Americans vote in historic election

by Stephen Collinson
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Americans opened the voting in their historic election on Tuesday, with front-running Democrat Barack Obama seeking to become the first black president and his Republican rival John McCain hoping for a poll-defying comeback. After an epic campaign , voters could also spark a political realignment in Washington, with Democrats targeting big gains in the Senate and House of Representatives after eight turbulent years under President George W. Bush. Polls opened in the northeastern state of Vermont at 5:00 am (1000 GMT), an electoral official at a polling station in the town of Bennington told AFP by telephone. History's longest, most costly White House campaign ended with Obama the hot favorite, enjoying wide leads in national polls and the edge in a string of battleground states which could swing the election either way. In the eye of the worst financial storm since the 1930s and with US troops embroiled in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, both Obama and McCain have vowed to restore the frayed self-confidence of the world's lone superpower. Obama and McCain were chasing the 270 electoral votes needed across the diverse state-by-state electoral map to take the White House. More than 100 million people are expected to trek to the polls to add to 30 million advance votes already cast. First results were not expected until 7:00 pm eastern time (midnight GMT). Obama and McCain, one of whom will become the first sitting senator elected president since John F. Kennedy in 1960, careened to the finish line on Monday, with competing cross-country campaign blitzes. "We are one day away from changing the United States of America," Obama, 47, said in Florida, before heading off to whip up crowds in North Carolina and Virginia, hoping to squeeze his rival on normally Republican territory. But McCain was defiant, vowing to confound pollsters and pundits and overcome a treacherous political map which has him struggling to cling to Republican bastions and on which one big loss could make Obama president. "The Mac is back!" he roared at his campaign stops, promising a stunning act of political escapology that would confound almost every major opinion poll. The Republican nominee raced through Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, New Mexico and Nevada before heading home to Arizona for election day. "Seven states today and the enthusiasm and the momentum we've received, we're going to win," McCain told a crowd back in Arizona after his epic slog . McCain had planned to ease off the pedal on Tuesday's election day but then scheduled an 11th-hour get-out-the-vote campaign in New Mexico and Colorado, two traditionally Republican states which are under threat from Obama. Senator Obama , the son of a Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, would become the first African American president, after a stunning rise to the pinnacle of US politics -- he was not even a US senator four years ago. In a sad turn of events on Monday, Obama learned that Madelyn Dunham , the white grandmother who brought him up, had died in his native Hawaii from cancer, aged 86. Obama built a huge grass roots political movement which he hopes will drive millions of first time voters to the polls and stifle McCain's comeback hopes. He promises to alleviate the economic pinch for the middle class and repair ties with US allies, open talks with foes such as Iran and Cuba, bring troops home from Iraq and refocus on the Afghan war. McCain, leveraging his heroism as a Vietnam war prisoner and decades of experience in Washington, would be the oldest president -- at 72 -- inaugurated for a first term if elected. He has lambasted Obama for "socialist" tax policies , and argues his rival is unprepared for an age of global turmoil. McCain has attacked Bush's policies on climate change and savaged the early conduct of the Iraq war, but the Democrat has saddled him with Bush's unpopular legacy. With polls showing 90 percent of voters believe the United States is on the wrong track, Obama should be a lock for victory -- but whether his race or perceived lack of experience could give voters pause is an intangible. McCain aides dispute poll numbers favoring Obama, and point to a late tightening of surveys in key states to argue he can still win. A Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll put Obama ahead 51 percent to 43. A Washington Post-ABC News poll said the race was so far Obama's by 54 percent to 43, and Rasmussen had him up 51 percent to McCain's 46. The final Gallup Daily tracking poll before the election day said Obama was leading the race 53 percent to 42 percent. A CNN poll published just hours before voting started gave Obama a narrower seven-point lead, 51 to 44 percent. The Democrat has an easier path to the 270 electoral votes and has a small but solid lead in many of the battleground states needed to win the White House. He may have built an advantage as millions of Americans voted early. ...MORE

Obama accuses McCain of smear campaign
By Mark Egan
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama counterattacked on Sunday against a new Republican tactic by saying rival John McCain was more interested in a smear campaign than fixing the U.S. economy. ...MORE

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Rupert Murdoch predicts landslide for Democrats
By Eric Auchard
CARLSBAD, California (Reuters)
News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday predicted a Democratic landslide in the U.S. presidential election against a gloomy economic backdrop over the next 18 months. Murdoch has yet to endorse a U.S. presidential candidate but considers Barack Obama very promising, the media magnate said in an interview by two Wall Street Journal reporters at an annual conference for high-tech industry insiders

