Clinton, Obama camps deny holding running-mate talks

Cindy McCain is heiress to an Arizona beer distributorship. Her worth has been estimated at more than $100 million. (Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press)

Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's campaigns yesterday firmly knocked down reports that her people are in contact with his people about being his running mate.

Clinton told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader editorial board yesterday that there have not been any vice president talks and that she is not planning any such discussions. "It is flatly untrue and it is not anything I'm entertaining. It is nothing I have planned and it is nothing I am prepared to engage in. I am still vigorously campaigning."

Still, a citizens' group is hoping for a repeat of 2004: It started an online petition for Senator John F. Kerry to pick John Edwards, and he did.

Now, Citizens Consent has a website for a petition calling on Obama to select Clinton for what it says would be an "unbeatable" ticket. "Barack Obama's leadership has inspired a new generation to participate in politics. Hillary Clinton's experience and perseverance will strengthen the ticket," the petition says.

Public opinion polls and exit polls of voters have also shown support for the so-called dream ticket, and Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, a staunch Clinton supporter, promoted the idea yesterday.

"I think as this race has emerged each one of them has garnered a different constituency and different states, and therefore when you put the two of them together it forms, I believe, the strongest ticket," she said.

GLOBE STAFF,

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Obama adds another five superdelegates to his tally
Barack Obama added five more superdelegates yesterday, wresting one from Hillary Clinton and inheriting two from John Edwards, who endorsed him last week.

With the endorsements, Obama moved to within 56 delegates of clinching the nomination (barring the magic number changing if the Democratic National Committee adds disputed delegates from Florida and Michigan).

The new superdelegates for Obama cited his inevitability as the nominee as much as praising his qualities.

Representative Dennis Cardoza of California had supported Clinton, who won his state's primary. In a statement, he said, "While I continue to greatly respect and admire Senator Clinton and feel she has made history with her campaign, I believe that Senator Obama will inevitably be our party's nominee for President."

Obama's campaign also announced the support of another California congressman, Jim Costa, and of superdelegate Jenny Greenleaf of Oregon, whose primary he won this week.

State Senator Peter Burling of Cornish and Deborah Nelson of Hanover, two former Edwards superdelegates from New Hampshire, announced their switch.

"If it were Senator Clinton who in my mind had the edge at this moment, she would be getting exactly this kind of endorsement," Burling said.

Nelson said she made up her mind as she watched the news coverage of Senator Edward M. Kennedy's diagnosis with brain cancer this week. "I thought, here's someone who represents everything that matters to me, and he supports Obama, so what am I waiting for?"

GLOBE STAFF,

ASSOCIATED PRESS

McCain's wife makes her 2006 tax return public
WASHINGTON - Cindy McCain, who two weeks ago said she would never make her tax returns public, revealed yesterday that she had a total income of more than $6 million in 2006.

The presidential campaign of her husband, Republican John McCain, released the top two summary pages of her 2006 tax return.

She listed $4.5 million in income from a broad category that includes rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, and trusts. She also reported nearly $300,000 in salary income, more than $280,000 in dividends, and more than $740,000 in capital gains. She paid more than $1.7 million in federal income taxes - a tax rate of more than 28 percent - and reported nearly $570,000 in itemized deductions.

Heiress to a large Arizona beer distributorship, Cindy McCain's worth has been estimated at more than $100 million.

Under a prenuptial agreement, the McCains have separate assets and file separate tax returns. The Arizona senator released his tax return last month, reporting a total income of $405,409 in 2007 and $84,460 in federal income taxes.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bush to begin raising funds for McCain's campaign
WASHINGTON - President Bush starts raising money for John McCain's campaign next week, but the three fund-raisers are in private homes and will be closed to the media.

The White House announced yesterday that Bush will be the main attraction at three McCain events next week - in Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Park City, Utah. In addition to building up the McCain campaign account, the fund-raisers will also benefit the national Republican Party, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

Bush's low approval ratings have raised questions about whether he will help or hurt McCain, especially as the Democratic candidates have argued that a McCain administration would amount to a third Bush term.

In the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll last month, 28 percent approved of the job Bush is doing, his lowest rating ever in the survey.

ASSOCIATED PRESS