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WASHINGTON (AP) -- John and Elizabeth Edwards stood side-by-side in the North Carolina sunshine to announce that her cancer was back and that his run for the presidency would go forward at full speed. It was a sympathetic tableau that drew an immediate outpouring of well wishes from people of all political persuasions. "You can cower in the corner and hide or you can be tough and go out there and stand up for what you believe in," Edwards said. His wife said her illness was a hurdle they wou...

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WASHINGTON - Democrat John Edwards said Thursday that his presidential campaign "goes on strongly" in the face of a repeat cancer diagnosis for his wife, Elizabeth, a somber development that thrust his White House bid into uncharted territory.

The couple revealed that Elizabeth Edwards' breast cancer had spread to her bone during a news conference designed to reassure the public about the prognosis for her health and his candidacy."The bottom line is, her cancer is back," said John Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee and former senator, at a news conference in their hometown of Chapel Hill, N.C. "We are very optimistic about this, because having been through some struggles together in the past, we know that the k...

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WASHINGTON — Democrat John Edwards said Thursday that his presidential campaign "goes on strongly" in the face of a repeat cancer diagnosis for his wife, Elizabeth, a somber development that thrust his White House bid into uncharted territory.

The couple revealed that Elizabeth Edwards' breast cancer had spread to her bone during a news conference designed to reassure the public about the prognosis for her health and his candidacy.

"The bottom line is, her cancer is back," said John Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee and former senator, at a news conference in their hometown of Chapel Hill, N.C. "We are very optimistic about this, because having been through some struggles together in the past, we know that the key is to keep your head up and keep moving and be strong."

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WASHINGTON - Charges of blame were flying Thursday for the meltdown of the high-risk mortgage market as pressure mounted for Congress to do something about rising foreclosures among homeowners unable to meet high payments.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. - When presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife stood before TV cameras Thursday to share some of their most personal family business, the couple looked the image of solidarity, courage and commitment.

Elizabeth Edwards' cancer had returned. It was incurable, but treatable. Edwards put his arm around his wife and pulled her close. The personally painful moment was laid out for the world to see.

In this era of candidates-as-open-books, they had no choice. More than ever, the personal lives of the candidates running for president - for better or worse - have been brought to the forefront. And, voters, more than ever, demand such transparency.

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Internet video sensation that targeted Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton now has rival Sen. Barack Obama on the spot.

Heralded by many as the embodiment of Web-driven citizen activism, the mysterious YouTube ad now stands revealed as the work of a Democratic operative employed by a consulting firm with Obama links.

"It's true ... yeah, it's me," said Philip de Vellis, a 33-year-old strategist with Blue State Digital, a Washington company that advises Democratic candidates and liberal groups.

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Charges of blame were flying Thursday for the meltdown of the high-risk mortgage market as pressure mounted for Congress to do something about rising foreclosures among homeowners unable to meet high payments.

Under fire from lawmakers, federal regulators said they lacked full authority to prevent the crisis spawned during the soaring housing boom of 2003-2005.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, laid out what he called a "chronology of regulatory neglect" as banks and other lenders loosened their standards for making riskier mortgage loans during the boom.

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WASHINGTON ? John and Elizabeth Edwards stood side-by-side in the North Carolina sunshine to announce that her cancer was back and that his run for the presidency would go forward at full speed. It was a sympathetic tableau that drew an immediate outpouring of well wishes from people of all political persuasions.

"You can cower in the corner and hide or you can be tough and go out there and stand up for what you believe in," Edwards said. His wife said her illness was a hurdle they would surmount together.

That sort of can-do optimism in a grim and unavoidable situation may well bring short-term benefits to a campaign trying to keep up with Democratic heavy-hitters Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. But the longer-term political ramifications of his pursuing the presidency during her health crisis are unknown, and could well hinge on Mrs. Edwards' health.

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If you thought that water restrictions and a cross-dressing fake cop making "citizen arrests" in Boca Raton were all you had to consider this weekend, think again.

Dick Cheney is coming. So are Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and Newt Gingrich.

Yes, it's going to be a big political weekend here, as national leaders invade Palm Beach County to rub shoulders and raise money from party loyalists, probably while decrying how partisan politics is ruining America.

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WASHINGTON Doctors don't yet know exactly how widespread Elizabeth Edwards' returned cancer is.They do know this much: it's been found in her right rib. And a suspicious spot in her lung is also being checked out.Experts say once cancer returns to spread beyond the breast, it's no longer curable. But it can be held in check, sometimes for years.The head of the breast cancer prevention program at the New York University Cancer Institute says it's "hopefully and very likely treatable." But Doctor ...

