Today on the presidential campaign trail

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - IN THE HEADLINES

Clinton, Obama assail rivals on Iraq plans and the economy ... Obama hints at bypassing public financing in the general election ... Elizabeth Edwards prefers Clinton's health care plan, but stops short of endorsement ... Clinton cites differences with husband on trade ... Virginia governor defends Democratic lobbying of superdelegates for Obama ... Candidates need one more delegate to secure the Democratic nomination

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Dems assail McCain on Iraq, economy

ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (AP) — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she is the only presidential candidate who will begin a prompt drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq, and rival Sen. Barack Obama cast himself as the one best able to turn the nation's economy around.

The two Democrats returned to the campaign trail in Pennsylvania Wednesday, looking toward the state's April 22 primary. In making their claims at separate appearances, Clinton and Obama implicitly suggested that Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, is not up to the task of running the country.

Clinton said McCain is unwilling to withdraw troops, and Obama cannot be trusted to do so. Her comments came one day after the three candidates spent a rare day in the Senate questioning the top U.S. military commander for Iraq.

"One candidate will continue the war," she told an audience at Hopewell High School, near Pittsburgh. "One candidate only says he'll end the war. And one candidate is ready, willing and able to end the war."

Obama, campaigning in the Philadelphia suburbs, issued a broad indictment of Republican economic policies and singled out McCain for special rebuke, saying he is willing to "sit idly by" in the face of a national housing crisis.

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Obama may bypass public financing

MALVERN, Pa. (AP) — Barack Obama, whose fundraising prowess has set records, appears to be paving the way to bypass the public financing system in the fall without yet spelling out his intentions.

Last year, Obama indicated he would accept public funds if his Republican opponent did as well. But as John McCain takes steps to accept the $84 million available in federal money for the general election, Obama has been hedging.

This week, he appeared to be making a case that his broad base of small-dollar donors is as egalitarian as the government's public subsidy.

"We have created a parallel public financing system where the American people decide if they want to support a campaign they can get on the Internet and finance it," he told donors at a Washington fundraiser Tuesday night. "And they will have as much access and influence over the course and direction of our campaign that has traditionally reserved for the wealthy and the powerful."

Campaign communications director Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that Obama's remarks were "not a policy statement." He said Obama merely was trying to underscore the grass-roots nature of his fundraising.

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Elizabeth Edwards plugs Clinton plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elizabeth Edwards put in a plug Wednesday for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan — possibly the closest any Democratic presidential candidate is likely to get to an endorsement from former rival John Edwards or his wife.

Both Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have been seeking the backing of John Edwards, whose home state — North Carolina — holds a primary on May 6 with 115 delegates at stake.

Elizabeth Edwards, who discovered last year that the cancer she thought she had beaten had returned, said she prefers Clinton's health care plan, which would require everyone to have health insurance and offers assistance to those who can't afford to buy coverage.

Obama's plan requires all parents to have health insurance for their children, but doesn't mandate that all adults buy coverage.

"I do think that in order to ensure that we have universal coverage we need to say that everybody has to join, so for that reason the mandates that Senator Clinton is talking about I think will actually be more successful in achieving the goal," Elizabeth Edwards said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America."

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Va. governor defends lobbying for Obama

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Barack Obama's leading backer in Virginia sees no harm in Democratic insiders beckoning superdelegates to abandon Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Wednesday it's fair for 36 local party chairmen and five congressional district chairs to petition independent convention delegates to support Obama.

"It's all part of persuasion. We're all in a persuasion game here trying to convince those who are uncommitted to commit, so I don't have any problem with that," Kaine told reporters at a bill-signing ceremony.

The petition, sent to all 16 Virginia superdelegates last week, urged them to end what they say is a divisive intraparty fight for the Democratic presidential nomination and unite behind Obama.

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Clinton: I differ with Bill on trade

ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (AP) — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she has a long record of differing with her husband on trade policies, a critical issue as she and Sen. Barack Obama pursue Democratic voters who fault international deals for U.S. job losses.

The New York senator said she will do all she can to defeat the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, now before Congress, even though her husband and her recently demoted chief strategist Mark Penn have worked for it.

Bill Clinton, who championed deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement during his presidency, pushed Democrats to be more open to low barriers to trade. But many labor union leaders and others blame such pacts for job losses, and Obama and Hillary Clinton have criticized them in their bid for blue-collar voters in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

Pennsylvania holds its primary April 22, a must win for Clinton who trails Obama in delegates and votes.

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Democrats see increase in delegates

WASHINGTON (AP) — The road to the Democratic presidential nomination got a bit harder this week — at least for Barack Obama.

Former California state lawmaker Jackie Speier was elected Tuesday to fill the congressional seat left vacant by the death of fellow Democrat Tom Lantos. Speier's election increases the number of Democratic superdelegates, the party and elected officials who automatically attend the national convention, to 795. The overall number of delegates also increased, to 4,048.

That increases the number of delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination by one, to 2,025.

Speier has endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama leads the overall delegate race, 1,638 to 1,502, according to latest tally by The Associated Press.

The breakdown:

Pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses: Obama, 1,414; Clinton, 1,250.

Superdelegates: Obama, 224; Clinton, 252.

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THE NUMBERS

Barack Obama's lead rose to 10 points nationally over Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential race, 51 percent to 41 percent, in the latest Gallup Poll. The survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The poll was conducted April 6-8 and involved interviews with 1,240 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters. The survey was a tracking poll, in which Gallup interviews voters every night and uses the results from the three most recent evenings.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigned in Pennsylvania before attending a fundraiser with singer Elton John in New York. Barack Obama campaigns in Pennsylvania and South Bend, Ind.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain holds a town hall meeting in Westport, Conn.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"I don't think any married couple I know agrees on everything. And we disagree on this." — Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking to reporters about the Colombia Free Trade Agreement and her husband's support of the policy.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

Whites who said race was not a factor in picking a presidential candidate were nearly evenly divided when asked whether Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama would satisfy them as the Democratic nominee, according to data from exit polls of voters in 22 Democratic primaries.

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Compiled by Ann Sanner.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080409/ap_on_el_pr/2008_race_rundown [link]