Race for '08: John McCain

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Republicans are counting on a glitch-free convention to help lift the party's sagging morale and boost John McCain's presidential prospects when they assemble in this picturesque city on the Mississippi River in six weeks.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain said Monday that his Democratic rival Barack Obama will see during his trip to Iraq that he was wrong to oppose the troop "surge" strategy.

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama reversed a two month trend in June by raising more money and spending less, a tangible result of clinching the Democratic nomination.

Obama gets withdrawal support from Iraqis, military briefing, helicopter tour from Petraeus ... McCain releases energy attack ad, questions Obama's credentials as rival tours war zone ... GOP counting on convention planning, venue to lift McCain's prospects in November ... Obama cuts back on spending in June as he builds up cash reserves

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain will speak about the need for public service at a national forum on that topic being held in New York on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

July 20 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire financier Ronald Perelman held a $28,500-per-person dinner party for Republican presidential candidate John McCain yesterday at his East Hampton, N.Y., estate, as McCain seeks to reduce Democrat Barack Obama's fundraising advantage.

Conservative Christian leader James Dobson has softened his stance against Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, saying he could reverse his position and endorse the Arizona senator despite serious misgivings.

NEW YORK - With Democrat Barack Obama on the other side of the planet, Republican presidential candidate John McCain stayed closer to home Sunday, visiting Yankee Stadium with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

WASHINGTON - Playing a dual role as shipping lobbyist and member of a federal advisory panel, John McCain's campaign policy coordinator helped shape a controversial homeland security initiative that has taken the government 5 1/2 years to develop.

NEW YORK - If Sen. John McCain is really serious about becoming a Web-savvy citizen, perhaps Kathryn Robinson can help.

WASHINGTON - Faced with a spending cap for his fall campaign, Republican presidential candidate John McCain is aggressively spending more money than he is raising during summer months and methodically reducing his cash reserves.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican John McCain traded foreign policy barbs Saturday with the campaign of his Democratic rival Barack Obama, who arrived on his first trip to Afghanistan as part of a regional tour.

DENVER - John McCain was in his favorite campaign setting, a town hall meeting, when he spotted a promising target. "I'd love to recognize you first, sir," the Republican presidential candidate said to a man in a Vietnam War veteran's hat.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrat Barack Obama is touting his foreign policy expertise this weekend on a trip to the Middle East and Europe, while his White House rival John McCain campaigns in America's heartland to reassure voters about jobs and the economy.

NEW YORK - How old is John McCain? So old, the jokes about it are getting old. So at a taping Friday night of NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," the host asked the Republican presidential candidate for some new material.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain commented on Friday on the unannounced timing of a high-security trip by Barack Obama to Iraq, saying he believed his Democratic rival was going this weekend.

WASHINGTON - Just as Republican John McCain was unloading on his Democratic presidential rival Friday, he was offering warm, effusive words for once bitter foe Mitt Romney. And Romney, the mega-millionaire former Republican governor of Massachusetts, was pledging to help McCain's presidential campaign financially — and in any other way.

NEW YORK - Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm resigned Friday from his role as GOP presidential candidate John McCain's campaign co-chairman, hoping to quiet the uproar that followed his comments that the United States had become a "nation of whiners" whose constant complaints about the U.S. economy show they are in a "mental recession."

July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama is on track to raise about $100 million more than Republican rival John McCain, allowing him to outspend his opponent while investing in states traditionally inhospitable to Democratic candidates.

WARREN, Mich. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain pledged Friday to help auto workers rebuild their industry and in the process jump-start the entire U.S. economy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Phil Gramm, an economic adviser to Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, resigned from his campaign on Friday in the fallout over his comment that the United States had become a "nation of whiners."

WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain launched a new television ad Friday that accuses presidential rival Barack Obama of switching positions on Iraq "to help himself become president" just as the Democratic candidate prepared to make a high profile trip to Baghdad.

WASHINGTON - John McCain and Barack Obama vow to reform the nation's defense procurement if elected president, yet each is unwilling to take a firm stand against the skyrocketing cost of a plum White House perk: the new Marine One helicopter.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican White House hopeful John McCain on Friday predicted a surge of militant attacks in Iraq around the time of the US election in November.

July 18 (Bloomberg) -- A warning by Republican presidential candidate John McCain that al-Qaeda may increase terrorist attacks ``as we get into the election season'' prompted news organizations to report that he was referring to the U.S. election.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican White House hopeful John McCain said Friday that his Democratic rival Barack Obama is further to the left than the only Socialist US senator.

WASHINGTON - A new U.S.-Iraqi agreement raising the possibility of a withdrawal timeline threatens to complicate the war policies of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.

TITLE: "Troop Funding."

July 18 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama and John McCain, in a rare note of harmony on national security, both want a surge of troops into Afghanistan. Experts say adding forces won't help much in combating insurgents unless Pakistan joins the fight.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain and the Republican Party are knocking on the door of history when it comes to joint fundraising committees.