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 Christian leaders meet privately with Obama
CHICAGO (AP) -- Barack Obama discussed Darfur, the Iraq war, gay rights, abortion and other issues with Christian leaders, including conservatives who have been criticized for praising the Democratic presidential candidate.
Bishop T.D. Jakes, a prominent black clergyman who heads a Dallas megachurch, said Obama took questions Tuesday, listened to participants and discussed his "personal journey of faith."
The discussion "went absolutely everywhere," Jakes told The Associated Press, and "just about every Christian stripe was represented in that room."
Jakes, who does not endorse candidates and said he also hopes to meet with Republican presidential candidate John McCain, said some participants clearly have political differences with Obama. The senator's support for abortion rights and gay rights, among other issues, draws opposition from religious conservatives. Some conservatives have criticized Jakes for praising Obama.
Jakes said the meeting, at a law firm's offices, seemed designed to prompt a wide discussion rather than to result in commitments from either Obama or those attending. Others familiar with the meeting said some participants agreed to attend only because it would be private.
Rich Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella organization for evangelical churches and ministries, said Obama asked participants to share "anything that's on your mind that is of concern to you."
"I think it's important to point out this isn't a group of people who are endorsing Obama," Cizik said in an interview. "People were asked for their insider wisdom and understanding of the religious community."
Mark DeMoss, a spokesman for the Rev. Franklin Graham, said Graham attended and asked Obama whether "he thought Jesus was the way to God, or merely a way." DeMoss declined to discuss Obama's response.
Graham, who succeeded his father as head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, found the senator "impressive" and "warm," DeMoss said.
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Obama starts general campaign as favorite in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A political infrastructure that pushed Barack Obama to victory in the Iowa caucuses and an increase in Democratic voter registration make him the favorite in the state in November, but an intense catch-up effort could put Republican John McCain back in the game, veteran political strategists in both parties say.
"John McCain's problem in Iowa is Obama already has an infrastructure here and McCain doesn't. He pulled his staff out, he pulled his people out," said Iowa House Minority Leader Chris Rants, a Republican. "He has to decide if Iowa is part of his strategy, is Iowa going to be a battleground or not."
Des Moines lawyer and Republican National Committee member Stephen Roberts was equally candid.
"It's a really tough state for (McCain)," he said. "It's possible but it's going to be a long, long road to Tipperary."
Democrats can barely contain their eagerness to start the fall campaign with a candidate who is familiar to the electorate because of the town hall meetings and rallies he held in virtually every corner of the state beginning in February 2007.
Iowa swung both ways in recent elections, going for Democrat Al Gore by just over 4,000 votes in 2000 and favoring President Bush by 12,000 votes in 2004.
Obama has said the state is one of his targets, calling it an important swing state for Democrats in November. He was in Des Moines the night he won Oregon's primary in May, and had planned a swing Wednesday through vote-rich eastern Iowa before he canceled to avoid disrupting flood relief efforts.
Obama won the Jan. 3 caucuses when a record-shattering 240,000 Democrats showed up, giving him a major boost on his way to the nomination in a state that's been trending Democratic. The party now controls the governor's office and both chambers of the Legislature.
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Dems send aid into traditionally GOP exurbs
DELAWARE, Ohio (AP) -- Housing tracts in farm fields aren't the only odd sights showing up in spreading exurbs like this one north of Columbus. Democrats are venturing out here, too, giving the party hope it can win battleground states by at least diluting these local Republican strongholds they know they can't win outright.
"It's still pretty shaky because it's a new idea. Democrats in Delaware County is a real new idea," says Linda Shearer, a gallery owner and Democratic activist. "The law of averages would point out that even if you win over one or two people, you have to start at the grass roots."
National Democrats, sensing an opportunity, have started sending campaign workers into these fast-developing areas, where Democrats got blown out in 2004.
"The exurb counties are going to be critical," says Ed Helvy, chairman of the Democratic Party here in Delaware County. Four years ago, he says, John Kerry steered clear of such areas, "thought he could just grow the base and win the election and that didn't happen."
Nationwide, exurban areas -- far-flung residential areas out beyond the traditional suburbs
-- grew about 31 percent during the 1990s, according to a Brookings Institution analysis. That's twice the rate of their respective urban centers. Delaware County grew by two-thirds in that decade, according to the Census Bureau. Between 2000 and 2006, the county increased 43 percent.
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THE DEMOCRAT
Barack Obama is in Chicago with no public events scheduled.
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THE REPUBLICAN
John McCain speaks to voters in Philadelphia before heading to a fundraiser in Boston.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"Jim Johnson has a very discreet task, as does Eric Holder, and that is simply to gather up information about potential vice presidential candidates. They're not people who I have assigned to a particular job in a future administration."
-- Barack Obama.
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STAT OF THE DAY:
Like the last two general election campaigns, this year's race will focus on about 15 competitive states
-- Iowa, Missouri, Florida, Ohio, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon, New Hampshire and Maine.
[Associated
Press]
Compiled by Ann Sanner and Jerry Estill.
Copyright 2008 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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