative to cut the fat out of road projects and save the state money without sacrificing safety. All planned state projects . about 600 . will be examined to see if they can be pared down, Newman said.

Bush encounters dueling demonstrations in Asia Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:56 EDT
President Bush on Wednesday brushed off the raucous demonstrators as he opened a three-nation visit to Asia, saying it's a sign of citizens living in a country where they are free to speak their minds.

The dueling demonstrations by prayerful, flag-waving supporters and rowdy protesters doused by police water cannons reflected sharp political divisions in the U.S.-South Korean relationship, which has endured volatile moments this year, but is still reliable and vital for both sides.

"I enjoy coming to a free society where people are able to express their opinions - and your country is a free society," Bush told South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Lee sought to downplay the protests.

"The majority of the Korean people have been eagerly waiting for your visit," said Lee, who noted that thousands of people had gathered on Tuesday in Seoul to pray for Bush and the future of the U.S.-South Korea relationship.

Obama proposes tapping U.S. oil stockpiles Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:02 EDT

LANSING, Mich. . Barack Obama put forward a broad energy plan Monday designed to end U.S. reliance on imported oil within 10 years and shore up his standing amid a tightening White House race and high-anxiety over gas prices.

Obama's proposal, though, includes two significant reversals of positions he has taken in the past: He had steadfastly fought the idea of limited new offshore drilling and was against tapping the nation's emergency oil stockpile to relieve pump prices that have stubbornly hovered around $4 a gallon.

In a speech in Michigan, the Democratic presidential nominee in waiting also endorsed long-term work on hybrid cars and renewable energy sources.

.Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face,. the Illinois Democrat told a supportive audience as he embarked on a week to focus on energy issues. .It will take nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy,. he said.

Six Republican senators to skip GOP convention Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:11 EDT
Will he or won't he? Vice President Dick Cheney is one of the nation's most prominent Republicans, but there are doubts about whether he will attend the GOP convention.

Cheney press secretary Megan Mitchell left the question open on Tuesday, saying Cheney's schedule has not been set for September. Delegates are scheduled to meet in St. Paul, Minn., on Sept. 1-4., to nominate Arizona Sen. John McCain for president.

Separately, six Republican senators have decided to skip the GOP convention.

Sens. Ted Stevens of Alaska, Gordon Smith of Oregon, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine all face tough re-election campaigns. Two others, Wayne Allard of Colorado and Larry Craig of Idaho, are retiring.

Stevens was indicted last month on felony charges of concealing more than a quarter-million dollars in gifts and services from an oil company that helped renovate his home. His spokesman Charles Abernathy said Stevens normally campaigns instead of attending the convention in years he's up for re-election.

Audit: Park employee stole $75,000 Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:02 EDT

FRANKFORT . A former employee stole $75,000 from Kenlake State Resort Park, according to an audit that recommends ways the state can strengthen its financial oversight of state parks.

The former employee, Amy Hall, 35, has pleaded guilty to theft. She was sentenced Monday in Marshall Circuit Court to five years of probation and restitution for the park's financial loss.

State Auditor Crit Luallen's office worked with state police to investigate Hall's activities.

Kenlake officials found funds missing earlier this year and contacted state police. Parks officials and state police asked Luallen to examine park financial rec.ords.

US: Ivins solely responsible for anthrax attacks Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:15 EDT
Army scientist Bruce Ivins had in his lab highly purified anthrax spores that were linked to the 2001 attacks that killed five and access to the distinctive envelopes used to mail them, the government declared Wednesday, releasing a stack of documents to support a damning though circumstantial case.

Ivins, a brilliant but deeply troubled man who committed suicide last week, was the anthrax killer whose mailings rattled the nation in the worst bioterror case in U.S. history, just a month after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, federal prosecutors asserted. They were backed by court documents that were a combination of hard DNA evidence, suspicious behavior and, sometimes, outright speculation.

Ivins' attorney said the government was "taking a weird guy and convicting him of mass murder" without real evidence. Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa called for a congressional investigation.

Ivins had submitted false anthrax samples to the FBI to throw investigators off his trail and was unable to provide "an adequate explanation for his late laboratory work hours" around the time of the attacks, according to documents that officials made public to support their conclusions.

Investigators also said he sought to frame unnamed co-workers and had immunized himself against anthrax and yellow fever in early September 2001, several weeks before the first anthrax-laced envelope was received in the mail.

