Today on the presidential campaign trail

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - IN THE HEADLINES

Obama says policy for war in Iraq not a sound strategy for keeping US safe ... DNC chief to embark on Southern bus tour, hoping to register voters to turn Dixie Democratic ... Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura says he's not running for Senate, citing family concerns

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Obama says US strategy in Iraq is unsound

WASHINGTON (AP) — Contending that the U.S. is not pursuing a sound strategy for keeping Americans safe, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama laid out goals Tuesday that he argued would deal with the nation's most pressing threats.

In a major speech on the war, Obama listed ending the war in Iraq responsibly as the top priority. If elected president, he said, he would also finish the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban; secure nuclear weapons and materials from terrorists and rogue nations; achieve "true energy security"; and rebuild the nation's alliances.

The speech sets the stage for Obama's upcoming visit to Iraq and offers a high-profile explanation of his opposition to the war and his pledge to complete a U.S. troop pullout within 16 months of becoming president. It also gives him a forum for criticizing President Bush and his rival for the presidency, Republican John McCain.

"By any measure, our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe," Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery at the International Trade Center in Washington. "In fact — as should have been apparent to President Bush and Sen. McCain — the central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was."

Obama said the Bush strategy that McCain supports has placed the burden for U.S. foreign policy on American military. National security policy should go well beyond Baghdad, he said, and involve allies around the world. He focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying that if the U.S. were attacked again, it likely would be from the same region where the Sept. 11 attacks were planned.

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Dem Party chief to head South this week for votes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is embarking on a voter registration bus tour he hopes will help push Dixie to the Democrats.

Dean's trip begins Thursday in President Bush's hometown of Crawford, Texas, riding an eye-catching bus wrapped in the red, white and blue of presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign logo.

Dean said in a telephone interview that he'll focus on winning over people who are struggling economically.

"We think that they have been disillusioned," said Dean, a former Vermont governor and presidential candidate in 2004. "Many of them voted for George Bush. We think they want something new and we're going to provide it for them."

Democrats dominated the South through the first half of the 20th century. But as President Lyndon B. Johnson famously predicted when he signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the party gradually lost support in the region. Georgia native Jimmy Carter is the only Democratic presidential candidate to win broad support in the South since then.

"I think the big reason is we haven't tried," Dean said. "If you don't show up, you can't win. And that's not going to happen this time. We are going to show up everywhere."

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Jesse Ventura says he's not running for Senate

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura halted his political comeback before it began, using a national TV platform to announce that he won't launch a third-party bid for the U.S. Senate "at this moment."

Even so, Ventura kept the door open a crack, saying things could always change before the 5 p.m. Tuesday filing deadline.

In his appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live" Monday, the former pro wrestler called it an "agonizing decision" and said he thought he could have defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat challenger Al Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" personality.

But Ventura went on to catalog a familiar list of grievances, saying he didn't want to subject his family to what they feared would be attacks in the media if he runs "because nothing is off-limits today in the world of politics."

He also brought up his long-standing resentment toward the Minnesota media for what he perceived as unfair criticism of his outside sources of income when he was governor.

After his CNN interview, Ventura walked out of a TV studio in downtown Minneapolis and teased a throng of local reporters, responding to shouted questions by noting how pleased he was with the recent performance of the Minnesota Twins.

Ventura's fame and occasionally outrageous behavior regularly brought national attention to the state but wore on the patience of many Minnesotans.

THE DEMOCRATS

Barack Obama gives a speech on foreign policy in Washington.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain meets with voters in Albuquerque, N.M.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Weve alienated ourselves from the world instead of strengthening our alliances." — Barack Obama criticizing U.S. policy in Iraq.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

More people would prefer having Democrat Barack Obama at their summer cookout than Republican John McCain — 52 percent to 45 percent, according to recent Associated Press-Yahoo News poll.

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Compiled by Ann Sanner and Douglass K. Daniel.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080715/ap_on_el_pr/2008_race_rundown [link]