Day: February 21, 2008

Cindy McCain did not hesitate as she stepped toward the microphone, taking her place in the history of political wives who stood by their men in the face of rumored or alleged marital infidelity.

“Well, obviously, I’m disappointed,” she said, her voice low but clear and self-assured. “More importantly, my children and I not only trust my husband, but know that he would never do anything to not only disappoint our family, but disappoint the people of America. He’s a man of great character.”

Hillary Rodham Clinton accused presidential rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism Thursday night, but drew boos from a Democratic debate audience when she ridiculed him as the candidate of “change you can Xerox.”

Obama dismissed the charge out of hand, then turned the jeers to applause when he countered, “What we shouldn’t be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up.”

John McCain denied a romantic relationship with a female lobbyist on Thursday and said a report by The New York Times suggesting favoritism for her clients is “not true.”

“I’m very disappointed in the article. It’s not true,” the likely Republican presidential nominee said as his wife, Cindy, stood alongside him during a news conference called to address the matter.

McCain described the woman in question, lobbyist Vicki Iseman, as a friend.

The newspaper quoted anonymous aides as saying they had urged McCain and Iseman to stay away from each other prior to his failed presidential campaign in 2000. In its own follow-up story, The Washington Post quoted longtime aide John Weaver, who split with McCain last year, as saying he met with lobbyist Iseman and urged her to steer clear of McCain.

They may be all fired up and ready to go, but the young voters who have helped propel Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to front-runner status might stay home if the race turns nasty.

Obama has galvanized the under-30 voters who historically have voted at much lower rates than their parents. Young voters have packed the Illinois senator’s high energy rallies and turned out at rates up to four times higher than previous election years.

Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton must win 57 percent of the remaining primary and caucus delegates to erase Barack Obama’s lead, a daunting task requiring landslide-sized victories by a struggling presidential candidate.

Obama’s victories in Wisconsin and Hawaii on Tuesday — his ninth and 10th in a row — left him with 1,178 pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses in The Associated Press’ count. Clinton has 1,024.

Another 1,025 remain to be awarded, most of them in contests in 14 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. It takes 2,025 to win the nomination.

Cuban President Fidel Castro has resigned. His departure from power ends a half-century of one-man rule and defiance of U.S. policies aimed at hastening his exit.

But should Castro’s resignation prompt a change in U.S-Cuban relations? Should U.S. policymakers seize on Castro’s exit to end the 45-year-old embargo? Or does Castro’s transition out of power mean more of the same?