Today on the presidential campaign trail

In this April 15, 2008 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., delivers a speech during a campaign event at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. What the airline industry wants from Washington it often gets, and no wonder: Those who regulate airlines or advise lawmakers on aviation issues one day can be executives in those same companies the next _ and the other way around. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

IN THE HEADLINES

Dean says McCain's economic plan offers 'more of the same' that Bush has delivered ... Michigan Democrats meet to pick 1st round of national convention delegates despite DNC action ... Obama accuses Clinton of 'slash and burn' tactics ahead of pivotal Pennsylvania primary ...

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Dean: McCain's economic plan 'more of the same'

WASHINGTON (AP) -- John McCain doesn't have an effective plan to turn around the faltering U.S. economy, Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean says.

"As I listened to Senator John McCain's remarks about the economy this week, I heard more of the same Republican policies that George Bush has brought us for the last eight years," Dean said Saturday in the Democrats' weekly radio address.

Among those policies, Dean said, are "privatizing Social Security, denying our children health care, adding $8 trillion in new deficits, no plan to turn our economy around or help people keep their homes."

Despite the nation's current economic woes, including rising unemployment, lower wages and record gas prices, "Senator McCain believes we are better off," Dean said.

Republican Party Chairman Mike Duncan, in turn, accused Democrats of trying to "smear" McCain and argued that Dean was resorting to distorted and laughable attacks on the GOP nominee in waiting.

On Friday, Democratic candidate Barack Obama criticized McCain for comments he made in a television interview saying there had been "great progress economically" in the period since Bush became president. McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said the Arizona senator's remarks had been taken out of context, noting McCain went on to say the economic improvements were "no comfort to families now that are facing these tremendous economic challenges."

In the radio address, Dean said: "If you want to see more of this Bush economy, if you want to see our troops in Iraq for a long period of time, we can stay the course with Senator McCain. But the Democrats have a different vision for America's future. Both of our candidates for president have a plan to get us out of Iraq responsibly so that we can invest in the American people and American jobs."

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Mich. Democrats fill 1st round of national convention spots

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan Democrats gathered to choose their first round of national convention delegates, even though the state has been stripped of its delegates by the Democratic National Committee.

Party members were selecting 83 delegates and 15 alternates at 15 district conventions around the state. Delegates were allocated according to the results of the Jan. 15 primary, which New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won. An official list of delegates and alternates was to be released early in the week by the Michigan Democratic Party.

"It appears that there's been good turnout at all the conventions around the state," Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer said Saturday afternoon. "Nobody has called with anything out of the ordinary."

In Lansing, where the 8th District meeting took place at a United Auto Workers union hall, the contest to elect the Clinton delegates took less than an hour.

But 40 percent of Michigan voters in the Democratic primary backed "uncommitted" after candidates Barack Obama, John Edwards and two others removed their names from the ballot. Competition around the state for those 36 delegate and 2 alternate uncommitted seats -- all of which were expected to go to Obama supporters -- was much more intense, especially since about 450 people registered to run for them.

In Lansing, Griffin Rivers beat 17 others for the male uncommitted spot, while Irene McDonnell Cahill of Howell, a teamster, bested 21 others for the female uncommitted spot. Both back the Illinois senator, as was evidenced by Rivers' black T-shirt emblazoned with the words: "No drama with Obama."

They said Obama is energizing the party in a new way.

"I think he'll be a tremendous asset in building the Democratic Party back to the status it once was," said Rivers, of Lansing, chairman of the Ingham County Democratic Party. "The groundswell is there."

The state's remaining Democratic delegates and alternates are expected to be chosen in May. Michigan Democrats are selecting delegates even though they and Florida Democrats were stripped of their delegates by the DNC after the states broke party rules by holding presidential primaries in January.

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Clinton, Obama press for advantage ahead of pivotal primary

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) -- Barack Obama cast his Democratic presidential rival Saturday as a game-player who uses "slash and burn" tactics and will say whatever people want to hear, a sharp jab at her character in the final chapter of the pivotal Pennsylvania primary campaign.

Hillary Rodham Clinton implored voters to look beyond "whoop dee do" speechmaking and take a hard look at who's got the know-how to deal with the nation's burdens.

"I want everyone thinking," she declared, as if to suggest those backing Obama are not. Her implication was clear: She's substance, he's flash.

Altogether, the campaign for Tuesday's contest was dissolving into the sort of acrimony that makes party leaders long for the finish line, before the nominee is damaged in the fall. Obama's criticisms were direct, while Clinton's were oblique but unmistakable. At various times in the protracted contest, it's been the other way around.

He pressed the case against her at stop after stop, blunt words set against the bucolic backdrop of his train ride through the Pennsylvania countryside. For her part, Clinton struck back at a new Obama ad that criticizes her health care plan, telling a rally in York: "Instead of attacking the problem, he chooses to attack my solution."

Otherwise she stuck to her stump speech, something of a role reversal in a contest that has seen the New York senator going after her opponent while he has stayed measured.

The primary Tuesday follows a monthlong hiatus in voting.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama campaign in Pennsylvania.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain has no public events.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We've got four days before we bring change to America. This is now our moment. This is now our turn." Barack Obama campaigning Saturday in Pennsylvania.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

Edward Kennedy won by a slight edge over Jimmy Carter in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary in 1980. Kennedy garnered 4,522 more votes than Carter to win by a 0.3 percentage point margin.

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Compiled by Ann Sanner and Ronald Powers.

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