Patrick joins hunt for Obama voters

Cindy McCain plans to keep her fortune personal.

Governor Deval Patrick, a big cheerleader for Barack Obama, is taking on another significant role as Obama pivots to general election mode.

The Obama campaign announced yesterday that Patrick will be one of 14 national co-chairpersons of Vote for Change, a 50-state voter registration effort designed to build on Obama's success during the primaries in attracting new voters. The effort kicks off tomorrow with events across the country.

"Everywhere I go, people feel the same urgency to get this country back on track," Patrick said in a statement. "The larger our coalition in November, the stronger our mandate for change will be."

The leaders of the effort also include other elected officials, labor leaders, community leaders, and entertainers such as Usher and Melissa Etheridge.

FOON RHEE

Labor group galvanizes to work against McCain
The nation's largest labor federation announced yesterday that it will go door-to-door in battleground states over the next two weekends to tell union voters about its concerns with Republican John McCain's economic and healthcare proposals.

The AFL-CIO said it hopes to reach 200,000 swing voters with 6,200 volunteers as part of its "McCain Revealed" campaign. The canvassers are scheduled to be in Colorado and Michigan this weekend, and in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington state the weekend of May 17.

The labor federation could be a crucial ally for the Democratic nominee in November against McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee. "Senator McCain's economic path would lead to disaster for America's working families," AFL-CIO president John Sweeney said in a statement.

FOON RHEE

Cindy McCain promises her 1040 won't go public
WASHINGTON - Cindy McCain said yesterday that she will never make her tax returns public, even if her husband wins the White House.

"You know, my husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate," Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, said on NBC's "Today" show.

Asked if she would release her tax returns if her husband becomes president, Cindy McCain said: "No."

After both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton released their joint tax returns, the Arizona senator released his tax return last month, reporting he had a total income of $405,409 in 2007 and paid $84,460 in federal income taxes. He files his return separately from his wife, an heiress to a Phoenix-based beer distributing company, whose fortune is in the $100 million range. A prenuptial agreement left much of the family's assets in Cindy McCain's name.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Cindy McCain's refusal to release her tax returns gives the appearance of a double standard on the part of her husband. "What is John McCain trying to hide?" Dean said in a statement. "Throughout this campaign, he has acted like his own calls for openness and accountability apply to everyone but himself."

ASSOCIATED PRESS