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John Edwards is to continue with his bid for the US Presidency even though his wife has been diagnosed with cancer for the second time.

The Democrat ran for the White House in 2004, eventually becoming running mate to John Kerry.

His wife Elizabeth was diagnosed with breast cancer the day after Mr Edwards and Mr Kerry lost the election.

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At the end of the 2004 presidential campaign, Elizabeth Edwards discovered a malignant lump in her breast and became a symbol of fortitude in the face of adversity for millions of women battling breast cancer.

White House 2008

Swamp coverage

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - John Edwards said Thursday that his wife is now battling an incurable reappearance of cancer but vowed to continue his second bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly," Edwards told reporters, his wife by his side.

Earlier Thursday, MSNBC.com incorrectly reported that Edwards would suspend his campaign because of his wife's illness. The report was based on a statement an Edwards friend made to Politico.com, a political Web site, and a source who spoke to NBC.

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If the 2008 presidential election were held on YouTube, Barack Obama would win in a landslide.Candidates of both parties have established channels on the video-sharing site. Earlier this month, YouTube set up a hub specifically for '08 candidates.It has attracted the participation of Democrats: Illinois Sen. Obama, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Connecticut Sen....

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The countdown to the Final Four is on, and March Madness consumes us. Watching basketball has become our rights of spring. But things are moving so fast, I get them confused.For a while I had Anna Nicole Smith mixed up with Nicole Brown Simpson. I assumed that O.J. had moved to the Bahamas.Hillary Clinton compared herself to John Kennedy in having to break down barriers. Most people find a greater resemblance with Kennedy in Bill.Scooter Libby seems to resemble G. Gordon Liddy, the architect of ...

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The creator of a widely circulated viral web video portraying Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton as an Orwellian Big Brother was identified Wednesday as an employee of an Internet consulting firm that works for one of her opponents, Sen. Barack Obama.

The Obama campaign denied any involvement in the ad and the consulting firm said it fired the employee immediately after the company learned of his role.

White House 2008

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) ? Whether Apple Inc. likes it or not, its classic "1984" Macintosh television ad, which aired only during the Super Bowl that year, has been reincarnated with a political veneer and is becoming one of the latest hits on Google Inc.'s YouTube.

A copy of the original commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, has been remade into a satirical attack piece against presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, replacing the Big Brother figure with the Democratic senator from New York instead. It then ends with a message supporting her opponent Sen. Barack Obama and a fruity Apple-like logo that has been converted into an "O." The woman runner in the commercial has also been modified so that she's wearing an iPod.

The creator of the so-called online video mash-up is unknown, and Obama's campaign has denied being behind it.

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WASHINGTON ? The mystery creator of the Orwellian YouTube ad against Hillary Rodham Clinton is a Democratic operative who worked for a digital consulting firm with ties to rival Sen. Barack Obama.

Philip de Vellis, a strategist with Blue State Digital, acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press that he was the creator of the video, which portrayed Clinton as a Big Brother figure and urged support for Obama's presidential campaign.

De Vellis, 33, said he resigned from the firm on Wednesday after he learned that he was about to be unmasked by the HuffingtonPost.com., a liberal news and opinion Internet site.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. ? Whether Apple Inc. likes it or not, its classic "1984" Macintosh television ad, which aired only during the Super Bowl that year, has been reincarnated with a political veneer and is becoming one of the latest hits on Google Inc.'s YouTube.

A copy of the original commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, has been remade into a satirical attack piece against presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, replacing the Big Brother figure with the Democratic senator from New York instead. It then ends with a message supporting her opponent Sen. Barack Obama and a fruity Apple-like logo that has been converted into an "O." The woman runner in the commercial has also been modified so that she's wearing an iPod.

The creator of the so-called online video mash-up was identified Wednesday as Philip de Vellis, a strategist who worked with a digital consulting company that has ties to Obama. The Illinois senator's campaign has denied being behind the ad.

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The Southeast Valley Insider offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at government, politics and other matters in Chandler, Ahwatukee Foothills, Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, Apache Junction, Queen Creek and Pinal County.

The February issue of Vanity Fair wasn't all supermodels and society gossip. There were some politicians in there, too.

That's right, smooshed between stories about the new Imelda Marcos fashion line and an expos into the life of Demi Moore is a story about the new "ruling class" in Washington, titled "Blue is the new Red."

