April 2008 Monthly Archive

April 29, 2008

Family In Austrian Incest Case United

The family of an Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter for 24 years and fathered seven children with her have been united for the first time in what doctors described as an "astonishing" gathering.

Josef Fritzl's daughter Elisabeth emerged from the windowless basement where he had locked her up with three of her children and was reunited on Sunday with three other children from whom she had been separated shortly after birth. A seventh baby died in the cellar after it was born.

"They met each other on Sunday morning and it is astonishing how easily it worked that the children came together," Berthold Kepplinger, medical director of the Provincial Clinic of Lower Austria, told a news conference on Tuesday.

"The children are quite well," Kepplinger said.

Around 200 residents of Amstetten, the town where Fritzl constructed his "house of horrors," held a rainy candle-lit vigil in support of the family in the town square.

"The outside world seems to think Amstetten is a terrible town, and that people in the community do not care for one another. We want to show this is not true," said organizer Elisabeth Anderson.

Austria's justice minister presented a bill on Tuesday to strengthen the country's "victim protection law," particularly in matters of sexual abuse.

In a case that has shocked Austria and the world, Elisabeth, now 42, spent nearly a quarter of a century without seeing sunlight with her daughter aged 19 and two sons aged 18 and 5.

The three other children -- two girls and one boy -- lived in the house above the cellar with Fritzl and his wife Rosemarie, who also had seven children of their own.

Kepplinger said his clinic had a school where Elisabeth's children could be educated as part of their recovery process, and the three who had been locked up in the cellar could read and write, although not very well.

The reunion between Elisabeth and her mother Rosemarie had also been "astonishing," Kepplinger said.

DNA tests confirmed that Fritzl, a 73-year-old retired electrical engineer, was the father of all six surviving children his daughter had born, police said.

Prosecutors were now investigating him over the death of the seventh child, whose remains he had burnt in a furnace, and said he could be charged in connection with the child's death.

"Josef F. is being investigated for murder by failing to render assistance," prosecutor Peter Ficenc told Reuters, adding that the pensioner was also being investigated for rape, incest and coercion.

'JUST CHAOS'

Detectives were still combing the 60 square meter (645 sq ft) cellar beneath Fritzl's home, Franz Prucher, head of security in Lower Austria, said.

"Down there it is just chaos at the moment. We have to go over every detail very carefully," Prucher told Reuters.

Fritzl appeared before a judge in St Poelten, the provincial capital of Lower Austria, on Tuesday, and was ordered to be held in detention while police inquiries continued.

Officials said Fritzl said nothing on the advice of his lawyer. He was calm and had been put in a cell where he can be monitored in case he tries to commit suicide.

Elisabeth Fritzl says her father lured her into the cellar in 1984 and drugged and handcuffed her before imprisoning her.

Her fate came to light when the 19-year-old daughter became ill and was taken to hospital. Doctors appealed for her mother to come forward to give details of her medical history.

She was stable but critical on Tuesday, in an artificially induced coma and breathing with a ventilator.

"Our patient is in a severely life-threatening condition which resulted from a lack of oxygen caused sometime between Wednesday and Friday when she was admitted," Doctor Albert Reiter said.

The case has shocked Austrians less than two years after teenager Natascha Kampusch escaped from the basement near Vienna where she had been locked up by an abductor for eight years.

"There are a million unanswered questions," investigator Polzer told Reuters. "How could he manage to live with what he had done? How did he fool everyone?"

He said he did not blame authorities for missing the case.

"Fritzl was a very cunning man. He not only fooled his wife, but officials, the police, everyone."

Fritzl brought Elisabeth and her remaining two children out of the cellar after the young woman was hospitalized, telling his wife their "missing" daughter had chosen to return home.

Elisabeth and three of the children were kept in a complex which was in some places no more than 1.7 meters (5 ft 6 in) high and contained a padded cell, according to authorities.

Photographs show a narrow passage leading to rooms that included a cooking area, with children's drawings on the walls, a sleeping area and a small bathroom with a shower.

(Additional reporting by Ayhan Uyanik in St Poelten)

(Writing by Karin Strohecker and Paul Bolding, editing by Giles Elgood)

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Reuters | Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | Topic: Politics

 

Obama says rivals Clinton, McCain pandering on gas tax

Democrat Barack Obama dismissed his rivals' calls for national gas tax holiday as a political ploy that won't help struggling consumers. Hillary Rodham Clinton said his stance shows he's out of touch with the economic realities faced by ordinary citizens.

