Obama Accused of Plagiarism by Clinton Campaign

Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) was accused of plagiarism by Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign after using a phrase from a speech given by Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) two years ago.

At Obama's Milwaukee Founder’s Day Dinner Saturday, he responded to Senator Clinton’s claims that he is all talk and cannot produce results with just speeches.

Obama responded, by saying to the Wisconsin Democrats:

“Don’t tell me words don’t matter! ‘I have a dream.’ Just words. ‘We hold these truths to be self evident that all me are created equal.’ Just words. ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ Just words. Just speeches. It’s true that speeches don’t solve all problems, but what is also true is if we cannot inspire the country to believe again then it doesn’t matter how many policies and plans we have and that is why I am running for president of the United States of America and that is why we just won eight elections straight, because the American people want to believe in change again. Don’t tell me words don’t matter.”

Patrick said nearly the same thing in October of 2006 when he was running for office.

Obama said that the accusation was blown out of proportion. He said that he and Patrick are friends that share ideas and speak frequently.

According to Patrick, the two are friends and Patrick has accompanied Obama on the campaign trail before.

“Sen. Obama and I are longtime friends and allies," said Patrick via statement. "We often share ideas about politics, policy and language."

"The argument in question, on the value of words in the public square, is one about which he and I have spoken frequently before," continued Patrick. "Given the recent attacks from Sen. Clinton, I applaud him [for] responding in just the way he did.”

Obama - "Just words?"

Washington caucus vs primary

This whole situation is confusing to many people and i include myself in this group. for me it starts knowing we do not declare party in this state. the primary came about as a result of an initiative. the Democratic party selection of their delegates to the nominating convention does not use the results of the primary. this decision is made by Democrats from all over the state, as it was this spring in Bellingham when they met. the parties choose how they select delegates. it is as grassroots as it gets. the caucus is a chance to meet with Democrats in my community and mix it up. as i was trying to get my 82 yr old mother to go to her republican caucus she was not to interested until i told her she could go as an undecided. she said, "you mean people would be trying to win me over" yep mom, eye ball to eye ball. and i pointed out if no one was convincing she could remain undecided. as the Democrats in Michigan are urging democrats to vote in their upcoming primary if their candidate is not on the ballot.
anyway i want the people, who care enough to suit up, saddle up the SUV and show up once every four years to pick the nomimee for my party. and i want everyone to vote in the general election.

Romney Drops Out of Race

Mitt Romney is dropping out of the race for president after failing to rack up significant numbers of delegates on Super Tuesday.

Romney made the announcement today at the Conservative Political Action Conference, a yearly gathering of conservatives in Washington, D.C. His remarks can be found here.

Romney has spent at least $50 million of his own money so far in the campaign but was only able to win a handful of states on Super Tuesday - Massachusetts and Utah and the GOP caucuses in Colorado, North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana. He also picked up the GOP nomination earlier this week in Maine and also won in Michigan.

But his total number of delegates only came up to 133, placing him third in the GOP race. He needed 1,191 to win the nomination.

Romney's successful run for the governor's office in Massachusetts has long been seen as his launchpad for higher office and he served only a single term. His decision not to run again broke the hold the Republicans have had on the governor's office here over nearly two decades.

He also ran unsuccessfully for U.S. senator against Democrat Edward M. Kennedy in 1996.

Despite winning Massachusetts overall, Romney lost to John McCain among voters in the western end of the state by a 2-1 margin in many towns. Romney rarely ventured west of Springfield while in office and had little support here in his run for governor.

Both his predecessors, A. Paul Celucci and Jane Swift, of Williamstown, are strong McCain supporters. Romney is the third prominent Massachusetts politician to fail in a bid for the White House in the last 20 years: former Gov. Michael Dukakis was the Democratic nominee in 1988 and U.S. Sen. John Kerry the Democratic nominee in 2004.

New Mexico Primary Results (Democrats)

Hillary Clinton: 48%
Barack Obama: 48%
John Edwards: 2%

California, Arizona election results going for Clinton

Arizona with about 55 percent reporting has Hillary Clinton with a clear lead over Barack Obama. Gov. Janet Napolitano momentarily loses her golden touch in failing to get the state for Obama, who she endorsed.

California, with less than 9 percent reporting has her with a 22-point margin over Obama.

Obama leads in Utah by 9 percent with about 25% of precincts reporting. Since the state will go Republican this doesn’t seem as important as the Arizona and California wins.
The Obama camp will obviously emphasize the delegate count, which due to the proportional representation nature of Democratic primaries will be fairly even. Before all is done he may well have won more states, but that is unclear at the moment.

The Clinton camp can obviously point to their candidate winning the most votes across the country and winning big when she was almost written off, again, by Obama supporters at least.

McCain, in the winner-takes-all nature of the Republican primaries has a massive lead that will take a massive leap by either Romney or Huckabee to overcome. Romney isn’t going to do well in Texas, and Huckabee has the greater leap.

Meanwhile, Missouri is tightening up, with now just 1 percent - or about 50,000 15,000* votes - between Hillary Clinton and the trailing Obama, with 91% of precincts reporting.

It seems that the “uncommitted” vote of about 3,000 will mark the difference between declaring victory for either candidate as Obama now has about a 3,000-vote lead with 97% of precincts reporting.

Clinton Makes January Haul Public

It's hard to dispute that the fundraising story from January was Democrat Barack Obama's announcement last week that he had raised $32 million for the month -- a number that dwarfs any monthly total he or his rivals posted during the course of last year.

But the impressiveness of that number remained unclear because Obama's chief rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, had not disclosed the amount she raised during a period where she and Obama repeatedly traded bursts of momentum.

Now, that mystery appears to be solved -- Clinton's campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told NBC's Tim Russert this evening that her campaign raised "about 13 million, $13.5 million" last month.

By any normal measure, that would be an enormous haul for one month of fundraising. But stacked against Obama's unusual take, it has a more modest appearance.

McAuliffe, however, saw the fundraising picture in a different light.

"We won the fourth quarter and the third quarter. We actually raised more in '07 than Barack Obama did," McAuliffe told Russert, adding that the $13-plus million effort in January was something he was "very proud of."

Ron Paul is insane

Why American Veterans Are Voting Obama

Nine days ago at an election eve rally at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, a Vietnam veteran, tears welling in his eyes, wildly shouted his support for Senator Barack Obama.

Two fellow vets helped him to his feet to join in a raucous standing ovation for Obama. That Vietnam veteran, Noah Coakley of Key West, FL, is a man of dignity and reserve, a man who served his country for 20 years in the U.S. Army, including five tours of duty in Vietnam.

Noah Coakley is a veteran passionately supporting Barack Obama for president.

Across the country, this scene is repeated. Veterans in enormous numbers, with passion and fervor and commitment are turning out in support of Barack Obama.

Vietnam veterans are printing literature, "slim jims," at their expense, highlighting Barack Obama's support of veterans. An Iraq war vet, a merchant marine, and the daughter of a Vietnam vet are reaching into their pockets to buy "Veterans for Obama" signs.

Republican veterans -- from a 30-plus year career Marine in Beaufort, South Carolina, to a lifelong Republican who served three Republican presidents in the White House and the Pentagon - are turning out for Barack Obama, urging fellow veterans to support and vote for him. Retired Marine Corps Command Sergeant Major John L. Estrada, only the 15th Command Sergeant Major in the history of the Corps, has gone on the campaign trail and joined the chorus of veteran voices actively, passionately supporting Barack Obama.

From flag rank officers to grunts, veterans of every era and rank are turning out for Barack Obama.

Why? Where is this passion and commitment for a non-veteran coming from?

The answer is simple. It is because Barack Obama, the grandson of a World War II vet who fought in Patton's army, is passionate and committed to the issues that affect veterans and their families.

Senator Obama, when he arrived in Washington, volunteered for the all important, but not very glamorous, Senate Committee on Veteran's Affairs. In the wake of the housing and medical evaluation scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Obama introduced a sweeping bill, called the Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act, calling for comprehensive reforms in how our combat veterans and their families are treated.

Vets support Obama because he will fully fund the VA healthcare budget, will bring Priority 8 vets back into the VA healthcare system, will expand the GI Bill to allow spouses and children to be eligible to use veteran benefits and will treat Guardsmen and Reservists equally, and he will comprehensively address the pain and devastation brought onto vets by PTSD and traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

And of critical importance, Barack Obama has pledged a "zero tolerance" policy to end veteran homelessness. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans noted in Congressional testimony that "We extend our deep gratitude to Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) for catapulting homeless veteran issues onto the Senate agenda ...."

It is for all these reasons that veterans support Barack Obama for president. But mostly America's veterans support Barack Obama because his support of veterans and their families is passionate and unqualified.

And yet while we are veterans, we are Americans first. We see in Barack Obama a transformational candidate; we see, not a politician who wants to be president, but a man who wants to change our country.

Senator Obama embodies the bold, fresh, innovative, outside-the-Beltway thinking that we, as Americans, desperately need. He possesses the leadership and passion, the vision and thoughtfulness, the wisdom to unite our divided country, to re-establish our friendships around the world, to restore our standing as the greatest, most generous, caring, freest nation in history.

Barack Obama, beginning on day one of his presidency, will restore the greatness and promise of America.

Big Gains By Obama

A startling surge of support for Barack Obama has catapulted the Illinois senator into a virtual tie with Hillary Rodham Clinton in California's Democratic presidential primary, a Field Poll released Saturday shows.

Arizona Sen. John McCain lengthened his lead in the state Republican primary, grabbing a 32 to 24 percent edge among likely voters over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was at 13 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 10 percent.

But the Democratic numbers are the shocker. Clinton, a longtime California favorite, saw her once-commanding lead slip to two percentage points, 36 to 34 percent, in the new survey. That's down from the New York senator's 12 percentage point lead in mid-January and a 25 percentage point margin over Obama in October.

But with 18 percent of Democratic voters still undecided just days before Tuesday's primary, the election is still up for grabs, said Mark DiCamillo, the poll's director.

"It's an unusually volatile election, with a very high number of undecided voters and so many moving parts," he said. "It could be a very, very close election."

The head-to-head matchups between the Republican and Democratic candidates highlight both Clinton's loosening hold on California voters and McCain's growing strength in the state.

Clinton now clings to a bare 45 to 43 percent lead over McCain in a projected California presidential vote, down dramatically from her 17 percentage point margin just two weeks ago. Obama now holds a stronger 47 to 40 percent margin over the Arizona senator, but that's only half the 14 percentage point advantage he had in mid-January.

Both Democrats still run well ahead of Romney, collecting more than 50 percent of the vote in those matchups.

Obama's California campaign team said the latest polls reflect a hard-charging effort to track down potential voters in every precinct - undeterred by polls that showed the Illinois senator behind by double digits here for most of the race.

"If we hadn't laid the groundwork for the last year, we couldn't be delivering now," Debbie Mesloh, spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, said Saturday.

Averell "Ace" Smith, Clinton's California campaign manager, said the last-minute dead heat is to be expected in the nation's most populous state, which is "critical" to Clinton's effort to win the nomination.

"We always knew it would tighten," he said. "But we're incredibly confident in the organization we have to get out the vote."

The new poll shows why Obama's campaign has been targeting decline-to-state voters, who can cast ballots in the Democratic primary. While Clinton has a 37 to 31 percent lead over Obama among Democrats, Obama leads by an overwhelming 54 to 32 percent among nonpartisans, who will make up an estimated 13 percent of the primary voters.

The poll also highlights the dramatic split the Clinton-Obama battle has caused in the state's Democratic Party. Rich versus poor, young versus old, liberal versus conservative, men versus women: Each of those groups has lined up on different sides of the primary divide.

While people aged 18 to 29 back Obama by a margin of 11 percentage points, voters 65 and older support Clinton, 40 to 18 percent. Voters with household incomes of $40,000 or less back Clinton by an advantage of 11 percentage points, while those making $80,000 or more are strong Obama supporters.

Obama attracts voters who call themselves liberal, who have gone to graduate school and who are from the Bay Area, which backs him 41 to 31 percent. Clinton's strength is among conservatives and moderates, those with a high school education and residents of sprawling Los Angeles County, where she holds a 42 to 34 percent lead.

There's also a broad ethnic and gender gap between the campaigns. While white voters are split evenly between Clinton and Obama, the Illinois senator, whose late father was a black African, has a 55 to 19 percent lead among black voters, while Latinos back Clinton 52 to 19 percent.

Among men, Obama holds a 13 percentage point lead, the same advantage Clinton holds among women.

But for Clinton, even her good numbers show some ominous changes. In mid-January, the Field Poll showed her with a 19 percentage point lead among women and a huge 59 to 19 percent advantage with Latino voters. In two weeks, much of that backing has melted away.

While part of the reason for the huge number of undecided voters is last week's departure of John Edwards from the race, most of it seems to be honest angst among Democrats pressed to make a choice between two favored candidates, DiCamillo said.

"This is the Democratic rank and file having a hard time making a choice, because they like them both," he said.

On the Republican side, McCain continues to make an astounding comeback in a state where he was virtually given up for dead just months ago. He's moved from 12 percent in December to 22 percent in mid-January to 32 percent and the lead in the most recent poll.

"McCain's had a very good month," DiCamillo said. "He also benefits from Huckabee, who peels off some votes from Romney."

McCain's lead comes courtesy of a strong showing among moderate and moderately conservative Republicans, where he holds a 39 to 16 percent advantage over Romney.

Steve Schmidt, a senior strategist for McCain, said the new poll numbers reflect a national surge for the Arizona senator.

"From California to Massachusetts, Sen. McCain is on the move and getting ready for a big night on Tuesday," said Schmidt.

But Romney spokeswoman Sarah Pompeii said the latest figures will not stop them from pushing hard in California.

So much of the election still depends on who turns out to vote on Tuesday, which DiCamillo admitted is the hardest thing to project.

"There are cautionary notes," he said. "With those big differences among (Democratic) subgroups, an unexpectedly large turnout by any one of them can shift the final result. We don't know if Obama's surge will continue or if something will arrest it in the days before the election."

Both Democratic campaigns were working hard in the Bay Area on Saturday. Chelsea Clinton, the 27-year-old daughter of Sen. Clinton, spoke Saturday to hundreds of students at Oakland's Mills College, while Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry was in San Francisco to boost Obama's campaign.

Kerry was pleased Obama was closing the gap in California, but warned that "we've got to try even harder over the next few days because there are all of these absentee ballots out there - people who voted a few weeks ago when they thought the race was a foregone conclusion (for Clinton). It's proven not to be."

The poll was based on a telephone survey of 511 likely voters in the Democratic primary and 481 likely voters in the Republican primary and was conducted between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points among Democrats, plus or minus 4.6 percentage points among Republicans and plus or minus 4.2 percentage points among general election voters.

Clinton Cheered in Bay Area

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, barnstorming California in the final days before the Feb. 5 primary, made a strong appeal to Bay Area voters Friday, telling them "the future has been invented right here in San Jose, in Silicon Valley, in California."

"So let's begin again to show the world, and prove to ourselves, that we're the innovators, we're the inventors, we're the people who understand that the future is what America is all about," the New York senator, her voice hoarse, said to the thunderous cheers of more than 4,000 people who assembled in the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. "America once again needs to be the innovation nation."

Clinton's appearance in San Jose, combined with a standing-room-only evening fundraiser at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown San Francisco, was part of a three-pronged Clinton family march through the nation's most populous state with its 376 Democratic delegates up for grabs on Tuesday.

Clinton planned a final rally in Los Angeles Saturday, while her daughter, Chelsea, is set to campaign in the Bay Area, including at Mills College. Former President Bill Clinton planned to be traveling up and down the state in the final days on his own campaign swing, campaign officials said.

Hillary Clinton's appearance Friday in San Jose drew thousands of cheering supporters to an event with a celebratory Latino theme, backed by a giant banner that read "Solutions for America."

And on her final Bay Area campaign swing, Clinton was surrounded by a retinue of high-profile Democrats, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The rally clearly aimed to energize voters who constitute Clinton's particular strengths in California: She is ahead 2-1 with women and 3-1 with Latinos, the latest Field Poll shows.

Calling for immigration reform, she said to cheers that real immigration reform "is being drowned out by the voices of the demagogues."

"We know we've got to have tougher border security," she said. "We need to crack down on abusive employers" who exploit illegal immigrants, she said. But she cautioned, "These are people who are part of our economy and our society ... what we have to do is bring people out of the shadows."

Clinton also appeared eager to extend the conciliatory theme established with this week's debate with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

"I am so proud of the Democratic Party," she told the audience. "I don't think any of us could have imagined that all of the work, all of the sacrifice, all of the commitment that has moved our country ... could have been so symbolized by the two of us, standing there, debating, trying to become the Democratic nominee and the president of our great country."

In San Francisco, Clinton was joined by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, who said Clinton showed a powerful feeling for simple justice. The predominately female crowd cheered when the senator conceded that as a young girl she never would have dreamed she would have a chance to become president.

"No matter what happens," she said, "after last night's debate, you can look at a child and say, 'Yes, you can be anything you want to be in this country we care so much about."

In San Jose, mariachis strolled the crowd, trumpets blaring, serenading Clinton's supporters into a joyous mood. Giant red and black United Farm Workers flags danced in the hall as supporters chanted, "Si Se Puede," the UFW slogan, Spanish for "Yes we can."

"I see a lot of estrogen-based life forms in this hall," said an exuberant Rep. Ellen Tauscher of Walnut Creek, revving up the crowd before Clinton's arrival. "Come on girls, like you mean it! She's one of us!"

Dolores Huerta, the iconic co-founder of the United Farm Workers, also appealed to the crowd "to do what Hillary did and do what Cesar Chavez did" and get Democrats out to vote on Tuesday.

While the Clintons blanketed the state, the Obama campaign also tried to reach voters with live events. But with the Illinois senator campaigning in other Super Tuesday states, the rallies featured his high-profile surrogates. Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy hit Oakland on Friday; Michelle Obama, the candidate's wife, is tentatively scheduled to campaign in the Bay Area on Sunday and in Los Angeles with Oprah Winfrey and Caroline Kennedy.

Some Democrats who showed up for a last chance to see Clinton before Tuesday's primary said they were still making up their minds.

Among them was Barbara Katz, 52, a mental health worker from Albany - and a self-identified lesbian voter - who said she was still mulling her vote in the final days. She said she had watched portions of this week's debate at the Kodak Center in Los Angeles and liked what she saw in Clinton.

"I was pleased she was so much more positive; she came across as warmer and more personable," said Katz.

Sitting next to her, Peggy Reamer, 66, of Richmond said her mind was already made up.

Clinton's "experience factor is huge," as are her positions on key issues like health care, she said. But a factor that tugged at her heart, Reamer said, was that she wants to see - finally - a woman elected as president of the United States. "It's about time," said Reamer.

Still, she said, the recent debates have convinced her that Democrats have two good candidates to choose between.

"If Obama wins, he'll certainly have my support," she said.

State Dems accused of ignoring independents

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is desperately seeking independent voters to support him in Tuesday's Democratic primary, but some California liberals believe party officials haven't done enough to spread a message that could be key to Obama's success in the state: that decline-to-state voters can cast Democratic ballots.

Going into the final weekend of the campaign, the concern over reaching independent voters was one of several signs that the race between Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton could be tightening in California, which offers the biggest delegate prize in Tuesday's Super Tuesday primary.

There also were two signs Friday that the departure of former Sen. John Edwards from the race earlier this week is sending more support to Obama. The liberal online hub MoveOn - with a membership of 3.2 million - voted to endorse the Illinois senator, the first time MoveOn has backed a candidate in a primary race.

Also on Friday, the 650,000-member California service workers union, which had previously endorsed Edwards, shifted its support to Obama.

But it was concern over reaching the state's growing number of independent voters that spurred an organization to broadcast a last-minute radio appeal.

"The Democratic Party had a huge opportunity to appeal to decline-to-state voters, and they didn't take the opportunity that was handed to them," said Rick Jacobs, founder of the 100,000-member Courage Campaign, a liberal online organization that has not endorsed a candidate.

The group raised money to fund radio commercials to air across the state Monday - starring actor and Clinton supporter Bradley Whitford - that tell decline-to-state voters that they can request a Democratic ballot on Tuesday. The goal, Jacobs said, is to try to woo new voters to the Democratic side.

And that, Jacobs said, is something the state party should have done a better job of doing.

"It was a total whiff on their part," Jacobs said. "They didn't even swing as far as I can tell."

"That's baloney," said California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres. "We have continuously reached out to decline-to-states."

Though Jacobs doesn't believe there was any intention by party officials to favor one campaign or another, Torres bristled at any insinuation from others that the party establishment is trying to aid Clinton's candidacy by downplaying its outreach to independents.

The state party's bylaws prevent the party from doing anything that favors one candidate over another in the primary. Torres said he has reached out to independents in interviews and through the party's Web site, but said the state party could not afford a major TV campaign to get decline-to-state voters to the polls. The party sent e-mails to permanent decline-to-state voters on Dec. 26, reminding them they can vote in the Democratic primary and plans to send another e-mail reminder to all independents this weekend, Torres said.

"If the Obama campaign is concerned because they think they will be getting the lion's share of independent votes, then they should be doing mail and communications," he said. "That's the responsibility of their campaign."

While Obama campaigners were careful not to criticize party leaders Friday, they've made it clear that reaching decline-to-state voters is key to their California strategy, particularly in the Bay Area where there are plenty of voters who don't identify with the two major parties.

"Sen. Obama's message of unity and change really resonates with independent voters, so we have made reaching them a major focus," said Debbie Mesloh, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign.

The final voter registration numbers for Tuesday's election, released Friday, show just how important decline-to-state voters have become in California elections.

Since the 2004 presidential primary, the Democrats have added 230,000 registered voters, Republicans have lost 135,407, and 563,125 more people have signed up as decline-to-state voters. They now represent 19.3 percent of California's voters. The endorsements Obama received Friday could bring thousands of new foot soldiers into his campaign, including some of those elusive decline-to-state voters. Key was the blessing from MoveOn. The online giant promised its membership that it wouldn't back any candidate until two-thirds of its members supported that candidate.

A few weeks ago, the membership was split. But, as MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser wrote in an e-mail Friday "with John Edwards bowing out, progressives are coming together." More than 70 percent of MoveOn members said they prefer Obama compared with 30 percent for Clinton.

"Something big is clearly happening," Pariser wrote Friday. "If we all pitch in together between now and Tuesday, we can help Sen. Obama win the biggest primary day in American history."

More ground troops will come from California's service employees' union. Service Employees International Union officials said their members will spend the weekend running phone banks in Oakland and Los Angeles urging union members to vote for Obama.

Obama also brought Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy to Oakland on Friday to pump up the campaign's supporters for a huge get-out-the-vote effort over the weekend.

"The eyes of the country are on California," he told a standing-room-only crowd at Beebe Memorial Cathedral C.M.E. "We can elect someone who will electrify this nation."

The Republican National Committee pounced on Friday's developments as an example of Obama scoring the "Liberal Hat Trick."

"In The Span Of Five Days, Barack Obama Earned MoveOn.Org Endorsement, Sen. Ted Kennedy's Seal Of Approval, And National Journal's Most Liberal Senator Ranking," the RNC Web site declared.

"It's a bizarre day in American politics when Ted Kennedy campaigns for Barack Obama in the Bay Area, and the most conservative part of that statement is 'Ted Kennedy,' " said RNC spokesman Paul Lindsay.

Obama also pushed to improve his standing with Latinos, who could make up close to 20 percent of the Democratic primary voters. So far, Latinos have been leaning heavily toward Clinton.

In a telephone news conference Friday, several of Obama's Latino backers emphasized that he will address immigration reform in his first year in office.

"He will tackle a difficult issue in an honest way and take people with him," said Rep. Xavier Becerra, a Los Angeles Democrat.

But Clinton also is working hard to get the Latino vote out, said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. She was endorsed Friday by Los Angeles Supervisor Gloria Molina and named the prominent Latina a national co-chair for her presidential campaign.

Despite Obama's efforts, Clinton's campaign believes it can seal a victory in California with its extensive vote-by-mail operation. A Los Angeles Times-CNN-Politico poll, released Tuesday, found that Clinton had a major edge with voters planning to vote by mail, leading 53 percent to 30 percent over Obama. She held a narrower lead, 42 percent to 34 percent, among those planning to vote in precincts.

Voters who cast their ballots by mail tend to be older and whiter and are more likely to be female - demographic groups where Clinton has shown strength.

State election officials predict that 47 percent of ballots will be cast by mail this year. Stephen Weir, president of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials and the elections chief in Contra Costa County, said county elections officials are reporting that about 30 percent of the ballots that will be cast in Tuesday's primary are already in.

Even if the polls appear to be tightening before election day, "it's a mirage," said Ace Smith, Clinton's California campaign manager. He predicted that the first returns to be announced as polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday - the absentee ballots - will show Clinton's advantage.

Do Or Die For Romney Campaign

After devoting two years and more than $35 million of his own money trying to win his party's nomination for the presidency, Mitt Romney and his advisers face the possibility that his effort could end with the nominating contests on Tuesday.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona has won a series of major primaries and landed big-name endorsements as he seeks to present himself as the Republican Party's putative nominee.

Operating in survival mode, Romney's circle of advisers has come up with a detailed road map to try to salvage his campaign. The plan is complete with a new infusion of cash from Romney, a long-term strategy intended to turn the campaign into a protracted delegate fight and a reframing of the race as a one-on-one battle for the future of the party that seeks to sound the alarm among conservatives about McCain.

The advisers have drawn up a list of states, dividing and ranking them into those considered relatively easy and inexpensive targets, along with a broader grouping of more costly battlegrounds where the advisers hope Romney can be competitive.

Some states like Arizona and Arkansas, the home states of McCain and Mike Huckabee, respectively, are largely written off.

The question is whether the planning, along with the campaign's one trump card, the candidate's vast wealth, can overcome the growing sense of inevitability that has begun to attach itself to McCain.

Complicating the outlook, Romney's campaign has been racked by infighting over advertising strategy between some senior advisers, including some consultants who joined the campaign after leaving McCain's.

Polls in many major primary states on Tuesday, including California, the linchpin of Romney's strategy, where he is spending $1.7 million on advertising, according to a rival campaign, show McCain with a comfortable lead. McCain also appears to hold significant edges in New York and New Jersey, winner-take-all states where many former backers of Rudy Giuliani have joined the McCain camp.

The endorsement by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger boosts McCain in California, and the national news media buzz contributes to the air of a coronation.

"I don't think anyone should write Mitt Romney's obituary yet," said Todd Harris, a political consultant who worked on Fred Thompson's campaign. "He can be a compelling candidate with a ton of money. But at some point if he's not winning, the entire rationale for his campaign becomes that he is a well-funded candidate who's not John McCain, and that's not enough."

Another unforeseen complication is the funeral Saturday of Gordon B. Hinckley, late president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Salt Lake City. The funeral, taking Romney off the trail on the most important weekend of campaigning so far, will draw attention once again to Romney's Mormon faith.

Alex Castellanos, a media strategist for Romney, said that regardless of the delegate count, the winner in California will have the momentum to move on. "California's the one to watch," Castellanos said.

Rob Stutzman, a senior adviser for the California campaign, said the state's Republican electorate is traditionally quite conservative. Stutzman predicted that McCain will run into problems because of his moderate stance on illegal immigration.

"The immigration vulnerability is amplified in California for McCain," he said.

The Romney campaign has had four paid staff members in California since last summer and has been making calls throughout the state since the beginning of January, when absentee voting began.

The field operations are focused on congressional districts where it believes that organization can have productive effects. The state is set up so that each district is worth the same number of delegates, no matter how many Republicans are in it. A small organizing effort could swing a district.

The Romney campaign is banking on winning Utah, with its heavy concentration of Mormons.

Beyond that, the campaign is also focused on picking off the handful of states holding caucuses or state conventions on Tuesday. The campaign says some minimal organization - it has had at least one paid worker in almost every Super Tuesday state since the fall - and spending can produce results. The states include Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia.

Adding Alaska, where Romney's son Josh has been dispatched, more than 250 delegates are at stake in this first group of states out of the more than 1,000 delegates up for grabs Tuesday.

The campaign has then drawn up a broader list of battlegrounds where it believes it can be competitive, including Georgia, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee. Advertising will most likely be focused on those primary states.

Newsom surprised Peskin's call is news now

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said Friday that Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin has made harassing and threatening phones call to elected officials and private citizens for years and that he was surprised the behavior made the news just this week.

The Chronicle reported Thursday that Monique Moyer, executive director of the Port of San Francisco, wrote a letter to the city's Department of Human Resources and Newsom's office in August describing a series of calls from Peskin to her and other port officials that she characterized as "outlandish harassment."

She said Peskin had threatened to cut the department's funding and eliminate jobs of port officials because they disagreed with him over building-height limits on the city's waterfront. The calls included one to Moyer's home at 8:45 p.m. in which he said he would be "going after" her, she said.

Moyer said the calls violated a city law prohibiting board members from interfering in city departments' business. The city attorney's office and the Department of Human Resources are investigating.

After an unrelated event in the Bayview neighborhood Friday, Newsom said numerous city officials and private citizens have called his office in recent days to report having received threatening phone calls over the years from Peskin. Newsom added that he was proud of Moyer for raising the issue.

"Everyone's been hearing this for years. I don't think there's a person in city government who's surprised," Newsom said. "I don't think anyone that I've met in elected office or a community leader hasn't received these types of calls.

"What was surprising is why it took so long for this to come out," he said. "The only reason it seems to have is that someone had the courage to actually write down the impact it had on her and her staff. I can't tell you how many people are still unwilling, particularly in the private sector with projects coming before the board ... to say it."

Peskin did not return calls seeking comment Friday, but did have a couple of backers call The Chronicle to voice their support for the supervisor. Earlier this week, he denied he had violated the law.

"I take my job seriously," he said in response to Moyer's complaint. "I aggressively pursue policies and outcomes that I think are in the best interest of the city. I know the boundaries of appropriate behavior. Things get heated from time to time in the legislative arena."

He also said the 5-month-old complaint from Moyer had been leaked by the Newsom administration in retaliation for Peskin's blast at the mayor for using Municipal Transportation Agency funds to pay senior staffers' salaries.

Nathan Ballard, Newsom's press secretary, said that was an attempt to change the subject.

"Aaron Peskin is in hot water because of his own threatening behavior," Ballard said. "He needs to act like a grown man and stop blaming everyone else for the predicament he's in."

Inside: An Oklahoma senator wants a federal investigation of Mayor Gavin Newsom's use of transportation funds to pay for aides' salaries.

Candidates making Super Tuesday push

Sen. John McCain barnstormed through a skeptical South on Saturday, campaigning for a Super Tuesday knockout in the Republican presidential race. Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton worked the West on the final weekend before primaries and caucuses in more than 20 states.

"I assume that I will get the nomination of the party," McCain told reporters, the front-runner so confident that he decided to challenge rival Mitt Romney in his home state of Massachusetts.

Romney, on the other hand, celebrated a caucus victory in Maine and told reporters he plans to do well Tuesday, "planning on getting the kind of delegates and support that shows that my effort is succeeding, and taking that across the nation. ... I am encouraged by the support which I'm seeing grow for me."

Clinton stressed pocketbook issues, the home mortgage crisis in a discussion with voters in a working class neighborhood, and health care at a noisy rally in California attended by former Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson. "This is a cause that is the central passion of my public life," she said, and jabbed at Obama on the issue.

"My opponent will not commit to universal health care. I do not believe we should nominate any Democrat who will not stand here proudly today and commit to universal health care," she said in the continuation of a monthslong debate over which candidate's plan would result in wider coverage among the millions who now lack it.

Obama stopped in Idaho, where caucuses offer a mere 18 delegates on Tuesday, and he worked to reassure Westerners on two fronts.

"I've been going to the same church for more than 20 years, praising Jesus," he told an audience in Boise, warning his listeners not to believe e-mails that falsely say he is a Muslim.

In a region of the country where hunting is a way of life, he also said he has "no intention of taking away folks' guns." The Illinois senator did not mention his support for gun control legislation.

The two remaining Democratic rivals compete in primaries in 15 states as well as caucuses in seven more plus American Samoa on Tuesday, the busiest day of this or any other nominating campaign. A total of 1,681 delegates is at stake, including 370 in California alone, and the two campaigns have said they do not expect either side to emerge with a lock on the nomination.

Both have already begun turning their attention to Feb. 12 primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Obama told reporters on a flight from Boise to Minneapolis that he thinks the race for votes on Tuesday is getting tighter, even though the schedule seems to favor the more well-known Clinton. "I don't think that there is any doubt that we've made some progress. I don't think that there's any doubt that Senator Clinton — she's still the favorite," he said on the way to a rally that drew 20,000 people to the Target Center.

The Republican political landscape is different for McCain, Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, with nine of the 21 contests on the ballot awarding delegates winner-take-all to the top vote-getter.

At a stop in Minnesota, Romney called his caucus victory Saturday in Maine, where he took little over 50 percent of a presidential preference vote, "a people's victory," noting that it came despite McCain endorsement by the state's two U.S. senators.

"It is, in my view, also an indication that conservative change is something that the American people want to see. I think you're going to see a growing movement across this country to get behind my candidacy and to propel this candidacy forward," Romney said. "I think it's a harbinger of what you're going to see on Tuesday."

Without mentioning him by name, Romney also took a jab at McCain, telling an audience in Edina: "I don't think we win the White House by getting as close to Hillary Clinton as we can be without being Hillary Clinton."

Clinton, Obama, Huckabee and Paul participated via satellite in a televised youth forum during the evening. The event was sponsored by MTV, The Associated Press and MySpace.

Each appearing separately, the Democrats pitched their college aid proposals; Huckabee, his theory of "vertical" leadership that breaks through the "horizontal" politics of left and right; and Paul, his belief that government is best when it gets out of people's way.

Clinton, noting Democrats are choosing between a female and a black candidate, said: "Whichever of us gets the nomination, we are making history," and asserted she is the best equipped to lead. Equally mindful of history, Obama said the contest is not about the race or the sex of the candidates.

If it were just about his race, he said, "I wouldn't have to answer questions. I could just show up."

McCain's rivals have essentially conceded him New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Arizona, five winner-take-all states with 251 delegates combined.

That left McCain free to spend Saturday in Huckabee's probable area of strength, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. All three are home to large numbers of evangelical voters who have been slow to swing behind the Arizona senator on his march through the early primaries and caucuses.

He worked to reassure conservatives, telling them he had a 24-year record in the Senate of "fighting for the rights of the unborn" and boasting he never asked for a single earmark or pork barrel project for his home state of Arizona.

As for the slowing economy, he said the Senate must "stop fooling around and pass the president's stimulus package .... and restore some confidence."

McCain made no mention of Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is his closest pursuer in the race, or of Huckabee, the Baptist preacher-turned-politician.

In Tennessee, McCain made a pitch for the supporters of campaign dropout Fred Thompson, a former Tennessee senator. "He is a fine man. I had the distinct pleasure and honor of sitting next, my desk right next to Fred Thompson for eight years in the United States Senate," he said. Thompson has not endorsed any of the remaining candidates.

Before campaigning in Minnesota, Romney attended the funeral of Mormon Church President Gordon B. Hinckley in Salt Lake City. Romney would be the first Mormon to sit in the White House if he wins the presidency.

Huckabee campaigned across Alabama, taking thinly veiled swipes at McCain and Romney.

"You really would like to get a president to agree with himself on some issues," he said in a reference to Romney, who has switched positions on key issues since he ran against Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy in Massachusetts in 1994. As for McCain and the need to control federal spending, he said, "It doesn't make sense that someone would be sent to the White House who has a Washington address."

McCain emerged as the front-runner in the Republican race with a victory in the winner-take-all primary in Florida last Tuesday. In the days since, he has begun collecting endorsements from establishment figures ranging from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to former Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma.

But a significant number of conservatives remain vocally opposed to him, and Romney hopes to take advantage of their unwillingness to swing behind a longtime party maverick.

"It's going to destroy the Republican Party," radio show host Rush Limbaugh has said of a McCain nomination. Ann Coulter, the conservative author and commentator, has said she would prefer Clinton in the White House over McCain, adding, "I will campaign for her."

Romney wins Maine caucuses

AUGUSTA, Maine - Mitt Romney coasted to a win in presidential preference voting by Maine Republicans on Saturday, claiming his third victory in a caucus state and fourth overall.

The former Massachusetts governor had 52 percent of the vote with 68 percent of the towns holding caucuses reporting. John McCain trailed with 21 percent, Ron Paul was third with 19 percent, and Mike Huckabee had 6 percent. Undecided votes accounted for 2 percent.

The nonbinding votes, the first step toward electing 18 Maine delegates to the Republican National Convention, took place in public schools, Grange halls, fire stations and town halls across the state.

The Associated Press uses presidential preferences expressed in those caucuses to project the number of national convention delegates each candidate will have when they are chosen at Maine's state convention, calculating that Romney will wind up with all 18 delegates when all is said and done.

Campaigning in Minnesota, Romney noted that his victory in Maine came despite McCain's endorsement by the state's two U.S. senators.

"The people of Maine joined those from across the nation in casting their vote for conservative change in Washington ... Like many Americans, the people of Maine are tired of Washington promises made but broken," Romney said in a statement.

The fight for delegate support in Maine came just ahead of Super Tuesday, giving candidates a chance to build momentum for the upcoming contests in more than 20 states.

Most of Maine's caucuses were held Saturday but a scattering of towns will hold theirs Sunday and later in the month. Party leaders were delighted with the heavy turnout, which they said was driven by the most hotly contested race in two decades.

Besides Paul, who visited Maine on Monday, Romney was the only candidate to show up or send a surrogate to campaign as the caucuses drew close. His oldest son Tagg campaigned Friday and appeared at caucuses Saturday.

Romney has also won in the caucus states of Nevada and Wyoming, and finished first in Michigan's primary.

Kim Pettengill, a party activist for more than three decades, said Saturday's was the largest Kennebec County caucus turnout since 1980, the year Ronald Reagan won his first GOP nomination for president.

Party Executive Director Julie O'Brien said other counties reported similarly heavy turnouts.

Overall, the AP tracks the delegate races by projecting the number of national convention delegates won by candidates in each presidential primary or caucus, based on state and national party rules, and by interviewing unpledged delegates to obtain their preferences.

In some states, like Iowa, Maine and Nevada, local precinct caucuses are the first stage in the allocation process. The AP uses preferences expressed in those caucuses to project the number of national convention delegates each candidate will have when they are chosen at county, congressional district or state conventions.

The Maine Democrats hold their presidential preference votes at municipal caucuses on Feb. 10.

Candidates Address Young Voters

NEW YORK -- Democrat Barack Obama told young voters Saturday his multicultural background lets him "see through the eyes of other people" abroad in ways another president could not. Closer to home _ and student pocketbooks _ rival Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke of aggressive steps to make college affordable.

The two Democrats and Republicans Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul joined in a youth-oriented forum sponsored by MTV, The Associated Press and MySpace, each fielding questions separately by satellite. In perhaps a sign of Obama's strength with young people, both Clinton and Huckabee were asked not just about themselves, but about him.

Clinton, asked what Obama symbolized in the contest, said she and her rival together "represent such a sea change in America" _ one bidding to become the first female president, the other wanting to be the first black president. "Whichever of us gets the nomination, we are making history," she said, before rapidly asserting she is the best equipped to lead.

Equally mindful of history, Obama declared the contest is not about the race or the sex of the candidates. If it were just about his race, he said, "I wouldn't have to answer questions. I could just show up."

Clinton was in Tucson, Ariz., and Obama in Minneapolis, each in motion across a vast landscape in the closing stretch before the two dozen presidential nomination contests Tuesday. John McCain and Mitt Romney, top contenders for the GOP nomination, declined to participate in the forum. McCain answered questions solo at an MTV-MySpace forum from New Hampshire in December.

Obama, an Illinois senator, asked young voters concerned about America's place in the world to judge him on his record of standing against the Iraq war and on his background as the son of a Kenyan father and mother from Kansas. He noted his schooldays in Indonesia.

"If I convene a meeting of Muslim leaders to try to bridge the divide between Islam and the West, I do so with the credibility of someone who lived in a Muslim country for four years when I was a child," he said. "And although I'm a Christian I have a sense of that culture."

He said his supporters were diligently countering an anonymous e-mail campaign painting him as a Muslim, a faith he's never practiced.

"I am a member of the same Christian church where I've been for the last 20 years," he said. "I've been pledging allegiance to the flag since I was 3 years old. These are the old smear tactics that we see in every campaign."

Clinton, a New York senator, emphasized college affordability in response to a question, and outlined her proposals to help students pay off debt with national service, to increase Pell grants and to sweeten other college aid.

She said student loan companies should be cut out of the process and colleges should enter contracts with freshmen ensuring no tuition increases until they graduate.

"We are literally slamming the door of college in the face of so many young people," she said. Obama, too, talked about his national service plan to relieve college debt.

Huckabee, opening the forum, complained that he always gets "the God questions" when he'd rather be talking about public policy, and denied there's any conflict between his faith and the right things to do as president.

The former Baptist preacher was asked almost right off if he would be capable of making decisions in the Oval Office that might be at odds with his religion.

"There's not this glaring conflict," he said. "Faith helps me to understand what is right."

Religious conservatives have provided much of Huckabee's support and he's not been shy about courting them.

"I always get asked the God questions," he said, adding that "it's really been frustrating" that people don't want to know more about his work as Arkansas governor.

Paul told the forum he opposed U.S. intervention in Sudan's Darfur region and placed little faith in the ability of the United Nations to relieve the crisis there. He was asked what he'd do to stop the crisis from turning into a genocide on the scale of that experienced in Rwanda.

"I don't believe in using force in that manner," he said. "Under the Constitution, we're not allowed to do that."

He said he might support some interim aid, steered through international agencies, to address "these social problems in Africa." The U.N. estimates that 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been displaced since ethnic African rebels in Darfur took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of discrimination, in 2003

Huckabee spoke from Montgomery, Ala., and Paul from Victoria, Texas.

The forum, "Closing Arguments: A Presidential Super Dialogue," was presented live on MTV and more than 1,800 Web sites and radio stations. Questions came from moderators in MTV's Times Square studio and from online and in-studio participants.

Military contractors are hard to fire

WASHINGTON - ITT Federal Services International, a defense contractor hired to maintain battle gear for U.S. troops in Iraq, repeatedly failed to do the job right.

Combat vehicles ITT declared as repaired and ready for action flunked inspections and had to be fixed again. Equipment to be sanitized for return to the United States was found caked with dirt. And ITT's computer database for tracking the work was rife with errors.

Formal "letters of concern" were sent to the contractor. Still, the Army didn't fire ITT. Instead, it gave the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based company more work to do. Since October 2004, ITT has been paid $638 million through the Global Maintenance and Supply Services contract.

The Army's ongoing arrangement with ITT, detailed in an audit from the Government Accountability Office, shows how captive the military has become to the private sector for overseas support. Even when contractors don't measure up, dismissing them may not be an option because of the heavy pace of operations.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., co-author of legislation creating a special commission to examine wartime contracting, said poor-performing contractors are more likely to get bonuses than to be penalized.

"It has just been a mess," McCaskill, a former state auditor, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's bad enough how much this war is costing. But it's heartbreaking the amount of money that has just gone up in smoke."

In ITT's case, there were too few soldiers to handle the maintenance duties and no other contractors ready to step in quickly, according to Redding Hobby, the Army Sustainment Command's executive director for field support operations.

"I'm not sure that our manning levels would have allowed us to do anything except wring our hands and worry and work people harder and work people overtime," Hobby said in a telephone interview.

In a brief statement, ITT said it objected to the GAO's conclusions and has "taken numerous corrective actions." The company also said it has met the Army's requirements.

Contract personnel working for the Defense Department now outnumber U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan; there are 196,000 private-sector workers in both countries compared to 182,000 troops.

Contractors are responsible for a slew of duties, including repairing warfighting equipment, supplying food and water, building barracks, providing armed security and gathering intelligence.

The dependence has come with serious consequences.

During a congressional hearing on Jan. 24, Jack Bell, a senior Pentagon acquisition official, called the situation "unprecedented" and one "that, frankly, we were not adequately prepared to address."

A shortage of experienced federal employees to oversee this growing industrial army is blamed for much of the waste, fraud and abuse on contracts collectively worth billions of dollars.

"We do not have the contracting personnel that we need to guarantee that the taxpayer dollar is being protected," said William Moser, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for logistics management.

"We are very, very concerned about the integrity in the contracting process," added Moser, who appeared at the same hearing as Bell. "We don't feel that we've had major scandals up to now, but we don't feel like that we can continue in the same situation."

The office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction has 52 open cases related to bribery, false billing, contract fraud, kickbacks and theft; 36 of those cases have been referred to the Justice Department for prosecution, according to the inspector general's office.

The Army Criminal Investigation Command is busy, too. The command has 90 criminal investigations under way related to alleged contract fraud in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, according to spokesman Chris Grey. Two dozen U.S. citizens have been charged or indicted so far — 19 of those are Army military and civilian employees — and more than $15 million in bribes has changed hands, Grey said.

To deal with the problem, the Army is implementing many of the recommendations of a blue-ribbon panel formed last year to reform contracting procedures. The most significant are the creation of a contracting command to be led by a two-star general and the addition of 1,400 acquisition personnel.

David Maddox, a retired four-star general who served on the panel, said the Army understands the need to change. He's less sure the message has spread throughout the Defense Department. That's necessary to drive the broader changes needed to curb future problems in defense contracting.

"The Army is moving out," Maddox said. "I'm a little more concerned with the degree DoD is moving out."

The audit by the GAO, Congress' investigative arm, does not say there were any improprieties stemming from the ITT contract. Rather, neither the contractor nor the government were ready for the demands placed on each.

At one point, although the Army had documented several incidents of poor performance, ITT was paid an additional $33 million to overhaul 150 Humvees a month. Over a nearly yearlong period, the contractor never came close to meeting the mark but still got the money, according to the GAO.

Many of the problems occurred in 2005 and 2006, when the insurgency in Iraq was at its height and there was a heavy burden on the contractor to get equipment back into the fight as quickly as possible, according to Hobby, the Army Sustainment Command official.

The terms of the contract called for ITT to be compensated for all labor costs. That meant the company was often paid twice to fix equipment it didn't repair correctly the first time.

"Although it sounds bad economically, back at the time we were trying to (implement) a repair program that would maintain equipment for our soldiers, and that was a good alternative," Hobby said of the ITT contract. "It was expensive. We knew there were risks there. And, quite frankly, we didn't have the government (personnel) in place to ensure success. But we've learned an awful lot of lessons from this."

The ITT contract and other similar support arrangements will be changed so a company's profits are linked to performance, Hobby said.

"We are transitioning to a contract that gives an incentive to the contractor," Hobby said. "Our argument would be, 'We paid you to fix these vehicles, they didn't get fixed on time, so you lose your award fee.' A penalty, so to speak."

ITT's performance has improved substantially, Hobby said, and the Army will decide in the next few months whether to extend the arrangement for another year.

Still, he doesn't diminish the gravity of the GAO's audit.

"I think if Joe Sixpack or Sally Homemaker read that report, they would probably have the same feeling," Hobby said when asked why ITT's contract was not terminated. "I share your pain."

Obama says he'd be better against McCain

LOS ANGELES - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama sees one of the best arguments for his presidential candidacy in the rise of Republican Sen. John McCain. McCain has become Obama's favorite punching bag, an easier mark in front of partisan audiences than the rival Obama will have to beat first to get to the general election — Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But he also likes to lump the two of them together as co-supporters of the war in Iraq.

"It is time for new leadership that understands the way to win a debate with John McCain or any Republican who is nominated is not by nominating someone who agreed with him on voting for the war in Iraq," Obama said during a speech in Denver Wednesday.

The pitch is a timely pivot back to the issue that helped fuel Obama's candidacy — his early opposition to Iraq. Recently the war has become a secondary issue to the declining economy — an issue on which Clinton outdistances Obama in the polls as the more experienced hand to guide the nation though financial turmoil.

Asked about Obama's criticism Friday, McCain said a debate with Obama over the war "will be the difference between victory and surrender."

"Without in any way denigrating or in any way being critical of Senator Obama, who I have great respect for, it's a product of his inexperience," McCain told reporters on his campaign plane. "And we'll be highlighting that. And, inexperience, a lack of knowledge of national security issues can only lead one to the conclusion, that you would have immediate withdrawal from Iraq."

McCain noted that Clinton had a similar position and said he eagerly awaits a one-on-one debate with either of them.

Obama advisers have said privately for months that McCain would be their preferred opponent among all those who sought the GOP nomination. They said a race between Obama, 46, and McCain, 71, would provide the starkest contrast between old vs. new, the future versus the past. It's an argument that Obama also has been using against Clinton, but his campaign feels it would be even stronger against McCain.

Clinton and McCain have worked closely together — one source of their shared reputation for working across party lines on common interests. The two serve on the Armed Services Committee and were drinking buddies at least for a night. The New York Times reported that Clinton challenged McCain to a vodka drinking contest during a congressional trip to Estonia in 2004.

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said Clinton has the strength and experience to take on McCain on national security. And he said it's the New York senator who provides the starker contrast with McCain — because her health care plan would require coverage for everyone while Obama's would not.

"Hillary Clinton will be able to say to John McCain that her health care plan will cover every American while his will leave millions out," Wolfson said. "Because Senator Obama's plan leaves 15 million without health care, that's not a contrast he will be able to make."

Repeatedly during a debate with Clinton Thursday night, Obama brought up McCain as if he were the presumptive GOP nominee. McCain has yet to lock up the race, but a recent win in Florida has made him the front-runner.

"I respect that John McCain, in the first two rounds of Bush tax cuts, said it is irresponsible that we have never before cut taxes at the same time as we're going into war," Obama said. "And somewhere along the line, the `Straight Talk Express' lost some wheels and now he is in favor of extending Bush tax cuts."

Later in the debate, he turned to McCain's position that troops could be in Iraq for the long haul. "When John McCain suggests that we might be there 100 years, that, I think, indicates a profound lack of understanding that we've got a whole host of global threats out there."

While Clinton voted for the war resolution in 2003 and has refused to apologize for it, she has said she would never have given Bush the authority to go to war if she had known he would abuse it. And she says she'll end the war if elected commander in chief.

Obama argued in a press conference Friday that Clinton's war vote makes her a weaker opponent to McCain.

"There is going to be a contest with John McCain potentially — somebody who's been very clear and firm about his position on the war," Obama told reporters. "If we go in there suggesting that it just was not managed well by George Bush, then Senator McCain I think will be able to come back and argue that in fact we have reduced violence in the surge."

"I think it's easier for me to dispute given it's my long-standing belief that it was a strategic error on the part of the Bush administration," Obama said.

He also argued that he would be more electable in a general election matchup against McCain than Clinton.

"I am attracting new voters and independent voters into the process in a way Clinton cannot do," Obama said at his news conference. "I think that'll be particularly important if Senator McCain is the nominee on the Republican side."

Envoy: US troops to be in Iraq into '09

WASHINGTON - President Bush's top diplomat in Iraq said Friday that the U.S. plans to keep combat troops there into 2009, seen as the tipping point for establishing the nation's long-term security, and he offered no deadline for a full withdrawal.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker told The Associated Press that he can't make any promises if, as the Democratic candidates have signaled, the next president pulls forces out faster or in greater numbers.

Crocker said America remains "a center of gravity" in Iraq almost five years after invasion, and that violence and political development both hinge to a considerable degree on whether U.S. forces remain there.

Crocker said he and Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, would make the best of any change in plans ordered from the top.

"Obviously, we're not the ones who make the policy decisions — not in this administration and not in the next one," Crocker said. "If someone wants to reset the conditions, then obviously we'll do the best we can within the context but those aren't assumptions that we start with."

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., have said they would begin withdrawing forces quickly if elected — Obama would bring all combat forces home within 16 months. Clinton has not set a deadline but says she wants to bring most home inside one year.

Both candidates would phase out the withdrawals — and leave a small number of forces behind for specific missions. Either Clinton or Obama is expected to become the Democratic nominee.

Republican front-runners Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney say they would essentially continue Bush's strategy of bringing troops home only as conditions warrant.

The Iraq chiefs are working off a blueprint that calls for "conditions-based withdrawal," Crocker said. That could bring combat troops home by sometime next year if security conditions allow it but leave other forces in Iraq for long-haul missions such as training.

Crocker said the two men stand by an earlier assessment that Iraq would be more or less secure and stable by summer of 2009. American combat troops will be needed at least into 2009 to battle a resilient al-Qaida and still-vibrant insurgency, he said.

Crocker and Petraeus will make their next report to Congress in April. Crocker would not speculate on whether Bush's planned force drawdown would continue after this summer, and he offered no firm predictions on how long any troops would remain.

Bush has indicated he is willing to leave more troops in Iraq at the close of his presidency than envisioned only weeks or months ago. The president said last month that it's fine with him if Petraeus wants to "slow her down" to meet current security needs.

One Army brigade and two Marine battalions have already returned home and will not be replaced. Four other Army brigades are to depart by July, leaving 15 brigades, or roughly 130,000 to 135,000 troops in Iraq. Those troops were part of Bush's 2007 escalation to confront a steep rise in violence, especially in Baghdad.

The escalation worked, within limits, to reduce violence in the capital and allow what Crocker called a returning sense of normalcy. He spoke, however, hours after coordinated suicide bombings that killed dozens at outdoor markets in Baghdad. It was the single deadliest day in Iraq since Washington flooded the capital with 30,000 extra troops last spring.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the bombings prove al-Qaida is "the most brutal and bankrupt of movements" and will strengthen Iraqi resolve to reject terrorism. The bombs were strapped to two mentally disabled women and set off by remote control. The women may have been unknowing agents of death.

Crocker will be the top U.S. negotiator in talks on the American presence with the Iraqis expected to begin this month. He said he expected an eventual "status of forces agreement" to allow for great flexibility in pursuing insurgents while not setting definite troop levels.

"I don't think al-Qaida is going to have gone away after this year, and we and the Iraqis are going to want to make sure we are able to pursue them, but questions of force levels and what not, those will be executive decisions by this president and by the next," he said. "This agreement is in no way going to get into that executive decision prerogative."

Crocker also said that Iran continues to play a negative role in training and supplying insurgents with weapons and explosives, but the ambassador made clear he remains open to renewing a three-way security dialogue with Iranian and Iraqi officials.

A new meeting among the three sides could happen in "the next week or so," he said. But he noted that he had expected such talks to take place in early January after the United States indicated it was willing to participate a month earlier.

"The Iranians may be ready to come back to the table and if they are, we'll be there," Crocker said. "I am perfectly ready to sit down with my counterpart and would expect to do so."

However, he said a lower-level meeting of security officials probably would precede any ambassadorial meeting, which would be his fourth with the Iranian ambassador to Iraq since he arrived in Baghdad nearly one year ago.

Another Iraqi neighbor, Syria, which Washington accuses of allowing foreign fighters to enter Iraq from its territory, appears to have clamped down on such border crossings, Crocker said.

"We have seen a downturn in the number of suicide bombers coming across" the border and that "was not just a coincidence," he said.