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Barack Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ, believes in the following precepts and covenants:

1. Commitment to God.

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The article on Hillary Clinton, written by Kathleen Parker, was vicious.

How does one complain about the singing voice that God gave us? We're not all gifted with beautiful voices. As far as speaking voices go, I like hers better than Barack Obama's. I'm sure millions of others feel the same way. God gives us certain attributes and no two are identical.

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Re: Larry Smilgius? ?Don?t be soft-hearted? letter.

It is appropriate that the Riviera Golf Estate association?s ?ruling authority? should enforce the rules established for the ?health, safety and benefit of the majority.?

But, how does Paul Smith?s hobby of making dominoes infringe on anyone?s health, safety or benefit?

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Even though the star of the show won't be here, supporters of Sen. Barack Obama will kick off his Michigan presidential campaign Saturday.

Obama, the rookie Democratic senator from Illinois who has been gaining support in his presidential bid, will likely personally campaign in Michigan in May.

In a poll released earlier this week, Obama placed second to Sen. Hillary Clinton among Michigan Democrats. The poll by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA showed Clinton with 45 percent support among Democrats, while Obama placed second with 29 percent. Former Sen. John Edwards, running mate of John Kerry in his unsuccessful 2004 campaign for president, was favored by 16 percent. No other Democrat hit double digits.

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TALLAHASSEE - Florida legislators came closer Wednesday to moving the state's 2008 presidential primary to late January or early February.

But the bid to get more clout in selecting a president may suffer from a crowd of others hoping for something similar.

"In the past, we have been taken for granted," Rep. Terry Fields, D-Jacksonville, said before the House voted 115-1 to approve the idea. Moving the primary forward would make it "possible for us to be a key player on the national stage."

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Our generation would never stand for segregation. We know the n-word is taboo. Slavery is a smear on our nation's past for even the least open-minded of our citizens. We even devote a whole month to learning black history - we're educated, right? Those dark days of our country are in the past, and it's high time to move on, right?

The coverage of Hurricane Katrina illustrated that our communities are still vastly separated by race. Sen. Joe Biden described presidential candidate Barack Obama as "articulate," as if that was some kind of surprise. Walt Disney just announced its first black princess ever.

In the past year, Kent State has seen alleged acts of police brutality aimed at blacks and ignorant awards given to the "blackest" white sorority girls. Just this past week, some students cried foul when a black man lost a campus election. Our local high school received a new paint job of an appalling variety.

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The Democrats in the House, about as bereft of seriousness as a Laurel and Hardy routine, are pumping legislation to get the United States out of Iraq by the end of August 2008, and what we need here, I think, is something Australian.

I don't mean just anything Australian, but someone with as sharp a tongue as that country's conservative Prime Minister John Howard, who once took a look at a proposal by Sen. Barack Obama to evacuate U.S. troops by March 2008 and then summed up the obvious.

''If I were running al-Qaida in Iraq,'' he said, ''I would put a circle around March 2008 and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats.''

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Mystery creator of anti-Clinton ad identified, linked to Obama camp

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WASHINGTON - The mystery creator of the Orwellian YouTube ad against Hillary Rodham Clinton is a Democratic operative who worked for a digital consulting firm with ties to rival Sen. Barack Obama.Philip de Vellis, a strategist with Blue State Digital, acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press that he was the creator of the video, which portrayed Clinton as a Big Brother figure and urged support for Obama's presidential campaign.De Vellis, 33, said he resigned from the firm on Wednes...

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When your children go to MySpace on the Internet, they may find unlikely 'friends' hoping to get their attention.

Politicians are using the site to try to win the support of young voters.

If you look at MySpace, you might be surprised at just how many politicians have their profiles posted online. Rudy Guiliani and John McCain are among them.

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WASHINGTON - The initial goal was to raise $500,000.

Ambitions were then scaled back to about $250,000, and then

$200,000, for U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential

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ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia sought to elbow its way onto the presidential stage on Tuesday as the state House approved a bill that would move the state's presidential primary up a month to Feb. 5.

Supporters say it would allow the Peach State to play a greater role in picking the next commander in chief, although some worry the state could get lost in the battle for the big electoral prizes of California, New York, Texas and Florida.

They are among the more than 20 other states who are either holding their primaries or caucuses Feb. 5 or considering doing so, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State.