Clinton aims to soothe delegates at Dem convention Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:00 EDT
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is seeking a way for her delegates to be heard at the Democratic National Convention, telling supporters such a step will help unify a party that split between her and Sen. Barack Obama during their hard-fought nominating contest.

"I happen to believe that we will come out stronger if people feel that their voices were heard and their views respected. I think that is a very big part of how we actually come out unified," Clinton, D-N.Y., told supporters last week at a California fundraiser. A video clip of her remarks was posted on YouTube.

"Because I know from just what I'm hearing, that there's incredible pent up desire. And I think that people want to feel like, 'OK, it's a catharsis, we're here, we did it, and then everybody get behind Sen. Obama.' That is what most people believe is the best way to go," she said.

The former first lady did not rule out the possibility of having her name placed into nomination at the convention, being held Aug. 25-28 in Denver. But she also said no decisions had been made.

"We are trying work all this through with the (Democratic National Committee) and with the Obama campaign," said Clinton, who suspended her White House bid on June 7 and endorsed Obama, an Illinois senator.

GOP's Pawlenty praises Obama's positive message Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:30 EDT
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, often mentioned as a possible running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, said Wednesday GOP candidates would do well to adopt a positive tone like that of McCain's Democratic rival, Barack Obama.

"Say what you will about Barack Obama," the Minnesota Republican told a conservative group, "people gravitate when you have something positive to say." He added that McCain has been positive as well.

"People want to follow hopeful, optimistic, civil, decent leaders," Pawlenty said in a speech to GOPAC, which helps recruit Republican candidates. "They don't want to follow some negative, scornful person."

Ronald Reagan still offers important lessons for today's Republican Party, Pawlenty said, because the former president was civil, optimistic, pragmatic and a good communicator.

"He actually had some ideas," Pawlenty said, adding that the Republican idea factory has seemed "a little stagnant in recent years."

Judge: No changes to DNC security plan Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:00 EDT
A federal judge declined Wednesday to change security restrictions for protesters at the Democratic National Convention, concluding that parade routes and a demonstration zone established by the city don't infringe on their free speech rights.

Judge Marcia S. Krieger ruled in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of protest groups. They feared the restrictions would keep them from being seen and heard by delegates attending the convention, which begins Aug. 25.

Protesters wanted to be allowed closer to the Pepsi Center during the convention, saying the arena should serve as a symbolic backdrop during their marches and demonstrations.

Krieger's ruling did not address security at Invesco Field at Mile High, where Barack Obama is scheduled to give his acceptance speech Aug. 28, the final day of the convention. A hearing on those security measures is scheduled for Tuesday.

Mark Silverstein, legal director of ACLU-Colorado, said the groups were disappointed.

Key events in the anthrax episode Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:50 EDT
Key dates leading up to the 2001 anthrax attacks and the investigation that followed:

---

2001:

Mid-August: Microbiologist Bruce Ivins begins to spend more evenings in his lab at the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, at Fort Detrick, Md. His normal shift was 7:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Sept. 14-16: Ivins spends three consecutive evening shifts at the lab.

A summary of evidence laid out by prosecutors Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:38 EDT
Summary of evidence against suspected anthrax killer Bruce Ivins, as outlined by Jeffrey Taylor, the U.S. attorney in Washington:

-Investigators identified in early 2005 that the anthrax used in the mailings came from a single flask of spores known as RMR-1029. Ivins created and solely maintained it. Investigators ruled out others who could have accessed the flask, but they could not rule out Ivins.

-Ivins was one of the few scientists who could create spores of "the concentration and purity used in the attacks."

-In the days before the mailings, Ivins worked off-hours, alone at night and on the weekend, in the lab where the anthrax spores and production equipment were stored. He previously had not often done so. He could not adequately explain his reasons for being there.

-Ivins behaved in a way and said things that suggested "consciousness of guilt." He also submitted a questionable sample of anthrax to the FBI and attempted to divert attention away from himself.

Nader predicts he'll make 2008 ballot in 45 states Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:55 EDT

WASHINGTON . Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is quietly making headway in his third bid for president.

He clinched a major victory last Saturday by getting on the California ballot as the nominee of the Peace and Freedom Party. In 2004, Nader wasn't on California's ballot and was on the ballot in only 34 states. He said Wednesday that he's confident of getting on the ballot in 45 states this year.

With the major-party candidates in a close race, Nader could have an impact, perhaps as dramatic as in 2000, when the then-Green Party nominee received more than 97,000 votes in Florida, which Democratic nominee Al Gore lost by 537 votes to George W. Bush. That gave Bush an Electoral College majority and the White House.