Clinton and certain Republican presidential nominee John McCain are calling for a holiday on collecting the federal gas tax "to get them through an election," Obama said at a campaign rally before more than 2,000 cheering backers a week before crucial primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. "The easiest thing in the world for a politician to do is tell you exactly what you want to hear."

Clinton, who toured the Miller Veneers wood manufacturing company in Indianapolis, said "there are a lot of people in Indiana who would really benefit from a gas tax holiday.

"That might not mean much to my opponent, but I think it means a lot to people who are struggling here, people who commute a long way to work, farmers and truckers," Clinton said. She has called for a windfall tax on oil companies to pay for a gas tax holiday.

"Senator Obama won't provide relief, while Senator McCain won't pay for it," Clinton said. "I'm the only candidate who will provide immediate relief at the pump, with a plan."

With his comments, Obama continued a running dispute over whether ending collection of the gas tax is the quickest and best way to help consumers. Leading in delegates and the popular vote, Obama in recent days has focused on McCain, but he broadened that criticism Tuesday to include Democrat Clinton.

"Now the two Washington candidates in the race have decided to do something different," said Obama. "John McCain started it, he made the proposal, and then Hillary Clinton said 'me too.'"

The plan would suspend collecting the 18.4 cent federal gas tax 24.4 cent diesel tax for the summer.

He said drying up gas tax collections would batter highway construction, costing North Carolina up to 7,000 jobs, while saving consumers little.

"We're arguing over a gimmick that would save you half a tank of gas over the course of the entire summer so that everyone in Washington can pat themselves on the back and say they did something," said Obama.

"Well, let me tell you, this isn't an idea designed to get you through the summer, it's designed to get them through an election," said Obama. He said his call for middle-class tax cuts would be far more beneficial than suspending gas tax collections.

Obama took a different view on the issue when he was an Illinois legislator, voting at least three times in favor of temporarily lifting the state's 5 percent sales tax on gasoline.

The tax holiday was finally approved during a special session in June of 2000, when Illinois motorists were furious that gas prices had just topped $2 a gallon in Chicago.

During one debate, he joked that he wanted signs on gas pumps in his district to say, "Senator Obama reduced your gasoline prices."

But the impact of the tax holiday was never clear. A government study could not determine how much of the savings was passed on to motorists. Many lawmakers said their constituents didn't seem to have benefited. They also worried the tax break was pushing the state budget out of balance.

When legislation was introduced to eliminate the tax permanently, Obama voted "no." The effort failed, and the sales tax was allowed to take effect again.

Responding to Obama's criticism, McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said the Illinois senator "does not understand the effect of gas prices on the economy. Senator Obama voted for a gas tax reduction before he opposed it."

Bounds was deliberately echoing one of Democrat John Kerry's most troublesome missteps of the 2004 presidential campaign. Kerry said of funding for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."

Obama returned to the gas tax theme later in the day during a rally in Hickory, N.C., conceding "the crisis families are facing is real" but suspending the gas tax wasn't the answer.

He acknowledged voting for a similar measure in the Illinois Legislature, but said he opposed efforts to extend it because "it wasn't making any difference in people's lives. It wasn't helping."

Obama and Clinton both opened their campaign day in North Carolina. Clinton toured a research facility and collected the prized endorsement of Gov. Mike Easley.

"It's time for somebody to be in the White House who understands the challenges we face in this country," said Easley, in announcing his backing of Clinton. She then promptly headed for a string of events in Indiana.

"The governor and I have something in common - we think results matter," said Clinton.

Easley is popular with white, working-class voters that have formed the base for Clinton's success in recent primaries.

Clinton also collected an endorsement from Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, who praised "her support in rural America, her commitment to national security and her dedication to our men and women in uniform."

Skelton, a conservative Democrat who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, was among a half-dozen Democratic House members called to meet with Clinton after she won the Pennsylvania primary last week.

While Obama is favored in North Carolina, the race in Indiana is very tight, and Obama was heading there Wednesday.