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NEW YORK (AP) -- The Iraq war, a defining issue of the 2008 presidential race, has turned into a proxy fight between Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama over credibility and leadership. Obama has cast his early and forceful opposition to the war as a key test of presidential judgment. The Clinton team has begun openly challenging his claim of political purity and authenticity on the volatile issue. The matter came to a head Monday at a forum at Harvard University, where Cl...

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NEW YORK ? The Iraq war, a defining issue of the 2008 presidential race, has turned into a proxy fight between Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama over credibility and leadership.

Obama has cast his early and forceful opposition to the war as a key test of presidential judgment. The Clinton team has begun openly challenging his claim of political purity and authenticity on the volatile issue.

The matter came to a head Monday at a forum at Harvard University, where Clinton strategist Mark Penn squared off with Obama adviser David Axelrod over the Illinois senator's voting record on the war. But beneath the squabble lay an acute recognition of the depth of voter anger over Iraq, especially among Democratic primary voters.

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Dueling Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are veering onto collision course over Iraq, as the war which ripped schisms in U.S. politics now tears at the 2008 White House race.

As the two senators join their party's bid to crank up political heat on President George W. Bush with the conflict grinding into a fifth year, their campaigns are, in the words of one Obama aide, "savaging" each other on the war.

The building confrontation, which has already sparked several rounds of shadow boxing between the rivals, is a sign the war will have a potent impact on early skirmishes of the 2008 presidential campaign.

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I write this from experience, having met him in 1982 when he dropped by the Sun-Sentinel for a meeting with one of my Editorial Board colleagues and me.

Back then, Giuliani was associate attorney general, the third-highest member of the Reagan Justice Department, behind the attorney general and the solicitor general.

He left no doubt about his rank, since the literature he passed out had at the top in bold type:

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ATLANTA - Georgia sought to elbow its way onto the presidential stage Tuesday as the state House approved a bill that would move the state's presidential primary up a month to Feb. 5.

Supporters say it would allow the Peach State to play a greater role in picking the president, though some worry the state could get lost in the battle for the big electoral prizes of California, New York, Texas and Florida.

They are among the more than 20 other states who are either holding their primaries or caucuses Feb. 5 or considering doing so, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State.

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It's nearly 20 months before election day, 2008, and already pollsters are making predictions about which presidential candidate has the edge. On the Democratic side, it's likely to be a heated battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the nomination, unless John Edwards cranks up his machine, and Al Gore stays out.

Republicans have a choice between Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, unless Mitt Romney is able to make his name a household word.

All of the candidates are carrying personal or political baggage, and you can expect revelations of every last sin - real or perceived - candidates are guilty of right up until Nov. 3, 2008. Trust us.

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WASHINGTON — "Bill and Al's excellent adventure" ended tensely in the Clinton impeachment crisis and the Gore election loss — the heady '92 campaign a distant memory. Now they're back in Washington, two policy wonks cutting up the rug in the capital once more.

The old boys on the campaign bus are on separate journeys that rarely bring them in front of Washington crowds, much less on the same day. Tuesday was an exception.

The former president, a judiciously used weapon in New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, was the headliner for a fundraiser for his wife Tuesday night, pulling in more than $2.7 million from 1,000 or so guests. That was more than double the amount raised at a similar event Sunday in New York.

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CABAZON -- American Indian Democrats have set the stage for an unprecedented Prez on the Rez Presidential candidate forum on the Morongo Band of Mission Indians Reservation in Cabazon.

Rumblings of the forum with Democratic presidential contenders have reverberated across Indian Country since January, and dealt with at least one other front-runner site: New Mexicos Sandia Pueblo Indian Reservation.

Official confirmation came Tuesday: The event that will showcase candidates and demonstrate the political brawn of Indian voters will be held Aug. 23 at Morongo Casino Resort & Spas Event Center in Cabazon, about 90 miles from Los Angeles and 20 miles from Palm Springs.

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Conservative icon Newt Gingrich has wiped away whatever doubts I had that he might be planning to run for president.

The former House speaker has revealed on national television that he conducted an affair with a young staffer, who is now his wife, while seeking President Bill Clinton?s impeachment in connection with, of all things, an affair with a young intern. Gingrich admitted in an interview with James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group, that he had ?fallen short of my own standards. There?s certainly times when I?ve fallen short of God?s standards.?

I leaped to one conclusion: Oh, yeah, Newt?s running.

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Barack Obama wasn't running for any office in 1988 when he joined Trinity United Church of Christ after years as a religious skeptic.

