Day: May 1, 2008

DALLAS (Reuters) – Sen. John McCain is aiming for America’s political center in the hopes of hitting a political bulls-eye in the November U.S. presidential election.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Thursday backed off his assertion that pork-barrel spending led to last year’s deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis….

CLEVELAND (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Thursday he would be reluctant to ever declare “mission accomplished” in Iraq, but suggested rosy predictions of success there by President George W. Bush and other officials fueled public frustration with the war.

HOPE MILLS, North Carolina (Reuters) – There was no finger-wagging, no red-faced explosion of anger at the media and no wistful recollection of the good old days of the Clinton presidency in the 1990s.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers pledged on Thursday to raise more money for inspections of foreign drug plants after the deaths of dozens of patients treated with a blood-thinner made with imported ingredients from China.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Get rid of the federal gas tax – at least for the summer. Tax Big Oil to help the rest of us out. Get drilling in that Alaska refuge. Soaring gasoline prices are suddenly the nation’s No. 1 crisis, and all the presidential candidates are offering cures….

RUSHVILLE, Indiana (Reuters) – Florist Lori McCullar barely remembers the last time Indiana really mattered in a U.S. presidential primary. Now the 45-year-old is relishing her state’s place in the political spotlight.

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) – If Michelle Obama had her way, her husband Barack would be a teacher, a writer, a singer, a dancer — anything but a politician with the chance to make history as the first black president of the United States.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A key member of the U.S. House of Representatives said on Thursday he would seek to block funds to start buying $35 billion of tanker aircraft if auditors call for reopening a competition in which Boeing Co lost out to Northrop Grumman Corp and a European partner.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Republican John McCain said President Bush should not be held responsible for the much-criticized “Mission Accomplished” banner five years ago, but he should be blamed for bungling the early months of the war….