Obama collected endorsements of his own during the day: In Kentucky, Rep. Ben Chandler, son of former Gov. A.B. "Happy" Chandler, gave Obama his backing ahead of that state's May 20 primary, and in Iowa, Democratic National Committee member Richard Machacek - a supporter of former Sen. John Edwards before he dropped out of the presidential race - switched his support to Obama.

Interest in the two primaries next week has been high. Officials in Indiana said nearly 90,000 people have cast early ballots, far outpacing absentee turnout in 2004.

At stake Tuesday are 115 delegates in North Carolina, and 72 in Indiana.

---

Beth Fouhy reported from Indianapolis. Associated Press writers Christopher Wills in Springfield, Ill., and Sam Hananel in Washington contributed to this report.

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MIKE GLOVER and BETH FOUHY - AP | Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | Topic: Health

 

McCain pushes choice as health care fix

Republican presidential candidate John McCain called on Tuesday for greater competition for health care coverage for Americans, saying more choices for insurance will drive down costs and improve the system.

On a campaign swing to highlight his health care proposals, the Arizona senator said he wanted to put individuals in charge of their health care, foster competition in insurance markets and reduce the prevalence of employer-based plans.

"Americans need new choices beyond those offered in employment-based coverage. Americans want a system built so that wherever you go and wherever you work, your health plan goes with you," McCain said at a Tampa cancer research hospital.

At the heart of McCain's plan is a tax credit of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families that could be used to leave an employer-based plan and purchase cheaper, more suitable insurance on the open market -- creating competition that would lower the price.

"Insurance companies could no longer take your business for granted, offering narrow plans with escalating costs. It would help change the whole dynamic of the current system, putting individuals and families back in charge," he said.

Concern about health care costs and coverage has risen near the top of the campaign agenda and is certain to become a flashpoint in November's presidential election between McCain and the Democratic nominee.

McCain attacked plans by his Democratic rivals, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, to set a goal of universal health care for 47 million Americans as a "big-government" solution that would reduce individual choice.

But McCain's rivals and other critics said he was borrowing failed ideas from President George W. Bush that would not make insurance cheaper or more available and might prevent people with pre-existing conditions from getting coverage.

"John McCain is recycling the same failed policies that didn't work when George Bush first proposed them and won't work now," Obama said in a statement.

'RADICAL' APPROACH

Clinton called McCain's approach "radical" and suggested it could force millions to lose their employer-based insurance.

"The McCain plan eliminates the policies that hold the employer-based health insurance system together, so while people might have a 'choice' of getting such coverage, employers would have no incentive to provide it," she said in a statement.

McCain said he would not force anyone to leave an employer-based program and would seek solutions for those with pre-existing medical conditions, including creating gap coverage and working with states that create insurance pools for high-risk individuals.

"Those without prior group coverage and those with pre-existing conditions do have the most difficulty on the individual market, and we need to make sure they get the high-quality coverage they need," McCain said.

McCain unveiled many of the ideas when he outlined his health care plan last year but is spending the week on a campaign swing to highlight key proposals.

McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin, in a briefing with reporters, could not say how long it would take to establish the new insurance market or give a cost estimate.

"I don't think anybody expects this overnight," he said.

McCain's health care tour will take him from Florida to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa and Colorado, all states expected to be battlegrounds in the November election.

McCain's campaign launched a television ad in Iowa ahead of his appearance there on Thursday. "I can characterize my approach on health care by choice and competition, affordability and availability," McCain says in the ad.

In Tampa, McCain called for more wellness and preventative medicine programs, including more early testing and screening for chronic conditions. He also pushed medical liability reform that would make it tougher to sue doctors in some cases.

"Those reforms should eliminate lawsuits directed at doctors who follow clinical guidelines and adhere to patient safety protocols," he said.

(Editing by Eric Beech)

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John Whitesides - Reuters | Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | Topic: Breaking Story Highlights

 

Obama says he's outraged by former pastor's comments

Barack Obama angrily denounced his former pastor for "divisive and destructive" remarks on race, seeking to divorce himself from the incendiary speaker and a fury that threatens to engulf his front-running Democratic presidential campaign.

Obama is trying to tamp down the uproar over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright at a tough time in his campaign. The Illinois senator is coming off a loss in Pennsylvania to rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and trying to win over white working-class voters in Indiana and North Carolina in next Tuesday's primaries.

"I am outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday," Obama told reporters at a news conference Tuesday.

