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 N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson endorsing Obama
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, calling him a "once-in-a- lifetime leader" who can unite the nation and restore America's international leadership.
Richardson, who dropped out of the Democratic race in January, is to appear with Obama on Friday at a campaign event in Portland, Ore., The Associated Press has learned.
The governor's endorsement comes as Obama leads among delegates selected at primaries and caucuses but with national public opinion polling showing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton pulling ahead of him amid controversy over statements by his former pastor.
Richardson has been relentlessly wooed by Obama and Clinton for his endorsement. As a Democratic superdelegate, the governor plays a part in the tight race for nominating votes and could bring other superdelegates to Obama's side. He also has been mentioned as a potential running mate for either candidate.
No primaries are scheduled until Pennsylvania's on April 22, a gap in time Obama hopes to use for such announcements to assert that he is the front-runner for the nomination.
"I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world," Richardson said in a statement obtained by the AP.
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Motive sought for Obama passport breach
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department says it is trying to determine whether three contract workers had a political motive for looking at Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's passport file.
Two of the employees were fired for the security breach and the third was disciplined but is still working, the department said Thursday night. It would not release the names of those who were fired and disciplined or the names of the two companies for which they worked. The department's inspector general is investigating.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that for now it appears that nothing other than "imprudent curiosity" was involved in three separate breaches of the Illinois senator's personal information, "but we are taking steps to reassure ourselves that that is, in fact, the case."
It is not clear whether the employees saw anything other than the basic personal data such as name, citizenship, age and place of birth that is required when a person fills out a passport application.
Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama's presidential campaign, called for a complete investigation.
"This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years," Burton said. "Our government's duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes."
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Clinton talks economics in Indiana trip
ANDERSON, Ind. (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to persuade Hoosier voters Thursday that her policies could help boost a lagging economy if she were president.
Clinton told a crowd of about 5,000 people in hard-hit Anderson about taking steps she said would protect American jobs such as rewriting trade agreements and ending tax breaks for corporations that send jobs out of the country.
Her toughest language drew the loudest applause from the crowd that filled more than half of the Anderson High School gym.
"We're going to say to the people who run American businesses, isn't it time to put America first again?" she said.
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 Anderson has been one of the country's most dramatic examples of the decline of traditional Rust Belt manufacturing. The automotive industry once employed about 27,000 people in the city, but the last of those jobs left last summer when Delphi Corp. halted production at its factory.
Clinton's trips to Terre Haute and Anderson fit with a strategy to build support in areas that have been hit with job losses. She also spoke at a rally Thursday night in Evansville to cap her first campaign swing through Indiana leading up to the May 6 primary.
Obama outspends and outraises Clinton
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton upped the tempo of her fundraising and her spending last month, only to be eclipsed by rival Barack Obama. At month's end, with debts of nearly $9 million, her money was nearly spent and he was sitting atop $30 million in available cash.
Obama's campaign spent at a rate of nearly $1.5 million a day in February
-- a crucial month that began with the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday and ended with both candidates marching to a showdown March 4 in Texas and Ohio. Clinton, riding her best fundraising period yet, spent about $1 million a day on average.
But reports filed with the Federal Election commission late Thursday showed that Obama set a single month fundraising record, with more than $55 million in contributions.
Both Democrats ended up with more than $30 million in the bank, but Clinton can't use two thirds of her cash on hand because it's only for the general election. That and her debt left her with less than $3 million in the black. The debt doesn't include the $5 million she lent her campaign in January.
His fundraising juggernaut is unprecedented and gave him a significant advantage this month as they prepared for a confrontation in Pennsylvania April 22. Obama's spending edge continued into March. An analysis of ad spending between Feb. 10 and March 10 by TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG had Obama spending $17 million to Clinton's $8.6 million.
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THE DEMOCRATS
Hillary Rodham Clinton is in Chappaqua, N.Y. Barack Obama campaigns in Oregon.
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THE REPUBLICANS
John McCain is overseas on a congressional trip.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"I think her stance on NAFTA got the attention of this crowd. ...That will get her votes here in Anderson."
-- Vicki Chase, a biology teacher at Highland High School in Anderson, Ind., after a Clinton rally Thursday.
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STAT OF THE DAY:
Since January, more than 68,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania changed their affiliation to one of the major parties, with those switching to Democratic registration outpacing those turning Republican by more than 3-1.
[Associated
Press]
Compiled by Douglass K. Daniel.
Copyright 2008 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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