Nader is at 3 percent in one recent poll and 6 percent in another.

Candidates roam Rust Belt laying out competing energy policies Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:50 EDT

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio . Democrat Barack Obama blamed Republican energy policies for some of the nation's economic woes Tuesday as his GOP rival John McCain advocated a large expansion of nuclear power.

Both candidates roamed the economically depressed Rust Belt touting their energy plans as concerns about $4-a-gallon gasoline and job losses have emerged as the presidential campaign's hottest issues.

Obama told an audience in Youngstown, Ohio, that the Bush energy policy, crafted in large part by Vice President Dick Cheney, an ex-oilman, tilted to provide tax breaks and favorable treatment for Big Oil and that McCain would expand oil industry tax breaks by $4 billion.

Obama has proposed an excess profits tax on Big Oil to finance a $1,000-per-family energy rebate to deal with high fuel costs.

Obama pokes at McCain over tire-pressure issue Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:23 EDT
Barack Obama taunted Republican presidential rival John McCain on Wednesday for first ridiculing him for advising voters to keep tires inflated and then later acknowledging that the practice saves gasoline.

"It will be interesting to watch this debate between John McCain and John McCain," Obama said as he campaigned in Indiana with Sen. Evan Bayh, widely considered a top-tier candidate for running mate.

Discussing the air-pressure issue during an appearance Tuesday night, McCain said he wasn't opposed to Obama's suggestion. "And could I mention that Senator Obama a couple of days ago said that we ought to all inflate our tires, and I don't disagree with that. The American Automobile Association strongly recommends it, but I also don't think that that's a way to become energy independent."

Obama had noted that keeping tires inflated and cars tuned was endorsed by both NASCAR and AAA and should be part of any comprehensive plan to reduce reliance on imported oil.

In mocking Obama, McCain told a motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D.: "My opponent doesn't want to drill, he doesn't want nuclear power, he wants you to inflate your tires." The Republican National Committee widely distributed tire pressure gauges labeled "Obama energy plan" and suggested that was the Illinois senator's only idea for reducing oil imports, although both candidates have offered multifaceted energy proposals.

Presidential debate commission chooses moderators Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:53 EDT
The Commission on Presidential Debates has named Jim Lehrer and Gwen Ifill of PBS, Tom Brokaw of NBC News and Bob Schieffer of CBS News as moderators of the three presidential debates and one vice presidential face-off.

Lehrer, anchor of "The NewsHour," will moderate the first presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 26. Ifill, a correspondent on the same program and moderator of "Washington Week," will handle the vice presidential debate Oct. 2 in St. Louis.

Brokaw, moderator of "Meet the Press," will handle the second presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn., followed by Schieffer, host of "Face the Nation," who will handle the third and final presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y.

Each 90-minute debate will have a single moderator.

Obama's Muslim outreach director resigns Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:43 EDT
An attorney who volunteered to help Barack Obama improve his relationship with Muslim and Arab-Americans has resigned from the campaign amid questions about his connection to a fundamentalist imam.

Mazen Asbahi started as the campaign's outreach coordinator on July 26, and he resigned in a letter to the campaign Monday. He said he was stepping down "to avoid distracting from Barack Obama's message of change."

Asbahi, an associate at the Chicago law firm Schiff Hardin, said in his letter that he served on the board of the Dow Jones Islamic Index Fund for a few weeks, but resigned "as I became aware of public allegations against another member of the board."

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the other board member during Asbahi's tenure in 2000 was Jamal Said, imam at a fundamentalist-controlled mosque in Illinois. The Justice Department named Said as an unindicted co-conspirator in the racketeering trial last year of several alleged Hamas fundraisers. The case ended in a mistrial. The newspaper said the connections were first exposed by an Internet newsletter.

Obama, who is a Christian, has been fighting false Internet rumors that he is a Muslim. Asbahi, in a post on the Obama campaign blog last week, said that had created "added sensitivities" between the campaign and the Muslim community, and he encouraged Muslims and Arab-Americans to get involved.

McCain opposes farm policies popular in Midwest Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:24 EDT
Republican presidential candidate John McCain opposes the $300 billion farm bill and subsidies for ethanol, positions that both supporters and opponents say might cost him votes he needs in the upper Midwest this November.

