MASON CITY, Iowa - Democrat Barack Obama yesterday confronted one of the persistent falsehoods circulating about him on the Internet - by going to church.
He attended services at the First Congregational United Church of Christ with reporters in tow, a rejoinder to the e-mailed rumors that he is a Muslim and poses a threat to the security of the United States.
Obama did not address the rumors, but described how he joined Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago two decades ago while working as a community organizer.
"What I found during the course of this work was, one, that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they come together and find common ground," he told the congregation.
"The other thing I discovered was that values of honesty, hard work, empathy, compassion were values that were spoken about in church . . . I realized that Scripture and the words of God fit into the values I was raised in."
Obama staffers and volunteers say they periodically encounter voters who say they cannot support Obama because he is Muslim, an assertion that has been making its way through Internet sites and blogs since he announced his candidacy for president.
Earlier this month, Hillary Clinton's campaign forced the resignation of two Iowa volunteer coordinators who had forwarded e-mails that tried to tie him to Islamic jihadists.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
McCain might announce Lieberman's endorsement
Democrat Hillary Clinton yesterday picked up the endorsement of former senator Bob Kerrey, and Republican John McCain is expected to announce today the support of Senator Joe Lieberman.
Several political websites reported yesterday - and a source familiar with the situation confirmed to the Globe - that Lieberman, who was elected last year as an independent from Connecticut, will endorse McCain.
The McCain campaign scheduled a "major endorsement" at a town hall meeting this morning in Hillsborough, N.H.
Lieberman, a hawk on national security issues who was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, could help McCain with independent voters, who can choose which primary they will vote in on Jan. 8.
McCain is in a tie with Rudy Giuliani in recent polls in New Hampshire, behind Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.
Kerrey, a former governor of Nebraska, is the latest governor to endorse Clinton. She was also endorsed over the weekend by Governor John Baldacci of Maine, who said, "She will be ready to lead on her first day in office."
FOON RHEE
Edwards spells out details of agenda for middle class
AMES, Iowa - Democrat John Edwards sharpened his populist appeal to working families yesterday, blaming corporate greed and politicians who have sold out to big business for threatening the middle class and the American dream.
Edwards, on the seventh day of an eight-day bus tour of the state, spelled out his "middle class rising agenda," including tax breaks for working families, tougher trade policies, and investment in alternative energy.
In the speech, and in a TV ad his campaign unveiled Saturday, Edwards said he would fight for the middle class against special and entrenched interests in Washington.
"Brothers and sisters, I was born for this fight," he told more than 500 people jammed into a high school gym to hear him.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
