Race for '08: John McCain

TITLE: "Troops."

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A senior Russian Foreign Ministry official on Tuesday shrugged off anti-Russian remarks by U.S. presidential candidate John McCain and said Moscow could handle any unwanted turn in relations with Washington.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama's highly publicized foreign trip does not appear to have increased confidence in his ability to be president and may have helped energize supporters of Republican John McCain, according to a poll published on Tuesday.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Republican John McCain said Monday that drilling for oil off the U.S. coast is an essential part of any plan to lower gas prices and reduce dependence on foreign sources, and he criticized Democrat Barack Obama for opposing it.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican White House hopeful John McCain, who has been treated for skin cancer in the past, said Monday he had a small mole removed from his face during a routine dermatological check-up.

WASHINGTON - A biopsy of a small patch of skin removed from Republican Sen. John McCain's right cheek showed no evidence of skin cancer, doctors said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain's signal that he may be open to a higher payroll tax for Social Security, despite previous vows not to raise taxes of any kind, is drawing sharp rebukes from conservatives.

John McCain and fellow congressional Republicans on Monday sought to exploit an issue that they see as a potential gusher -- high gasoline prices.

BAKERSFIELD, California (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who has suffered from skin cancer in the past, said his doctor removed a spot from his face during a routine checkup in Phoenix on Monday.

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain said a blemish was removed from his face during a physical examination today.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain shifted the campaign focus back to the faltering U.S. economy on Monday, with Obama convening an all-star panel of advisers to help him hatch new approaches to a deepening problem.

NEW YORK - Barack Obama has his rolled-up sleeves and John McCain his sweaters under suit jackets, but absent from the 2008 presidential campaign are hunting shirts, windsurfing trunks and absolutely anything resembling Michael Dukakis' helmet.

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain had a benign blemish removed from his face during a physical examination, said a campaign aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China expressed "deep concern" on Monday over a meeting last week between U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain and exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

BEIJING (AFP) - China warned US presidential candidate John McCain on Monday to stop "supporting and conniving with" the Dalai Lama, saying that meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader hurt Sino-US relations.

CHICAGO - With 100 days remaining in the race for the White House, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama says he has succeeded in expanding the electoral map in his race against John McCain, principally in southern and southwestern states but also in Montana and North Dakota.

BEIJING - China said Monday it was concerned about a meeting between Republican presidential candidate John McCain and the Dalai Lama, saying Americans should realize the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader is trying to split the country.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, back in the United States on Sunday, came under fresh attack from Republican rival John McCain and defended his weeklong globe trotting, saying "we did it really well."

CHICAGO - Presidential candidate John McCain on Sunday endorsed a proposal to ban affirmative action programs in his home state, a policy that Democratic rival Barack Obama called a disappointing embrace of divisive tactics.

WASHINGTON - Presidential challenger John McCain said Sunday that he supports a proposed ballot initiative in his home state that would prohibit affirmative action policies from state and local governments. A decade ago, he called a similar effort "divisive."

WASHINGTON (AFP) - White House rivals John McCain and Barack Obama traded accusations of policy U-turns on Iraq Sunday after the Democrat's return from a much-acclaimed overseas tour.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Russia has become an autocracy under Vladimir Putin and the Russian president-turned-prime minister has taken the country down a "very harmful" path, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Sunday.

WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain's campaign on Saturday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for canceling a visit to wounded troops in Germany, contending Obama chose foreign leaders and cheering Europeans over "injured American heroes."

WASHINGTON (AFP) - After basking in the adulation of foreign crowds, White House contender Barack Obama was back on home soil Sunday with a new offensive to address US voters' overriding anxiety -- the economy.

LONDON - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama brushed aside Republican criticism of his overseas trip on Saturday and stood outside the famed 10 Downing Street to say that both President Bush and Sen. John McCain were moving his way on the key issues of Iraq and Afghanistan.

In an interview with McClatchy Saturday night as he returned from his overseas trip, Sen. Barack Obama answered questions about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan and other issues in his campaign against Republican Sen. John McCain.

COTTONWOOD, Ariz. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is pledging support for a proposal to expand protections for disabled people under an 18-year-old landmark civil rights law.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The campaign of John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has been sending contradictory signals about his imminent choice of his vice presidential running mate.

The presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain met with the Dalai Lama Friday in Aspen, Colorado, and soon afterward photos like this one were landing in newspapers around the world.

DENVER - Republican presidential candidate John McCain, ridiculing Barack Obama for "the audacity of hopelessness" in his policies on Iraq, said Friday that the entire Middle East could have plunged into war had U.S. troops been withdrawn as his rival advocated.