His strong words come just six weeks after Obama delivered a sweeping speech on race in which he sharply condemned Wright's remarks but did not leave the church or repudiate the minister himself, who he said was like a family member. After weeks of staying out of the public eye while critics lambasted his sermons, the former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago made three public appearances in four days to defend himself.

On Monday, Wright criticized the U.S. government as imperialist and stood by his suggestion that the United States invented the HIV virus as a means of genocide against minorities. "Based on this Tuskegee experiment and based on what has happened to Africans in this country, I believe our government is capable of doing anything," he said.

And perhaps even worse for Obama, Wright suggested that the church congregant secretly concurs.

"If Senator Obama did not say what he said, he would never get elected," Wright said. "Politicians say what they say and do what they do based on electability, based on sound bites, based on polls."

Obama stated flatly that he doesn't share the views of the man who officiated at his wedding, baptized his two daughters and been his pastor for 20 years. The title of Obama's second book, "The Audacity of Hope," came from a Wright sermon.

"What became clear to me is that he was presenting a world view that contradicts who I am and what I stand for," Obama said. "And what I think particularly angered me was his suggestion somehow that my previous denunciation of his remarks were somehow political posturing. Anybody who knows me and anybody who knows what I'm about knows that I am about trying to bridge gaps and I see the commonality in all people."

Although Obama leads in pledged delegates, no Democrat can win the nomination without the support of the superdelegates, the elected officials and party leaders who can vote their preference. The Wright furor forces those Democrats to wonder about Obama's electability in November.

Facing that reality, Obama sought to distance himself further from Wright.

"I have been a member of Trinity United Church of Christ since 1992, and have known Reverend Wright for 20 years," Obama said. "The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago."

The Illinois senator said of Wright's statements Monday: "All it was was a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in truth."

"Obviously, whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed," Obama said. "I don't think he showed much concern for me, more importantly I don't think he showed much concern for what we're trying to do in this campaign."

Obama said he heard that Wright had given "a performance" and when he watched news accounts, he realized that it more than just a case of the former pastor defending himself.

"His comments were not only divisive and destructive, I believe they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate," Obama said. "I'll be honest with you, I hadn't seen it" when reacting initially on Monday, he said.

Wright had asserted that criticism of his fiery sermons was an attack on the black church. Obama rejected that notion.

"He has done great damage, I do not see that relationship being the same," said Obama.

Wright recently retired from the church. He became an issue in Obama's presidential bid when videos circulated of Wright condemning the U.S. government for allegedly racist and genocidal acts. In the videos, some several years old, Wright called on God to "damn America." He also said the government created the AIDS virus to destroy "people of color."

Obama said he didn't vet his pastor before deciding to seek the presidency. He said he was particularly distressed that the furor has been a distraction to the purpose of a campaign.

"I gave him the benefit of the doubt in my speech in Philadelphia explaining that he's done enormous good. ... But when he states and then amplifies such ridiculous propositions as the U.S. government somehow being involved in AIDS. ... There are no excuses. They offended me. They rightly offend all Americans and they should be denounced."

While Obama said he remains a member of the church "obviously this has put a strain on that relationship.

"There wasn't anything constructive out of yesterday," said Obama. "All it was was a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in truth."

At one point, Obama said he understood the pressures Wright faced but wouldn't excuse his comments.

"I think he felt vilified and attacked and I understand him wanting to defend himself," Obama said. "That may account for the change but the insensitivity and the outrageousness of the statements shocked me and surprised me."

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Mike Glover - AP | Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | Topic: Breaking Story

 

April 28, 2008

Buffett says recession may be worse than feared

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett, the world's richest person, said on Monday the U.S. economy is in a recession that will be more severe than most people expect.

Buffett made his comments on CNBC television after his Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (BRKb.N: Quote, Profile, Research) agreed to invest $6.5 billion in the takeover of chewing gum maker Wm Wrigley Jr Co (WWY.N: Quote, Profile, Research) by Mars Inc in a $23 billion transaction.

"This is not a field of specialty for me, but my general feeling is that the recession will be longer and deeper than most people think," Buffett said. "This will not be short and shallow.

"I think consumers are feeling gas and food prices," he added, "and not feeling they've got a lot of money for other things."

