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 McCain
responds to lobbyist reports
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- Sen. John McCain, responding to published reports about his relationship with a lobbyist, says he "will not allow a smear campaign" to distract from his presidential campaign.
The New York Times quoted anonymous aides as saying they had urged McCain and lobbyist Vicki Iseman to stay away from each other prior to his failed presidential campaign in 2000. In its own follow-up story, The Washington Post quoted longtime aide John Weaver, who split with McCain last year, as saying he met with lobbyist Iseman and urged her to stay away from McCain.
Weaver told the Times he arranged the meeting after "a discussion among the campaign leadership" about Iseman.
Aides said McCain, now on the verge of securing the Republican nomination, would address the allegations at a news conference Thursday morning.
The published reports said McCain and Iseman each denied having a romantic relationship. Neither story asserted that there was a romantic relationship and offered no evidence that there was, reporting only that aides worried about the appearance of McCain having close ties to a lobbyist with business before the Senate Commerce Committee on which McCain served.
The stories allege that McCain wrote letters and pushed legislation involving television station ownership that would have benefited Iseman's clients.
In a statement issued by his presidential campaign, McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said:
"It is a shame that The New York Times has lowered its standards to engage in a hit-and-run smear campaign. John McCain has a 24-year record of serving our country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the issues at stake in this election.
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Teamsters union endorses Obama
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Barack Obama won an endorsement from the powerful Teamsters union on Wednesday, critical labor support for the Democratic front-runner with contests looming in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.
"There was very, very strong support for him" among the union's members, said James P. Hoffa, president of the 1.4-million member union, in an interview with The Associated Press.
Hoffa met with Obama on Wednesday in Texas, the site of the next Democratic primary against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Teamsters endorsement is expected to help Obama there and in Ohio on March 4, as well as in Pennsylvania on April 22.
The Teamsters have 80,000 members in Pennsylvania, 60,000 in Ohio and 17,000 in Texas, Hoffa said. Besides those members on the ground, the Teamsters plan to have their members and their families from around the country work for Obama, Hoffa said.
Union support will be key in the Democratic primaries in the next few weeks, particularly in Ohio on March 4 and Pennsylvania on April 22. Ohio and Pennsylvania have some of the nation's largest number of union workers, with more than 15 percent of the work force unionized in Pennsylvania and more than 14 percent in Ohio.
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Clinton: Obama offers words, not actions
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton dismissed Democratic rival Barack Obama on Wednesday as leading a movement with little to show for his eloquence and promises.
"It's time to get real about how we actually win this election," Clinton declared at a fundraiser at Hunter College. "It's time that we move from good words to good works, from sound bites to sound solutions ... This campaign goes on!"
With her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on the ropes after 10 straight losses to Obama, Clinton went beyond her frequent complaint that the Illinois senator lacked the experience to be president. She depicted his candidacy as a "campaign about a campaign" while casting herself as a champion of the middle class.
"Others might be joining a movement. I'm joining you on the night shift, on the day shift," Clinton said to loud applause and cheers.
The former first lady congratulated Obama for his victories in Wisconsin and Hawaii on Tuesday and acknowledged he had inspired voters to dream again. But she said she was the candidate best suited to fulfill those dreams.
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Obama increases delegate lead
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama captured most of the delegates in Wisconsin and Hawaii Tuesday, increasing his lead in the race for the Democratic nomination for president.
Obama won at least 56 delegates in the two states, with one still to be awarded. Hillary Rodham Clinton won at least 37.
In the overall race for the nomination, Obama led with 1,351 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton had 1,262.
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 Obama has built the lead by winning 10 straight contests since Super Tuesday. Among pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses, Obama had a 154-delegate edge. It takes 2,025 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.
On the Republican side, McCain won at least 34 delegates in Wisconsin and Washington state, with 22 delegates still to be awarded. The race in one Wisconsin congressional district was too close to call Wednesday, and complete results in Washington could take several days.
Overall, McCain had 957 delegates and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had 254. It takes 1,191 delegates to claim the Republican nomination.
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Huckabee urges Texans to keep him in
PLANO, Texas (AP) -- Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee told Texas voters Wednesday that the race "ain't over until Texas says it's over."
"We win Texas and it all changes," Huckabee said of his long-shot campaign.
The former Arkansas governor told about 1,000 people at Collin County Community College in suburban Dallas that he's the best choice for conservative voters in "the largest Republican state in the country." He promised to ban abortions and gay marriage, and his pledge to reform the tax code brought the loudest applause of his 50-minute speech.
Huckabee continues to campaign in Texas and elsewhere, despite Republican rival John McCain's almost certain nomination. The Arizona senator is far ahead of Huckabee in the race for the 1,191 delegates needed to secure the nomination.
Huckabee hasn't won a primary since Feb. 9, when he scored a narrow victory in Louisiana and a big one in Kansas.
Texas votes March 4.
"I don't know if any person running for office has ever depended on a single state the way I am depending on Texas," Huckabee said. "Texas is an awfully big state. And it's going to make an awfully big noise come March the 4th."
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Bill Clinton: Hillary needs Texas, Ohio
BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) -- Former President Clinton said Wednesday he believes his wife needs victories in the Texas and Ohio primaries next month to save her presidential candidacy.
"If she wins in Texas and Ohio, I think she'll be the nominee," Clinton told several hundred supporters during a campaign appearance for Hillary Rodham Clinton in a downtown parking lot. "If you don't deliver for her, I don't think she can be."
It was an acknowledgment he repeated earlier in Galveston when he began a daylong Texas tour trying to stop the momentum of Sen. Barack Obama, his wife's rival for the Democratic nomination.
Texas and Ohio hold primaries March 4.
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THE DEMOCRATS
Hillary Rodham Clinton attends a reception in New York before heading to Texas for rallies in Hidalgo and Brownsville. Barack Obama holds a rally in Dallas.
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THE REPUBLICANS
John McCain campaigns in Ohio and Illinois. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee holds a rally in Plano, Texas.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"It's time that we move from good words to good works, from sound bites to sound solutions ... This campaign goes on!"
-- Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking at a fundraiser at Hunter College in New York.
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STAT OF THE DAY:
The first year both parties held a presidential primary in Texas with a direct vote for candidates was 1980. Jimmy Carter defeated Edward M. Kennedy in the Democratic race; among Republicans, Ronald Reagan edged past George H.W. Bush.
[Associated
Press]
Compiled by Ann Sanner.
Copyright 2008 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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