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 Defection of longtime superdelegate jolts Clinton
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton was jolted Thursday by the defection of one of her longtime superdelegate supporters, a former national party chairman who urged fellow Democrats to "reject the old negative politics" and unify behind Barack Obama.
"A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue" a long, self-destructive Democratic campaign, Joe Andrew added in a letter designed to have an impact on the turbulent race nationally as well as in his home state of Indiana, site of a primary next week.
"A vote to continue this process is a vote that assists John McCain," Andrew wrote.
In response, Clinton told ABC's "Nightline": "I think this has been good for the Democratic Party. ... People can decide however they want to decide. That's up to them. But anyone who believes this is bad for the party I just think is not paying attention, because the level of enthusiasm to be part of this process is, from my perspective, helping us build a stronger and deeper Democratic base."
Andrew's defection came at a particularly opportune time for Obama. He has won more states than his rival as well as more of the popular vote, and he has an overall lead in delegates, 1736.5-1602.5. It takes 2,025 to clinch the nomination.
But he has struggled in recent days to limit the political damage caused by controversial comments by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
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McCain backs off gov't waste as cause of bridge collapse
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Republican John McCain on Thursday backed off his assertion that pork-barrel spending led to last year's deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
With Democrats criticizing him for citing wasteful spending as the cause of the disaster, McCain told reporters in Cleveland, "No, I said it would have received a higher priority, which it deserved."
That statement was in contrast to McCain's remarks to reporters aboard his campaign bus as it rolled through Pennsylvania on Wednesday: "The bridge in Minneapolis didn't collapse because there wasn't enough money. The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed because so much money was spent on wasteful, unnecessary pork-barrel projects."
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board suspect a design flaw
-- undersize steel plates -- and heavy loads of construction materials as the cause of the disaster Aug. 1, according to preliminary findings.
Democrats accused McCain of using a tragedy that killed 13 people and injured 145 others to make a political point.
Even Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota said McCain was wrong.
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Clinton gets help from daughter, mother
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (AP) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton enlisted the aid of daughter Chelsea and mother Dorothy Rodham on Thursday as she discussed her ideas for helping working families.
Among other issues, the Democratic presidential candidate proposed an experiment between the federal and state governments to fund paid family leave, arguing that most people can't afford to take the unpaid leave allowed under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
Her proposal calls for a $3,000 tax credit to an individual with substantial long-term care needs or their caregivers, a tax credit to cover 75 percent of long-term care insurance premiums and expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover employers with 25 or more workers. She also called for seven guaranteed sick days for full-time workers.
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Poll: Clinton closes in on Obama in N.C.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama has a 7-point edge over rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in the presidential race for Democrats in North Carolina, though she has closed in on his lead, a survey finds.
Obama has 49 percent, compared to Clinton's 42 percent, in the Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. poll.
Obama has the support of 87 percent of black voters, while Clinton leads among whites with 62 percent. He also has the backing of younger voters; he leads Clinton 63-26 among voters under age 35. The two candidates almost split voters over 50.
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 By party registration, Obama led 48 percent to 43 percent among Democrats and 55-38 among independent or unaffiliated voters. Fifty-five percent said they were looking most for a candidate who "represents change and a new approach," while 36 percent said they wanted someone who "has the right experience."
The poll was conducted April 28-29 for WRAL-TV in Raleigh and WBTV in Charlotte. It included interviews with 400 likely Democratic primary voters, for whom the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.
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Obama tries to put the minister controversy to rest
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama and his wife said Thursday the public is tired of hearing about incendiary remarks by their former pastor, as they sought to put the controversy that has rocked his presidential campaign to rest.
"We hear time and time again voters are tired of this," Michelle Obama said in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.
"They don't want to hear about this division, they want to know what are we going to do to move beyond these issues," she said. "And what made me feel proud of Barack in this situation is that he is trying to move us as a nation beyond these conversations that divide."
Barack Obama said he initially tried to give the Rev. Jeremiah Wright the benefit of the doubt when films clips first surfaced on the Internet of fiery sermons the pastor gave at their Chicago church
-- a series of haranguing declarations from the pulpit in which he damned the United States for racial oppression and accused the government of deliberately spreading the HIV virus to harm black people.
"When the first snippets came out, I thought it was important to give him the benefit of the doubt because if I had wanted to be politically expedient I would have distanced myself and denounced him right away, right? That would have been the easy thing to do," said Obama.
This week he denounced Wright's comments as "giving comfort to those who prey on hate."
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DAILY TRACK
Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a slight lead nationally over Barack Obama, 49 percent to 45 percent, according to the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update.
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THE DELEGATE BREAKDOWN
Barack Obama: 1736.5
Hillary Rodham Clinton: 1602.5
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THE DEMOCRATS
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama hold events in Indiana.
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THE REPUBLICANS
John McCain holds a meeting on health care in Cleveland before talking to voters in Des Moines, Iowa.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"It's only when you become the front-runner that suddenly people are looking for potential chinks in the armor."
-- Democrat Barack Obama, in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.
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STAT OF THE DAY:
Six in 10 Republicans and three-quarters of Democrats attach extreme importance to the economy, according to a recent AP-Yahoo News poll.
[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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