He was not immediately available for further comment. Known for his frugality, the 77-year-old Buffett has lived in the same 10-room Omaha, Nebraska, house for a half-century, despite being worth an estimated $62 billion.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Commerce Department is expected to say how fast the economy grew in the first quarter. Economists on average have projected that gross domestic product grew at an annualized 0.2 percent rate in the quarter.

Two quarters of declining GDP is a traditional indicator of recession. That last happened in 2001. Economists expect the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday to cut a key lending rate for a seventh time beginning last September.

Berkshire is a $197 billion conglomerate best known for its insurance holdings, such as auto insurer Geico Corp, but it owns more than 70 businesses.

Many of those businesses are tied to the housing market, including Acme Brick Co, insulation maker Johns Manville, and the real estate brokerage HomeServices of America Inc.

Others depend on consumers to spend more on discretionary items, such as Ben Bridge Jeweler and Borsheims Fine Jewelry.

"In the retail businesses ... if anything, they've gotten a little worse," Buffett said. "Of course, things connected with housing, whether it's in brick or whether it's in carpet, those businesses have shown no uptick at all. Jewelry had a bad Christmas ... and it stayed that way."

Buffett sees no respite from the housing slump.

"I think this is going to be fairly long and fairly deep, but who knows," he said.

In March, Forbes magazine pegged Buffett's net worth at $62 billion, ahead of Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim's $60 billion and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Chairman Bill Gates's $58 billion. Gates is a friend of Buffett and a Berkshire director.

(Editing by John Wallace)

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Jonathan Stempel - Reuters | Monday, April 28, 2008 | Topic: World News

 

April 27, 2008

Obama says will back Petraeus for new military job

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who has called for withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq, said on Sunday he will vote to confirm the top commander there for a new job as head of the military's Central Command.

President George W. Bush has nominated Gen. David Petraeus, who led the buildup of troops in Iraq, to be in charge of operations across the Middle East and Central Asia.

If confirmed by the Senate, Petraeus will still be in that job when the next president replaces Bush at the White House in January 2009. Obama hopes that person is him.

"Yes," Obama told "Fox News Sunday" when asked if, as a senator from Illinois, he would approve Petraeus. "I think Petraeus has done a good tactical job in Iraq."

Obama has said he would start pulling out more troops as soon as he became president.

"My hope is that Petraeus would reflect that wider view of our strategic interest," he said on "Fox News Sunday."

"I will listen to General Petraeus given the experience that he has accumulated over the last several years," Obama said. "It would be stupid of me to ignore what he has to say."

"It would be my job as commander in chief to set the mission, to make the strategic decisions in light of the problems that we're having in Afghanistan, in light of the problems that we are having in Pakistan, the fact that al Qaeda is strengthening," Obama said.

Republicans immediately jumped on his comments, saying Obama was avoiding the tough questions.

"Obama also said it would be 'stupid' to ignore commanders on the ground in Iraq, yet his withdrawal strategy does exactly that," Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant said in an e-mail. "If Obama isn't ready to answer tough questions, how can he be ready to be commander in chief?"

Obama also said he was a "big respecter" of Petraeus' predecessor Adm. William Fallon, who resigned after a magazine article depicted him as openly criticizing Bush administration policy over Iran.

"It was unfortunate that the administration wasn't listening more to the observations of Fallon, that we have to think about more than just Iraq, that we've got issues with Iran and Pakistan and Afghanistan, and our singular focus on Iraq I think has distracted us," Obama said.

(Writing by David Wiessler; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

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Reuters | Sunday, April 27, 2008 | Topic: World News

 

Karzai Escapes Assassination Bid

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai escaped unhurt on Sunday from an assassination attempt by Taliban fighters who fired guns and rockets at an official celebration near the presidential palace in Kabul.

Karzai, government ministers, former warlords, diplomats and the military top brass ducked for cover after gunfire sounded at the event to mark the 16th anniversary of the fall of the Afghan communist government to the mujahideen.

Karzai later addressed the nation on state television.

"Today, the enemies of Afghanistan, the enemies of Afghanistan's security and progress tried to disrupt the ceremony and cause disorder and terror," he said.

"Afghanistan's military forces surrounded them quickly and arrested some of the suspects."

Three people were killed -- a parliamentarian, the head of a minority group and a 10-year-old child -- and 10 were wounded, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said three of its fighters were killed.

British ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles was standing on the front row of the dais alongside the U.S. envoy to Kabul.

