Today on the Presidential Campaign Trail

[April 05, 2008]  (AP) -- IN THE HEADLINES

... Its election over, North Dakota still draws Democratic contenders ... Former GOP congressman Bob Barr considers Libertarian presidential bid ... From Wal-Mart moms to Facebook independents, GOP targets voters ...

Obama, Clinton return to ND

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - Two months after North Dakota's primary, the state's Democratic party still managed to attract Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton for the opening day of its convention.

"Some people think the Democrats can't win in North Dakota, so we shouldn't put too much time in here," Obama told a crowd of more than 15,000 on Friday. "I tell you what, we didn't fly over North Dakota. We landed."

Clinton, who spoke an hour later, pledged to stand up for middle- and working-class voters in that state and elsewhere.

Obama and Clinton both stepped away from Pennsylvania and other states with looming votes to speak to the North Dakota Democrats.

"We can't afford to give John McCain the chance to carry on George Bush's can't-do, won't-do, won't-even-try style of politics," Obama said. "We are a better country than that."

North Dakota's senior senator, Kent Conrad, was an early Obama supporter. The state ended up backing Obama overwhelmingly in its Feb. 5 caucuses. This weekend, Democrats will decide which people are sent as delegates to the party's national convention.

That creates the chance for last-minute maneuvering by the Clinton and Obama campaigns to pick up an extra delegate or two.

The North Dakota delegates determined by caucus are split 8-5 for Obama. In addition, six of the state's seven unpledged superdelegates are backing the Illinois senator.

In his speech, delivered in a packed football arena, Obama mocked the Bush administration and stressed the midwestern roots of his mother and her parents.

For her part, Clinton vowed to press on with her campaign even though she narrowly trails Obama in the popular vote and among pledged delegates.

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Ex-congressman weighs presidential bid

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Republican congressman Bob Barr is hinting strongly that he'll jump into the presidential race as a Libertarian.

Barr, 59, who left the GOP in 2006 over what he called bloated spending and civil liberties intrusions by the Bush administration, is expected to make an announcement Saturday at a Libertarian conference in Kansas City.

Should he run, Barr might sap votes from Republican John McCain, but whether it would be enough to alter the outcome of the presidential vote in any state was uncertain.

In a phone interview Friday, Barr wouldn't divulge his plans. But in response to widespread speculation that he will announce he is forming an exploratory committee, he said, "I do not intend to waste anybody's time that's there."

A former U.S. attorney in Atlanta, Barr served eight years as a Republican congressman from Georgia before losing his seat in 2002 after a redistricting.

When he announced he was joining the Libertarian Party in 2006, he said he had become disillusioned with Republicans' failure to cut government spending and with post-Sept. 11 erosions in civil liberty protections. He has been particularly critical of President Bush over the war in Iraq and says the government is endorsing torture and illegally spying on U.S. citizens.

He currently runs a lobbying and public affairs firm with offices in Atlanta and outside Washington.

In the 1990s, he became a darling of conservatives for his persistent attacks on President Clinton. He was among the first to press for impeaching Clinton and helped manage House Republicans' impeachment case before the Senate.

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GOP meeting targets voters

SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. (AP) - Remember the soccer moms?

The top campaign official for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain on Friday identified five groups of target voters, a wide-ranging bloc that includes young people, Hispanics and what he called "Wal-Mart moms," "Rehab Republicans" and "Facebook independents."

Addressing the Republican National Committee's meeting of state chairmen at posh Tamaya Resort, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said those voters will play a major role in this fall's general election.

He urged GOP officials to familiarize themselves now.

"Go to Wal-Mart and stand next to the greeter for 20 minutes," he said. "Go see the voters we're targeting. If you see them, you'll understand them."

Such political and cultural talk rises every four years, when campaigns identify groups that are evenly divided over which presidential candidate to support, as well as the issues those people view as most important.

Political analysts during the 1990s chose America's soccer moms as the desired swing voters - middle- to upper-income women who shuttled their school-age children to activities such as soccer practice.

This year, Davis said it's not just McCain's White House bid that stands to benefit from securing support from targeted groups, but also GOP candidates for federal offices and state legislative seats further down the ticket.

Davis listed the targeted voters in this order:

- Wal-Mart moms. The description sounds like an updated version of soccer moms, battling a sluggish economy. "They shop at Wal-Mart," Davis said. "They don't have expensive tastes. They are suburban by nature."

- Rehab Republicans. Longtime GOP members "who are not so enthusiastic over the last few years," Davis said.

- Youth. Davis acknowledged the energy and enthusiasm Democratic candidate Barack Obama is drawing at rallies attracting thousands of young voters.

- Facebook independents. Tech-savvy, social networkers who are fiscally and socially conservative. "A critical, growing group," he said.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigns in Oregon. Barack Obama holds a rally in Montana.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain gives a speech in Arizona.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I have absolutely nothing against rich people," Hillary Clinton told North Dakota Democrats at their party convention. "As a matter of fact, my husband - much to my surprise and his - has made a lot of money since he left the White House doing what he loves doing most, talking to people."

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STAT OF THE DAY:

In Oregon, in the past seven weeks, nearly 10,000 voters have refiled as Democrats, more than 1 percent of the state's 764,000 registered Democrats. More than 3,500 of them were Republicans; almost all of the rest had been nonaffiliated voters.

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Compiled by Ann Sanner and Ronald Powers.

[Associated Press; ldnauthor]

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