Senator Barack Obama?s campaign has used novel tactics, like counting sales of $4.50 key chains as contributions, to pump up numbers and build support.
The pressure against the White House to change course in Iraq will continue to mount this week, as Senate Democrats are scheduling a vote on a binding piece of legislation that would require withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of the year.
Expectations are low, bordering on bearish, as corporate earnings reporting season kicks off this week, with 88 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index and 11 members of the Dow Jones industrial average set to report their second-quarter results.
One Vote '08, the national campaign to make poverty a campaign issue in the 2008 presidential election, will spend $30 million in the four earliest primary and caucus states: Nevada, Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given the effort, begun with the help of U2's Bono, a $22 million grant. Campaign organizers say that amount is the "minimum" for the campaign, making it surely one of the biggest issue campaigns thus far announced for the 2008 election cycle.
AP - The terrorist network Al-Qaida will likely leverage its contacts and capabilities in Iraq to mount an attack on U.S. soil, according to a new National Intelligence Estimate on threats to the United States.
AP - The United States is ready to hold new direct talks with Iran on the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, the State Department said Tuesday. The Bush administration accused Tehran of supporting Shia insurgents there.
AP - A nuclear power plant near the epicenter of a powerful earthquake suffered a slew of problems, including spilled waste drums, leaked radioactive water, fires and burst pipes, the reactor's operator said Tuesday — more than 24 hours after the tremors struck northern Japan.
A new National Intelligence Estimate will warn that al Qaeda will try to use its capabilities and contacts in Iraq to attack the United States, according to a senior government official. The official said the NIE will show al Qaeda is stepping up efforts to sneak operatives into the United States.
Sen. David Vitter broke a week of silence on Monday and, with his wife by his side, denied allegations he had relationships with New Orleans prostitutes. Vitter admitted he made calls to an alleged prostitution operation in Washington. Vitter's wife, Wendy, told reporters she had forgiven her husband.
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