"It was coming to the end of the 21-gun salute. I saw an explosion and a puff of dust to the left of the parade and then heard the crackle of small-arms fire from all directions," he told Reuters.

"My bodyguard frog-marched me away."

All cabinet members and foreign diplomats at the parade along with General Dan McNeill, U.S. commander of international forces in Afghanistan, were safe and well, spokesmen said.

TALIBAN ATTACKERS KILLED

NATO condemned the attack and said it would make no difference to the alliance's involvement in Afghanistan.

"NATO will continue to support the Afghan Government and people in defending their security and their democracy," Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in a statement.

The Taliban fire appeared to come from a building a few hundred meters (yards) from the site, a road which is blocked off for official parades, close to the presidential palace.

"Three of our attackers have been killed and three managed to escape. Small arms and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) were used in the attack," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters from an undisclosed location.

The attack disproved Afghan government and NATO assertions that the Taliban insurgency has been weakened, he said.

"Afghan and NATO authorities this year repeatedly said the Taliban are on the verge of annihilation ... Now it is has been proved to them the Taliban not only have the ability to operate in the provinces, but even in Kabul," said Mujahid.

"Karzai and his cabinet can't be safe from Taliban attacks."

Immediately after the attack, bandsmen in full dress uniform and ordinary soldiers scrambled to get out of the line of fire. Other soldiers and Karzai's bodyguards, dressed in black, took up firing positions on roads near the parade ground.

Karzai has survived several assassination attempts since he came to power after U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in late 2001 for failing to hand over al Qaeda leaders behind the September 11 attacks on the United States.

But Taliban insurgents regrouped and relaunched their insurgency two years ago and now fight daily battles with Afghan and foreign troops, mainly in the south and east, and have launched scores of suicide attacks throughout the country.

U.S.-led forces killed several militants on Saturday in a raid northeast of Kabul targeting a man involved in bomb attacks who was planning to disrupt ceremonies on Sunday. Several civilians were wounded in the ensuing battle in which artillery and air strikes were called in, the U.S. military said.

Karzai has repeatedly offered to hold peace talks with the Taliban, but the hardline Islamist militants have said they will fight on till they topple him and drive out the more than 50,000 foreign troops based in Afghanistan.

(Additional reporting by Sayed Salahuddin, Jon Hemming and Jonathon Burch; Editing by Richard Meares)
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Reuters | Sunday, April 27, 2008 | Topic: World News

 

Rifts Mend, Unless Identity Politics Is a Different Stripe

SENATOR Hillary Rodham Clinton’s victory last week in the Pennsylvania presidential primary bought Mrs. Clinton time, but it’s what might fill the time that troubles Democrats: an increasingly sharp dialogue between core Democratic constituencies — blacks and a wide swath of women.

Will either of those constituencies leave their grievances at home come November? Will large numbers stay home altogether if their history-making candidate loses the nomination? The reassurances, and the warnings, are flying.

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have all promised a resolution shortly after the last of the primaries in June, and have urged superdelegates to fall in line behind one candidate or the other.

But even as Mr. Dean and others lament the downward tone of the campaign, they say that with the convention in Denver in August, the healing will begin. They dismiss the intramural tensions wrought by the protracted season, citing historical patterns of voters uniting behind the nominee after similarly competitive primaries.

Still, depending on the circumstances (particularly if those circumstances involve the superdelegates overriding the popular vote or the choice of the pledged delegates), the historical comparisons might not hold up. Identity politics, some say, create a deeper schism, and the polarization by race exposed by results in Pennsylvania and elsewhere could indicate a rift that can’t be mended easily.

Certainly the depth of voters’ devotion pulsates on every politics blog, with loyalists in one camp insisting they would never back the other’s candidate. Some threaten to vote for John McCain or a third-party candidate. Whether that is fleeting angst or lasting sentiment remains to be seen.

Michael Dawson, a political science professor at the University of Chicago, posited last week at TheRoot.com that if Mr. Obama is not the nominee: “The Democratic Party will face the Herculean task of trying to mobilize its most loyal constituency — black voters — in the face of deep and widespread black bitterness and active campaigns in the black community encouraging black voters to defect or abstain. You can already hear the angry comparisons. Just like in 2000, the protests will go, an election will have been ‘stolen.’ ”

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Kate Phillips - New York Times | Sunday, April 27, 2008 | Topic: Today's Top News

 

Obama: "I've been taking some hits"

(CNN) – Sen. Barack Obama used a question during a campaign event Saturday to explain his unusual approach to politics.

