McCain: Baghdad market was safe
PHOENIX --Sen. John McCain said Monday he would have taken his tour of an Iraqi market last week even if he hadn't been accompanied by heavily armed U.S. soldiers.
The Republican presidential hopeful said he would have walked through the Bab al-Sharqi market in Baghdad without the military protection, but the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, had recommended the armed escort.
"I'm not notorious for being nervous about going anywhere," said McCain, R-Ariz. "I'll gladly go almost anywhere in the world, under any circumstances, but I did respond and do what General Petraeus asked me to do."
McCain and other members of a congressional delegation toured the market last week, traveling in armored military vehicles and wearing body armor during their hourlong excursion.
The congressional delegation said the trips were proof that security was improving in the capital. Some Iraqis in Baghdad said McCain's account of the visit to the market didn't represent the current reality in the capital.
At a news conference Monday in Phoenix, McCain said he talked to many Iraqis in the market who told him that, while they still worried about a sniper operating there, they felt as though things were getting better.
"That place is being rebuilt today and is a functioning market," McCain said. "Of course it isn't entirely safe, but it certainly is a functioning market and progress is being made there."
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama isn't interested in running for vice president.
The Democratic presidential hopeful made that clear during an appearance Monday on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman." Letterman asked Obama if there had been any discussion of the Illinois senator sharing the Democratic ticket with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"No, you don't run for second," Obama said. "I don't believe in that."
Obama also told Letterman that his family is holding up well on the campaign trail.
"I take my kids occasionally," the candidate said. "Malia, who's 8, Sasha, who's 5 -- we take them on the campaign trail and they see these big crowds. I ask them sometimes, 'How's it going?' and the last time I did that, my 8-year old turned to me and said, 'This is terrific, daddy, but what are we doing here again?'
"She wasn't overly impressed."
Still, Obama said: "I'm not getting back to Chicago very often. ... My wife is starting to refer to me as her first husband. It's a little disturbing."
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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced Monday that veteran Democratic pollster and political strategist Paul Maslin will serve as a senior adviser for his presidential campaign.
"His over 25 years of political experience will help guide my campaign and our message to the American people," Richardson said in a statement.
Maslin has been an adviser for six presidential candidates, including Howard Dean's campaign for the 2004 Democratic nomination.
Maslin said he will work with Richardson's staff "to develop key policy initiatives and messages that will connect with American voters."
