White male vote especially critical

In the fierce campaign between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, a battle dominated by questions of race and gender, white men have emerged as perhaps the single critical swing constituency.

Clinton, Obama court Catholics

The Clinton campaign argues that its strength among Catholics in the primaries could mean Sen. Clinton is a stronger candidate in the general election against presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.

... The Obama campaign is trying to show that its message resonates with Catholic voters. In the coming weeks in Pennsylvania, the campaign says it will send mailings to religious voters and launch a Catholic-specific phone-banking system. The campaign recruited Vicki Kennedy, the wife of Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy -- an Obama supporter and perhaps the country's best-known Catholic Democrat -- to hold roundtable discussions with Catholic women before the April 22 Pennsylvania primary.

Michigan legislation in limbo over do-over

Matt Marsden, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, also said that both presidential camps need to give the go-ahead before legislators forge a bill.

"Unless there is guaranteed sign-off by both candidates, I'm not sure what is the point of circulating legislation," Marsden said. "And there's no reason for us to get involved until the Democrats work it out internally."

Hunter labeled charges by some Clinton allies that Obama allies like himself are trying to derail the proposed primary because Obama can't win Michigan as "ludicrous and preposterous."

More election troubles in Florida - good for Crist?

Many Republicans think Mr. McCain could beat Mrs. Clinton in Florida, which might explain Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist’s push to get the Democratic delegates seated. Meanwhile, helping to prolong the Democratic battle over delegates — instead of advocating that they simply not be counted, as the current rules require — could be the governor’s way of making trouble for the Democrats on behalf of Mr. McCain.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he was having some fun with this,” said Rick Wilson, a Republican consultant here. “When your two enemies are beating each other to pieces, enjoy the show.”

THE CANDIDATES:

John McCain... today's headlines with excerpts

McCain visits Iraq

John McCain arrived in Iraq on Sunday morning on a trip that was described as a visit by an official Congressional delegation, but that also served to showcase his foreign policy credentials as he campaigns for the White House.

Mr. McCain was scheduled to meet with officials including the American ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker, and the senior American military commander in the country, Gen. David H. Petraeus. He was also scheduled to meet with the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, said Yaseen Majid, a media adviser to Mr. Maliki.

McCain talks progress in Iraq

"We could have a presence here for many years," McCain told ABC News. "We've been in Germany for 60 years. But the point is if we can reduce and eliminate American casualties, then Americans will be satisfied with an American presence here. If the casualties continue, their frustrations will continue and they will be very dissatisfied to say the very least. They are frustrated because of four years of failure. For four years we failed. Now this new strategy -- the surge -- is working and I hope they'll understand the progress we're making."

The specter of McCain Democrats

A recent Pew Research Center survey has 20 percent of white Clinton voters saying that if their candidate does not get the Democrats' nomination, they might vote for McCain. Older, lower-income and less-educated Democrats also indicated some willingness to support McCain if Obama is the candidate. These are your Reagan Democrats -- blue-collar voters who responded to the broad appeal of Ronald Reagan.

... Lots can happen between now and November. But if Obama is the nominee, a chunk of the Democrats' heartland could well be up for grabs.

Hillary Clinton... today's headlines with excerpts

Obama accuses Hillary of withholding vital data

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign on Sunday boosted its efforts to paint Sen. Hillary Clinton as a secretive politician who has failed to disclose vital information, a charge that prompted her camp to complain of negative campaigning.

Many voting for Hillary to prolong battle, boost GOP

Republican voters have cast an awful lot of ballots lately for Senator Hillary Clinton: About 100,000 GOP loyalists voted for her in Ohio, 119,000 in Texas, and about 38,000 in Mississippi, exit polls show.

... Spurred by conservative talk radio, GOP voters who say they would never back Clinton in a general election are voting for her now for strategic reasons: Some want to prolong her bitter nomination battle with Barack Obama, others believe she would be easier to beat than Obama in the fall, or they simply want to register objections to Obama.

Bill Clinton: 'chill out,' let voters decide

"The voters get to decide. I think we should just celebrate this," Clinton said. "If we just chill out here and let all the voters have their say, my gut is it's gonna come out all right."

"I expect a spirited election in the fall, no matter what happens," Clinton said. "But we should just let the Dems decide. This is a tough choice for them. They got two candidates, they basically like them both, and they have different strengths," he said. "And they have to decide which skilll set is more important, number one, for the country's welfare in the long run, and which one is more likely to be elected. And you know I have my strong convictions, but I might be wrong."

Bill Clinton defends stance on Obama

Clinton declared that he has been inaccurately portrayed as attacking Obama during the South Carolina primary. The issue is sensitive because Clinton’s aggressive campaigning has threatened his overwhelming popularity in the African American community.

“Contrary to the myth, I went through South Carolina and never said a bad word about Sen. Obama — not one,” Clinton said.

Bill's image damaged by campaign role

Bill Clinton’s reentry into the political arena appears to have come at some cost to his legacy. New polling now suggests that Clinton’s involvement in the Democratic nomination battle between his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama, has significantly tarnished the former president’s image.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Thursday found that more Americans view Bill Clinton negatively than positively, 45 to 42 percent. It marked the first time since January 2002 that a plurality of Americans disapproved of the former president.

Hillary backs Michigan revote plan

"It needs to get resolved and hopefully Michigan by the end of this week will have done that," Clinton told reporters. "I think they are moving in an appropriate direction to have a revote."