“How do we get rid of that huge divisiveness in this country?,” a voter asked Obama in Anderson, Indiana.

“The president sets the tone,” the Illinois senator said before explaining the bipartisan approach he’d take if elected to the White House.

“But, I’m also going to try to show this during the course of the campaign,” he added. “Sometimes you take some hits. Even during this campaign, I’ve been taking some hits.”

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Martina Stewart - CNN | Sunday, April 27, 2008 | Topic: Most Popular

 

Democrats' last chance to change White House race

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The next Democratic showdowns on May 6 give Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton one more chance to change the course of their grueling presidential fight before party insiders take over in June to try to settle it.

A sweep of the two states by either candidate could dramatically shift a Democratic race that has been filled with potentially decisive moments that ultimately decided nothing.

For Obama, the front-runner who has missed potential knockout punches before, a sweep would dash Clinton's hopes of catching him in delegates and negate her arguments she would be the best Democrat to face Republican John McCain in November.

Clinton needs a sweep to build momentum and sow fresh doubts among superdelegates about Obama's ability to construct a winning voter coalition. An inconclusive split likely keeps her in the race but dilutes her arguments on electability and dims her chances of catching Obama in delegates or votes.

Watching the results closely will be nearly 300 uncommitted superdelegates -- elected officials and party leaders -- who will ultimately make the difference as both candidates strive for the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the nomination at the August convention in Denver.

"The primaries on May 6 could be a magic moment. We may not get 100 percent clarity, but we'll have a well-lit path to guide the party to Denver," said Democratic consultant Jenny Backus.

"The superdelegates now probably have an idea of who they are backing and they need some empirical evidence to validate their thinking," she said. "They need some more context."

Polls in Indiana have been close but split, making the race a toss-up. Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, is favored in North Carolina, where blacks are expected to be about one-third of the primary electorate.

With a combined 187 delegates at stake, Indiana and North Carolina could be the last significant opportunity for Democratic voters to reshape the battle at the ballot box before the contests end June 3.

Once they are done, only six contests remain with a combined 217 delegates at stake. The next biggest day is May 20, when Kentucky and Oregon vote with a combined 102 delegates at stake.

'LAST CHANCE FOR VOTERS'

"This is the last chance for voters to redirect the race and take it out of the hands of superdelegates," said Steven Schier, an analyst at Carleton College in Minnesota.

"If you don't get a decisive result in one direction or another it's going to be up to superdelegates to read the tea leaves and decide this," he said. "None of the other states are game changers, they are all sort of predictable."

Obama leads Clinton in the delegate chase by about 130 -- 1,728 to 1,596, according to an MSNBC count -- but neither can clinch the nomination without gaining more superdelegate support.

Democratic Party leaders have made it clear they hope the uncommitted superdelegates decide quickly once the voting ends, so the fight does not extend to the convention in August.

Obama is likely to be about 100 delegates short of clinching the nomination after the last contest on June 3, meaning a surge of superdelegate support could quickly put him over the top.

"There are two big dates coming up that party elders and superdelegates are looking at -- May 6 and June 3," Backus said. "It will be fast after the end. At some point the clock runs out and there has to be a winner and loser."

Clinton's aides play down their chances in North Carolina, although she campaigned there on Thursday and Friday and promised to battle for the state.

"I know I have an uphill struggle here in North Carolina, but I feel good," Clinton said on Friday in Jacksonville, near the Camp Lejeune U.S. Marine Corps base.

The bigger battleground will be Indiana, a conservative state that has voted Republican in presidential elections since 1964 and is home to many white blue-collar voters without college degrees -- the bloc that went heavily for Clinton in her triumphs in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Obama will be helped by his familiarity to voters in northwest Indiana, who receive Chicago media, and by open primary rules that allow independents to vote, unlike in Pennsylvania.

After missing knockout punches in New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and on Super Tuesday, Indiana is Obama's last chance to end the prolonged race.

"Obama can close this deal. Clinton is having near-death experiences every primary night," Schier said.

(Editing by Jackie Frank)

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John Whitesides - Reuters | Sunday, April 27, 2008 | Topic: Breaking Story