Obama Wins Over Clinton Backers
WASHINGTON – Barack Obama has won over more than half of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s former supporters, according to an Associated Press- Yahoo News poll that finds party loyalty trumping hard feelings less than three weeks after their bruising Democratic presidential contest ended.
The poll suggests time is beginning to heal some rifts from the primary campaign and that the New York senator’s endorsement of Obama carried weight. The poll was taken in the days after Clinton suspended her campaign and said she was supporting her rival.
Obama’s progress with Clinton supporters is marked, yet far from complete. More than one in five who had backed the New York senator now plan to support Republican John McCain in the fall, a boost for McCain if those opinions hold.
AFL-CIO endorses Obama
WASHINGTON – The AFL-CIO endorsed Barack Obama for president Thursday, uniting the nation’s 15 million union workers behind the Illinois senator and giving him full access to organized labor’s massive bank accounts and political machinery.
As expected, the leaders of the nation’s largest labor organization voted unanimously to endorse Obama, freeing the organization and its 56 unions to spend some of its $200 million war chest on his campaign.
“We’re proud to stand with Senator Obama to help our nation chart a course that will improve life for generations of working people and our children,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
Obama: Economic solutions elusive
PITTSBURGH – Barack Obama told top business leaders Thursday that politics often gets in the way of solving problems that threaten America’s ability to stay competitive in the global economy.
“There is surprising consensus in this country about what needs to be done – somehow our politics prevent us from acting on that consensus,” Obama said at an economic summit meeting. “We spend an enormous amount of time talking about what separates us, along party lines, along racial lines, along economic lines, but when it comes to how we need to retool America to continue its greatness, we’ve got a lot of stuff that we can agree on.”
Candidates react to sanctions
CINCINNATI – Both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain reacted cautiously Thursday after President Bush announced easing economic sanctions against North Korea, a world troublespot one of them will inherit after the next presidential inauguration in January.
Yet if history is any guide, McCain would take a hard line against the regime in Pyongyang, in part reflecting his age and military background. Obama, meanwhile, would take a more flexible course, reflective of his legal training and belief that dialogue should underpin U.S. diplomacy.
– From wire reports
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