McCain criticizes Bush for slow response after Katrina
NEW ORLEANS - Republican presidential candidate John McCain was sharply critical yesterday of what he called the Bush administration's disgraceful handling of Hurricane Katrina and vowed, "Never again."
McCain, putting some distance between himself and President Bush, said if he had been president during the 2005 catastrophe he would have immediately visited New Orleans after the killer storm.
While he said he was not being critical of Bush for not visiting New Orleans, "I'm just saying I would've landed my airplane at the nearest Air Force base and come over personally."
Two days after the hurricane made landfall in August 2005, when immediate recovery efforts were chaotic, Bush surveyed the damage during a fly-over in Air Force One while returning from a trip to the West Coast.
REUTERS
Add $5m to Clinton campaign debt
Hillary Clinton's campaign debt at the end of March was bigger than it appeared because she didn't list the $5 million she loaned herself, a campaign finance watchdog group reported yesterday.
Clinton, in her filing with the Federal Election Commission, reported that her campaign had $9 million in cash on hand as of March 30, and $10 million in debts.
But the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics said Clinton's $5 million loan, even if she doesn't plan to have her campaign repay it, should have been listed with the debts, just as Republican Mitt Romney reported the $42 million he loaned himself. Including the loan would put her debt as of March 30 at $15.3 million, the group said.
Since winning the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday, Clinton's campaign says it has raised $10 million and counting online.
FOON RHEE
Pelosi downplays 'dream team' idea
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has said she doesn't believe the so-called Democratic dream ticket of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will happen, went a step further yesterday and said she doesn't want it to materialize.
"I don't think it's a good idea," she said on CNN's "Larry King Live."
"I think that first of all that the candidate, whoever he or she may be, should choose his or her own vice presidential candidate."
Some Democrats believe that because the coalitions of Clinton and Obama have been so different in the nomination contests so far - older, white, and blue-collar voters for Clinton, and younger, black, and more affluent voters for Obama - having both on the ticket is the best way to unite the party for the fall.
FOON RHEE
Magazines putting their best face forward
Time magazine is the latest to use an eye-catching cover - morphing together the faces of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama - to illustrate the protracted Democratic nomination battle.
"THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE," the new issue declares over a face composed of both candidates.
Time said the cover was inspired by the NBA's playoff ad campaign with the same slogan.
One of the ads has half of LeBron James's face and half of Kevin Garnett's from the Boston Celtics.
The New Republic last month went a step further and combined the two candidates' faces into one, on a cover that said, "We have to choose one."
The magazine's editors complained yesterday that they were ripped off by Time.
"Can we get royalties at least?" their blog post asked.
FOON RHEE
Reviews getting worse for lengthy campaign
As the presidential campaign drags on, more Americans are panning it as too negative, too long, and too dull.
A Pew Research Center poll released yesterday said that 50 percent of Americans, including half of Democrats, believe the race has been too negative. That's up from 28 percent overall and 19 percent of Democrats in February.
The survey also found that 35 percent of Americans believe the campaign is dull, up from 25 percent two months ago, and that 65 percent believe the campaign has gone on too long, up from 57 percent in February. Pew conducted the poll between Friday and Monday and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
FOON RHEE
In N.C., Clinton says she's strong on defense
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Hillary Clinton sought to emphasize her strength on defense and veterans issues while campaigning yesterday in a state with strong military ties that is next to vote in the Democratic primary contest.
Clinton told an audience of several hundred people, including many military families, about her plans to improve life for veterans and said she wants to bring troops home from Iraq "as responsibly and quickly as we can."
"This will not be easy," she said. "There are no quick solutions to the dilemmas we face and the consequences that are likely to flow from whatever actions are taken."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Back home, Obama appeals to food workers' union
CHICAGO - How does Barack Obama spend a day off the campaign trail in his hometown? By urging hundreds of union activists to back his presidential bid in the final Democratic primaries.
That meant criticizing Republican presidential candidate John McCain, whom Obama accused yesterday of failing to offer "any meaningful change from the policies of George W. Bush."
"This is the most antilabor administration in our memory," Obama told activists from the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which has endorsed him. "You and I share a vision for our country."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Huckabee to write book on views, failed campaign
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Mike Huckabee will publish a book sharing details on his failed bid for the White House and offering his vision for remodeling the conservative movement.
The book, not yet titled and due for release Nov. 18, will offer an insider's view of Huckabee's campaign and also offer his vision for the future, his publishers said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS 