Warner endorses possible McCain '08 bid

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Republican Sen. John W. Warner, the former chairman of the Armed Services Committee, on Monday endorsed Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) for the Republican presidential nomination.

The five-term Virginia senator cited McCain's service in the Navy and his familiarity with military issues in a statement backing his longtime friend, who is expected to formally announce his candidacy next month.

"America's next president will be challenged by a range of diplomatic and security issues of unprecedented complexity largely due to growing, worldwide terrorist threats," Warner said in the statement, released by McCain's presidential exploratory committee. "Senator McCain's long experience with, and understanding of, our military coupled with his proven, unquestioned courage and leadership, provide him with the essential qualifications for our next president."

Warner, a former Navy secretary and until last month the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has agreed with McCain on a number of national security and defense issues, but differs with him on President Bush's Iraq war policy.

McCain backs the president's plan to increase U.S. troops while Warner drafted a bipartisan resolution opposing the buildup.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Vying for the support of a key Democratic constituency, presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) have signed on to speak at an annual civil rights commemoration in Selma, Ala., on Sunday at the same time and just a few doors down from each other.

State Democratic leaders and event organizers said they couldn't remember a time when two leading presidential candidates spoke at the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, held annually in honor of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march.

"It's a first," said Tarana Burke, a spokeswoman for Selma's National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, which sponsors the event. "Both of them are directly affected by the voting rights movement, and we're glad they appreciate that enough to come and help us commemorate."

Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York, is scheduled to headline the 10 a.m. service at First Baptist Church and to represent her husband, former President Bill Clinton, at his induction into the museum's hall of fame, Burke said.

Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois who is black, is slated to speak at a "Unity Breakfast" and deliver the event's keynote address at the 10 a.m. service at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church.

Both churches were sites where organizers and marchers met in the historic protests that helped lead to greater ballot access across the South for blacks.

State Democratic leaders estimated 40 to 50 percent of Democratic primary voters in Alabama are black.

Organizers say several dozen members of Congress also plan to attend, along with former presidential candidates Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. A spokesman for Clinton said the senator is still finalizing details of her visit.

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BOSTON (AP) — Mitt Romney prepared for a major fundraising chase with a real run — against his family on a local track. He finished last.

The former Massachusetts governor said in a Web interview posted Monday that the night before a January fundraiser that raised $6.5 million for his campaign, he and his sons decided to race each other around the track at the high school near their Belmont, Mass., home.

"We were there at the dinner table and someone said, 'Hey, should we go have a 440(-yard) race at the high school?'" Romney told RealClearPolitics.com, a Chicago-based site that culls and posts an array of political news, commentary and polling. "Sure enough, we all went upstairs and found our respective jogging shorts, put on tennis shoes or running shoes, went over to the high school and had a 440 competition at the track."

While the 59-year-old Romney runs on a treadmill each day, he ended up losing to three of his five sons.

"I came in last," said the candidate. "I was thinking I could beat my son Ben but, boy, even though he's in medical school and has gotta be out of shape, he still beat me, darn it!"

Aides said Josh Romney finished first, Matt Romney second and Ben Romney third, with Mitt Romney fourth. Tagg Romney, the eldest son, and Craig Romney, the youngest, did not compete.

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HIGHLAND HILLS, Ohio (AP) — On his first campaign trek across Ohio, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama promised that he'd return — a lot.

The senator from Illinois raised more than $450,000 at fundraisers in Cincinnati and Columbus on Monday before collecting even more at an appearance in suburban Cleveland. A message seeking the amount raised was left at Obama's campaign headquarters in Chicago.

"I'm going to be spending a lot of time in Ohio so that people are familiar with me, so that by the time I'm the Democratic nominee they don't feel like I'm just parachuting in but that they've heard me and had a chance to kick the tires and lift the hood," Obama told reporters after the event in Columbus.

In his three stops to the state's largest cities, Obama covered a wide range of topics, including ending the war in Iraq — which received the loudest cheer at the Cleveland-area rally — developing universal health care and improving early childhood education.

More than 1,700 people filled a community college gymnasium in Highland Hills with chants of "O-bama!" A large banner overhead read "Obama Rocks!"

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Associated Press Writers Ben Evans in Washington, Glen Johnson in Boston and Joe Milicia in Highland Hills contributed to this report.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070227/ap_on_el_pr/on_the2008_trail [link]