GOP campaign downplays Palin book-banning inquiry
By GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press Writer
WASILLA, Alaska - The McCain campaign is defending Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's much-criticized inquiry into banning books at her hometown library, saying her questions were only hypothetical. Shortly after taking office in 1996 as mayor of Wasilla, a city of about 7,000 people, Palin asked the city's head librarian about banning books. Later, the librarian was notified by Palin that she was being fired, although Palin backed off under pressure. Palin alleged attempt at book-banning has been a matter of intense interest since Republican presidential nominee John McCain named her as his running mate last month. Taylor Griffin, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, said Thursday that Palin asked the head librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, on three occasions how she would react to attempts at banning books. He said the questions, in the fall of 1996, were hypothetical and entirely appropriate. He said a patron had asked the library to remove a title the year before and the mayor wanted to understand how such disputes were handled. Records on the city's Web site, however, do not show any books were challenged in Wasilla in the 10 years before Palin took office. Palin notified Emmons she would be fired in January 1997 because the mayor didn't feel she had the librarian's "full support." Emmons was reinstated the next day after public outcry, according to newspaper reports at the time. Still, one longtime library staffer recalls that the run-in made everyone fear for their jobs. "Mayor Palin gave us some terrible moments and some rather gut-wrenching moments, particularly when Mary Ellen said she was going to have to leave," said Cathy Petrie, who managed the children's collection at the time. Recent outrage has been fueled by Wasilla housewife Anne Kilkenny, whose 2,400-word critique of Palin's legacy as mayor is widely posted on the Internet. Kilkenny described Palin's actions as "out-and-out censorship." But the McCain campaign, in a statement, said the charge "is categorically false ... Governor Sarah Palin has never asked anyone to ban a book, period." Emmons, a former Alaska Library Association president who now goes by Mary Ellen Baker, did not return calls seeking comment. According to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman newspaper, Emmons did not mince words when Palin asked her "how I would deal with her saying a book can't be in the library" on Oct. 28, 1996, in a week when the mayor had asked department heads for letters of resignation. "She asked me if I would object to censorship, and I replied 'Yup'," Emmons told a reporter. "And I told her it would not be just me. This was a constitutional question, and the American Civil Liberties Union would get involved, too." The Rev. Howard Bess, a liberal Christian preacher in the nearby town of Palmer, said the church Palin and her family attended until 2002, the Wasilla Assembly of God, was pushing to remove his book from local bookstores. Emmons told him that year that several copies of "Pastor I Am Gay" had disappeared from the library shelves, Bess said. "Sarah brought pressure on the library about things she didn't like," Bess said. "To believe that my book was not targeted in this is a joke." Other locals said the dust-up had been blown out of proportion. "That was many years ago and Sarah never had any intention to ban books," said David Chappel, who served as Palin's deputy mayor for three years. "There were some vocal people in the minority, and it looks like they're still out there." Jim Rettig, who heads the American Library Association based in Richmond, Va., suggested that lingering quarrel raises issues that are still relevant as librarians prepare to celebrate Banned Books Week later this month. "Librarians are very committed to the principles of the First Amendment of the Constitution and that means we don't allow one individual or a group of people to dictate what people can or cannot read," he said. "Most librarians if they got that sort of a question would be curious as to what the intent of the questioner was." ...MORE