His Democratic rival, Barack Obama, is making a more traditional regional pitch: He favors the farm bill approved by Congress this year and subsidies for the Midwest-based ethanol industry. McCain instead has promised to open new markets abroad for farmers to export their commodities.

In his position papers, McCain opposes farm subsidies only for those with incomes of more than $250,000 and a net worth above $2 million. But he's gone further on the stump.

"I don't support agricultural subsidies no matter where they are," McCain said at a recent appearance in Wisconsin. "The farm bill, $300 billion, is something America simply can't afford."

McCain later described the measure, which is very popular throughout the Midwest, as "a $300 billion, bloated, pork-barrel-laden bill" because of subsidies for industries like ethanol.

3 names submitted for vacated justice seat Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:50 EDT

FRANKFORT . Gov. Steve Beshear has 60 days to select a new Kentucky Supreme Court justice from three names provided by a judicial nominating commission on Tuesday.

The new justice will fill the seat left vacant by former Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert of Rockcastle County, who retired last month.

The names of the three attorneys submitted to Beshear by the Judicial Nominating Commission, led by Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr., are Robert W. Dyche III of London, Eddie C. Lovelace of Albany and Daniel J. Venters of Somerset.

Dyche is a former Kentucky Court of Appeals judge. Lovelace has been a circuit judge since 1992, and Venters is a former circuit court and district court judge.

Beshear clears roads for electric car plant Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:50 EDT

FRANKFORT . Gov. Steve Beshear signed an executive order Tuesday allowing low-speed electric vehicles on some state roads in an effort to lure an electric car manufacturing plant to Kentucky.

Beshear directed the Transportation Cabinet to develop and implement a regulation authorizing the use of the vehicles on highways with a posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour or less.

Transportation Secretary Joe Prather said the regulation should be ready in two to three months. In the meantime, the three- or four-wheeled vehicles remain illegal because they top out at speeds around 40 mph.

Beshear said he hopes the order will help Kentucky land a ZAP (Zero Air Pollution) electric car manufacturing plant that would cost more than $100 million to build and equip.

Gasoline costs, energy rivet candidates' attention Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:25 EDT
To understand why Barack Obama and John McCain are emphasizing solutions to the country's energy woes and have scrambled to change their positions, look no further than the voters' distress over $4-a-gallon gasoline and its wide ripple effect.

The presidential candidates' sparring over energy peaked this week as each sought to capitalize on a topic that touches every voter and provides a way to discuss the declining economy at home, national security threats abroad and the changing climate worldwide.

"Sen. McCain's energy plan reads like an early Christmas list for oil and gas lobbyists," Obama charged Wednesday, a day after accusing the GOP of misstating his proposals. He is using the issue to paint the four-term Arizona senator as a Washington insider beholden to special interests while trying to strike a balance on the environment vs. exploration debate that divides Democrats.

Conversely, McCain is leading a Republican Party largely unified in support of oil and gas drilling off U.S. coastlines and is trying to use energy to cut the Democrat's edge in the polls on economic issues. He dubbed Obama "Dr. No" because of his opposition to expanded nuclear power and unlimited offshore drilling. Said McCain on Wednesday: "We need an 'all of the above' plan."

This year energy policies resonate with voters of all political stripes, as high gasoline prices inflate the cost of food, transportation and other necessities. The country's dependence on foreign oil raises national security concerns as U.S. troops fights wars in the oil-rich Middle East. And, the public's concern over global climate change has grown in recent years along with calls for alternative energy sources to curb planet-warming greenhouse gases.

Tire-pressure debate goes on Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:55 EDT

Barack Obama taunted Republican presidential rival John McCain on Wednesday for first ridiculing him for advising voters to keep tires inflated and then later acknowledging that the practice saves gasoline. McCain called on Congress to return from its summer recess to address immediately the U.S. energy crisis, though he missed numerous energy-related votes in the Senate last year.

.It will be interesting to watch this debate between John McCain and John McCain,. Obama said as he campaigned in Indiana with Sen. Evan Bayh, considered a top-tier candidate for running mate.

Discussing the air-pressure issue Tuesday night, McCain said he wasn't opposed to Obama's suggestion. .And could I mention that Senator Obama a couple of days ago said that we ought to all inflate our tires, and I don't disagree with that. The American Automobile Association strongly recommends it, but I also don't think that that's a way to become energy independent..

Obama had noted that keeping tires inflated and cars tuned was endorsed by both NASCAR and AAA and should be part of any comprehensive plan to reduce reliance on imported oil.

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