Vincent Feli Boy’s Blog

WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama pivoted quickly to the general election campaign for the White House on Wednesday, naming a three-person team including Caroline Kennedy to lead his search for a running mate while expressing confidence that the Democratic Party would soon unify after a bruising battle for the presidential nomination. ”I’m very confident of how we’re going to be able to bring the party together,” Obama said after a brief conversation with Hillary Rodham Clinton, his vanquished rival. Campaign officials said Kennedy, who is the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, as well as former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and longtime Washington insider Jim Johnson have already begun compiling information on potential running mates. They disclosed no names.

Obama clinched the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, taking a major step toward his goal of becoming the first black president. While Clinton has yet to concede defeat, she and associates have been maneuvering for the past 24 hours to gain her a place on the ticket. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

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“Good, bad or ugly, we tell the truth,” he said. Fredericks and senior editor Tim Altork said there was little internal debate over the appropriateness of the imagery, though they were aware it was likely to create a stir. “We knew we were on the provocative edge,” Altork said.

“But it’s a very fair piece, a smart piece.” The article was pitched and reported by veteran freelance journalist Alan Sverdlik, who said he was curious how law enforcement agencies were handling the increased number of threats lodged against Obama by white supremacist groups, some of whom are based around north Fulton. Sverdlik said Tuesday he had not seen the cover and had no input in its development. The Beacon’s publisher said the art “projected the story,” one which he believes serves a valuable public interest: “We’re hoping federal law enforcement takes notice.” So far, however, the content inside has been obscured by the furor over its illustration.

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“Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). Like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this contest for the Democratic presidential nomination is getting curiouser and curiouser. Sure, arithmetically speaking, it’s practically impossible to see how Hillary Rodham Clinton can win, even with her jaw-dropping 41-point, 67 percent to 26 percent, win in West Virginia and her lead of 25 to 34 points in Kentucky polling. But Democratic superdelegates and activists have to be swallowing hard looking at Barack Obama, their presumptive nominee, running so weakly in West Virginia, a state that has voted Democratic in five of the last eight and eight of the last 12 presidential elections.

To be sure, as Americans over the years began placing more value on social and cultural issues and less on economic ones, West Virginia became less Democratic in presidential voting, giving George W. Bush a win of 6 percentage points in 2000 and 13 points in 2004. But, still, Obama rang up a big “No Sale” sign in the Mountain State this week.

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Obama sought to quell a political firestorm ignited when news outlets called attention to sermons by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, which the Illinois senator attended for two decades. “We have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism,” he said.

“Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, ‘Not this time.’” Wright, who retired recently, has railed that the September 11 attacks were retribution for U.S. foreign policy, called the U.S. government the source of the AIDS virus and expressed anger over what he called racist America.

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HILLARY Clinton said the Iraq war may end up costing Americans $1 trillion and further strain the economy, as she made her case for a prompt US troop pullout from a war “we cannot win”. This week marks the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, but voters now say the economy is their top issue in the campaign for the November presidential election. Senator Clinton, the former first lady who is trying to convince voters she has foreign policy gravitas, criticised both her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination Senator Barack Obama, and the Republicans’ choice, Senator John McCain. She said the war has sapped US military and economic strength, damaged US national security, taken the lives of nearly 4000 Americans and left thousands wounded.

“Our economic security is at stake,” she said. “Taking into consideration the long-term costs of replacing equipment and providing medical care for troops and survivors’ benefits for their families, the war in Iraq could ultimately cost well over $1 trillion.” It has already cost $500 billion. Senator Clinton said that while Senator Obama insists he will withdraw US troops in Iraq within 16 months of taking office, his former foreign policy adviser, Samantha Power, had said he might not follow through on the pledge. “In uncertain times, we cannot afford uncertain leadership,” Senator Clinton said.

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What did Hillary Clinton win Tuesday? Simply the right to keep on fighting for the Democratic nomination. The senator from New York won three of four March 4 primaries, including two big wins in Ohio and Texas - must wins for her. As soon as the networks had called the Ohio race, but before the final result in Texas was known, Clinton appeared before a screaming crowd of supporters in Columbus.

She didn’t call herself the comeback kid, but the message was clear. “For everyone here in Ohio and across America who ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out, and for everyone who has stumbled, but stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one is for you,” Clinton said. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois won Tuesday’s primary in Vermont (and continues to hold a lead in the overall race for convention delegates).

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After a morning rally here Friday, Clinton met with reporters to deride comments by Obama adviser Samantha Power suggesting that Obama’s commitment to pull troops out of Iraq in 16 months was a campaign promise that would be softened should he win the race. Clinton said the comments “raise disturbing questions.” She said she’s been steadfast in her plan to begin withdrawing one to two brigades a month within 60 days of taking office.

Obama, in , derided Clinton’s efforts “to try to imply that I wasn’t serious about bringing this war to an end. If it had been up to me, we would have never been in this war. It was because of , with an assist from Hillary Clinton and , that we got into this war.” As the crowd cheered at a crowded gym in Casper, Obama vowed to end the war next year.

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WASHINGTON — Barack Obama regained lost ground in the fierce competition for Democratic convention delegates today based on results from the Texas caucuses, partially negating the impact of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s string of comeback primary victories. Late returns showed Clinton emerged from Rhode Island, Vermont, Texas and Ohio with a gain of 12 delegates on her rival for the night, with another dozen yet to be awarded in The Associated Press’ count. That left Obama with an overall lead of 101 delegates, 1,562-1,461 as the rivals look ahead to the final dozen contests on the calendar. It takes 2,025 to win the nomination. The two presidential contenders made the rounds of the morning television news shows, agreeing on little — except that their historic struggle would continue at least until the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.

That left six weeks for public campaigning, and for private appeals to party leaders, known as superdelegates, who attend the convention but are not chosen in primaries or caucuses. Clinton has the support of 241 superdelegates, and Obama 202. But more than 350 remain uncommitted, a large enough bloc to swing the nomination should they band together.

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