Obama 'palling around with terrorists,' Palin says

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is accusing Democrat Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists" because of his association with a former 1960s radical.

Palin was referring to Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the group the Weather Underground. The group took credit for bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and the US Capitol four decades ago.

In remarks to GOP donors in Englewood, Colo., yesterday, Palin said Obama seems to see the United States as being so imperfect that "he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."

Obama served on a charity board with Ayers and has denounced his past activities.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday called Republican presidential candidate John McCain not a maverick but a "mimic" of President Bush. Clinton made the remarks at a Human Rights Campaign dinner, where she was filling in for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, who canceled his weekend campaign events because his wife's mother is ill.

Clinton, after telling the audience that Biden had asked her to fill in for him because of the family emergency, sought to tie McCain to Bush, saying the Arizona senator offered voters more of the same.

"He's not a maverick. He's a mimic," she said.

She noted that McCain does not support extending job discrimination and hate-crimes laws to cover sexual orientation and supports the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

ASSOCIATED PRESS