But now he's running for president, so that affiliation is under scrutiny.

His membership in the popular South Side Chicago church is causing some discomfort for Obama and Trinity's sometimes-fiery pastor, Jeremiah Wright Junior.

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DAVENPORT - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he's not surprised increased U.S. troop movements in Baghdad have created "some improvement in certain neighborhoods" but says we haven't "seen any real significant difference over what we've seen in the last year.

Senator Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, had a one-on-one conversation with NewsChannel 8's Jim Mertens at the River Music Experience, a block from the Quad City Radisson Hotel where he spent Saturday night.  After the interview, Senator Obama continued his eastern Iowa campaign tour taking him to Muscatine and Burlington.

Among the topics covered was the Democratic Party's decision to cancell an August debate, to be aired on FOX News, after FOX News chairman Roger Ailes jokingly referred to Obama's name.

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CHICAGO (AP) -- A then 26-year-old Barack Obama walked down the aisle of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, knelt beneath a cross suspended from its rafters and, as he later explained it, committed himself to God after years as a religious skeptic. In those early days at the self-described "unashamedly black" church, the future Democratic presidential candidate was moved to tears by a sermon from its activist pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., whom he has portrayed as his spiritua...

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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson concedes he's no political rock star, but asserts he is the rock-solid candidate for president of the United States.

The candidate spoke to about 100 people at a fundraiser Monday morning at the home of John and Debbie Blake at 865 Sayles Blvd.

Richardson, 59, pitched his candidacy based on long seasoning in public life, international experience, moderate views, status as the only Westerner in the presidential field, dedication to hard work - and the fact that he's a next-door-neighbor.

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      Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney have emerged as the leading presidential favorites among party insiders, according to a new Los Angeles Times poll, which found deep partisan divisions over the country's direction and top issues in the 2008 campaign.

Hillary Clinton Mitt Romney

      The survey showed former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina in second place among Democratic Party leaders, ahead of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. It pointed up danger signs for Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who trailed Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, the leader among Republicans in national voter surveys.

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Illinois Sen. Barack Obama brought his Democratic presidential campaign to Oklahoma for the first time Monday with a promise to end the war in Iraq and change the culture of political gamesmanship in Washington. "We've got a war that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged," Obama said as a crowd of more than 1,000 people erupted in cheers and applause. Obama said the Iraq war, which enters its fifth year Tuesday, has diminished the natio...

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Monday that U.S. foreign policy's concentration on the Middle East cost the country progress on other important issues and that Latin America has been virtually ignored. "My point is that Latin America is a very important part of the world," Richardson said, noting that he would meet with leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as part of a broader Latin American policy plan. Calling President Bush's recent trip to the re...

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As they court the evangelicals who have become so crucial to their party, Republican presidential candidates are stepping into the middle of a family fight.

Christian conservative activists are more split than ever over whether to keep the movement's focus on abortion, marriage and sexual chastity - or scrap that approach as too narrow.

The founders of the religious right, now in the twilight of their leadership, see even the suggestion of expanding the agenda as a dangerous distraction. In public, and sometimes in personal ways, they are trying to beat back the challenge.

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      BOSTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama got more than an education when he attended Harvard Law School in the late 1980s. He also got a healthy stack of parking tickets, most of which he never paid.

      The Illinois senator shelled out $375 in January — two weeks before he officially launched his presidential campaign — to finally pay for 15 outstanding parking tickets and their associated late fees.

      The story was first reported Wednesday by The Somerville News.

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WASHINGTON - The most liberal member of Congress running for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination isn't Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

It's Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

And the Republican candidate who's grown less conservative over his years in Congress? Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

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The public reaction to Bloody Sunday in Selma -- where civil rights marchers faced clubs, fire hoses and dogs in a police riot -- led directly to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Some 42 years later, the anniversary of Bloody Sunday enjoyed national attention when the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama converged for the ceremonies.

Sens. Obama and Clinton gave virtually simultaneous speeches, carried back to back on the news channels. Both spoke eloquently about the sacrifice, courage, dignity and discipline of the marchers. Both acknowledged that they -- or their candidacies -- were an offspring of that movement. Both reminded America that while we've come a long way, we've got a long way yet to go. Both called on a new generation -- the Joshua generation, in Sen. Obama's words -- to pick up the torch, to put on their marching shoes and to continue the journey.

Where should that journey go? What dark places need to be lit by that torch? What is the civil rights agenda now? What moral cause calls upon people of conscience?

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