Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. gestures during a town hall meeting at the General Motors Design Center in Warren, Mich., Friday, July 18, 2008.
(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Today on the presidential campaign trail
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. gestures during a town hall meeting at the General Motors Design Center in Warren, Mich., Friday, July 18, 2008.
(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
IN THE HEADLINES
McCain TV ad accuses Obama of shifting views on Iraq for political gain ... Poll: Excitement over presidential race grows, but McCain's backers less fired up than Obama's ... McCain tells auto workers that the electric car is a key to freedom from foreign oil ... Germany's Merkel to meet Obama at Berlin chancellery next week
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McCain TV ad hits Obama on Iraq policy
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican John McCain launched a new television ad Friday that accuses presidential rival Barack Obama of switching positions on Iraq "to help himself become president" just as the Democratic candidate prepared to make a high-profile trip to Baghdad.
McCain's sharply worded criticism was not limited to the ad. He said Friday that Obama would be facing a far less secure Iraq "if we had done what he wanted to do."
The 30-second ad, running on national cable and in 11 battleground states, is the hardest hit aimed at Obama so far by McCain.
"Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan," the ad's announcer says. "He hasn't been to Iraq in years. He voted against funding our troops. Positions that helped him win his nomination. Now Obama is changing to help himself become president."
The ad suggests that Obama was placing politics ahead of the country's interests.
McCain could have let the Republican National Committee air the commercial, as it did with another critical portrayal of Obama. But McCain aides say Iraq and national security are issues that McCain is eager to debate with Obama and saw no reason to put distance between himself and the criticism.
Responding to the ad, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said: "Given his calls for a civil campaign, it's disappointing that Senator McCain has slipped so easily into the same, tired campaign tactics that have become so familiar to the American people."
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Poll: McCain backers' excitement lags Obama voters
WASHINGTON (AP) -- John McCain is facing an excitement deficit.
While overall interest in the presidential campaign has swelled since last fall, backers of Democrat Barack Obama are more fired up and express more loyalty to their candidate than McCain's do, a poll by The Associated Press and
Obama faces hurdles of his own. The poll shows lagging fervor for the Illinois senator by supporters of his vanquished rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. And there are lots of dispirited and undecided independents, who are expected to be pivotal on Election Day, now less then four months off.
The passion and interest shown by blocs of voters are important because they affect who will be motivated to vote. For now, the numbers favor Obama: 38 percent of his supporters say the election is exciting compared with 9 percent of McCain's. Sixty-five percent of Obama's backers say they are hopeful about the campaign, double McCain's, and the Democrat's supporters are three times likelier to express pride.
The AP-Yahoo News poll, conducted by
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McCain pledges to help auto industry rebuild
WARREN, Mich. (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain pledged Friday to help auto workers rebuild their industry and in the process jump-start the entire U.S. economy.
Standing in a town hall meeting with hundreds of people and several shiny new cars, McCain sounded at times like a confident, encouraging salesman as he praised
"The key, integral, vital part of our ability to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil will be directly related to that sign over there," said McCain, pointing to a sign for the Chevrolet Volt. "I wish you every success, and I want to help in every way."
Trailing Democrat Barack Obama in polling on economic issues, the likely Republican nominee sought to bolster his appeal to voters by speaking to those who've seen fellow workers lose jobs and homes in Michigan.
Even as Detroit's Big Three automakers try to adapt rapidly to demand for smaller, more efficient cars that sip $4- a-gallon gas, many in the industry fear the presidential candidates' talk of energy alternatives and conservation will translate into more job losses.
Earlier this week, GM announced $15 billion in cuts, borrowing and asset sales as it tries to weather a huge drop-off in sales of trucks and large cars on top of more long-term cost problems.
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Obama to meet Merkel next Thursday
BERLIN (AP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel will welcome Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to her office in Berlin next Thursday, her spokesman said Friday.
Spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said the meeting at the chancellery is expected to take place on Thursday morning.
Obama's stop in Berlin is part of a tour of the Middle East and Europe aimed at burnishing the his foreign policy credentials.
Obama also is expected to deliver a speech in Berlin. It remains unclear where that event might take place.
Campaign officials have announced stops in Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and England. Obama also has pledged to travel to Iraq and Afghanistan this summer, but aides have not said whether those war zones will be part of the same trip.
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DAILY TRACK
Democrat Barack Obama is running about even nationally with Republican John McCain -- 45 percent to 44 percent -- among registered voters in the presidential race, according to the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update.
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THE DEMOCRATS
Barack Obama has no scheduled public events.
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THE REPUBLICANS
John McCain talked to auto workers in Warren, Mich.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"I don't feel I have a choice I can really get behind." -- Carol Hall, 63, a Republican from Yorktown, Va., who prefers Republican John McCain but said he isn't conservative enough.
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STAT OF THE DAY:
Only 10 percent of white evangelical Christians say they are excited by the presidential election, compared with 20 percent of Americans overall, according to an ongoing AP-Yahoo News survey.
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Compiled by Ann Sanner.
© Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