- Columbus, Ohio

---- WEEKLY HEADLINE NEWS -- --SEPTEMBER 29, 2008------WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate agreed to vote on Wednesday night on a new version of the $700 billion bailout package for Wall Street that will include a big increase in the amount of bank deposits protected by the government's insurance program, a Senate aide said on Tuesday ------ SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 -----Obama mocks McCain's call to fire SEC chairman -- By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent - ESPANOLA, N.M. - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised new ideas Thursday to calm America's financial meltdown and help struggling families avoid mortgage foreclosure, saying that "this is not a time for fear, it's not a time for panic." Obama also heaped criticism and sarcasm on Republican rival John McCain and mocked his promise to fire the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission if elected president. "I think that's all fine and good but here's what I think," Obama said. "In the next 47 days you can fire the whole trickle-down, on-your-own, look-the-other way crowd in Washington who has led us down this disastrous path. "Don't just get rid of one guy. Get rid of this administration," he said. "Get rid of this philosophy. Get rid of the do-nothing approach to our economic problem and put somebody in there who's going to fight for you." Obama came up with yet another way to poke fun at McCain for his comment Monday that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. "This comment was so out of touch that even George Bush's White House couldn't agree with it when they were asked about it. They had to distance themselves from John McCain." President Bush has used the same language many times but his press secretary would not repeat the line Wednesday in the face of historic financial turbulence. With the economy rocketing to the front of the campaign agenda, Obama said he would unveil new proposals Friday in Florida. Senior members of his economic team were flying to Miami to meet with Obama before his announcement. He said the ideas grew out of talks with former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and others. Obama had been discussing various proposals with economic advisers in conference calls and individual calls this week, aides said. Obama's stop in northern New Mexico's Rio Arriba County was aimed at energizing the Hispanic vote, which is crucial for his hopes of carrying this state. New Mexico voted for George Bush in 2004 but Democrat John Kerry got 65 percent of the vote in Rio Arriba. The county is about 73 percent Hispanic and 12 percent Native American, according to the 2000 Census. --------- Jobless numbers overwhelm Florida state unemployment system By Sara Kennedy | Bradenton Herald With Florida's unemployment rate the highest it's been in 13 years, the sheer volume of people using the unemployment compensation system has led to slowdowns. Vladimir Volynsky, 59, of Parrish, a personal banker/ teller who was laid off from First Priority Bank Jan. 31, says he could not get through to the state Agency for Workforce Innovation in Tallahassee, which handles worker's compensation matters. He was trying to certify his claim as he is required to do periodically. It took him almost all day Tuesday to accomplish it on the state's Internet Web site, www.fluidnow.com. He also tried the agency phone number (800) 204-2418 but got a busy signal each time or heard a message saying the call could not go through. State officials say they have instituted a number of fixes, such as more phone lines and computer servers to speed things up. "With increased demands, we have been pro-active in enhancing our systems to ensure the best service for our customers," said Robby Cunningham, the agency's communications director.----------- SEPTEMBER 17, 20008 --- ---- GOP group behind negative Obama poll --- By Ben Smith - A Republican group is taking responsibility for a poll that has roiled the Jewish community by asking sharply negative questions about Senator Barack Obama. The Republican Jewish Coalition, which is launching a campaign against Obama on behalf of Senator John McCain, sponsored the poll to "understand why Barack Obama continues to have a problem among Jewish voters," the group's executive director, Matt Brooks, told Politico. The poll asked voters their response to negative statements about Obama, including reported praise for him from a leader of the Palestinian terror group Hamas and a friendship early in his career with a pro-Palestinian university professor. Some Jewish Democrats who received the poll – including a New Republic writer who lives in Michigan – were outraged by the poll, describing it in interviews as "ugly" and disturbing. A group that supports Obama, the Jewish Council for Education and Research even staged a protest outside the Manhattan call center from which the calls originated Tuesday. "If the RJC is responsible for these calls, which are designed to frighten Jews and sow mistrust, they have forfeited their place at the Jewish table," said the co-executive director of the group, Mik Moore. "It is incumbent upon the McCain campaign to speak out forcefully against this and ongoing efforts by his supporters to scare Jews into supporting his candidacy." --- SEPTEMBER 6, 2008 --- Obama: McCain focused on biography over economy----- DURYEA, Pa. – Democrat Barack Obama called Republican rival John McCain's acceptance speech the final piece of an out-of-touch convention that focused on its nominee's biography instead of the struggles of the middle class. "If you watched the Republican National Convention over the last three days, you wouldn't know that we have the highest unemployment in five years because they didn't say a thing about what is going on with the middle class," Obama told workers at a specialty glass factory. "They spent a lot of time talking about John McCain's biography, which we all honor," the Illinois senator said. "They talked about me a lot, in less than respectful terms. What they didn't talk about is you and what you're seeing in your lives and what you're going through, or what your friends or your neighbors are going through." Obama pointed out that the nation's unemployment rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent in August, according to a government jobs report issued Friday. ------- By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer --- Bhutto widower elected Pakistani president---- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The widower of slain former leader Benazir Bhutto will succeed Pervez Musharraf as president of Pakistan after winning a landslide election victory Saturday. Unofficial results announced after separate votes in the federal and provincial assemblies showed Asif Ali Zardari winning an overwhelming majority. Pro-Zardari lawmakers, some in tears, shouted "Long live Bhutto!" as the figures came in. The couple's two jubilant but tearful daughters, one carrying a portrait of their late mother, smiled and hugged friends in the gallery of the National Assembly. But Saturday also brought a brutal reminder of the threats to the nuclear-armed nation's stability, when a suicide car bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded dozens near the northwestern city of Peshawar. ...... By JEFFREY COLLINS and KEVIN MAURER, Associated Press Writer --- Hanna blows onshore near North-South Carolina line ---- MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Tropical Storm Hanna sailed easily over the beaches of Carolinas' coast early Saturday, blowing hard and dumping rain but apparently causing little damage at the start of its speedy run north to New England. Emergency officials were already looking past Hanna to powerful Hurricane Ike, several hundred miles out in the Atlantic. With Category 3 winds of near 115 mph, Ike could approach southern Florida by Monday, as Hanna spins away from Canada over the North Atlantic....... --------SEPTEMBER 3 2008 -----ST. PAUL (Reuters) - Sarah Palin touted her small-town roots and swiped at Democrat Barack Obama during a highly anticipated speech to the Republican convention on Wednesday, ridiculing her critics as "the Washington elite" who did not understand everyday life in America. In her public debut in the spotlight, John McCain's choice for vice president portrayed herself as a Washington outsider and came out swinging against Obama and members of the news media who have raised questions about her qualifications.-----Obama Discusses Economy In Eastern Ohio By Associated Press NEW PHILADELPHIA -- Barack Obama took a swipe at Republicans on Wednesday while talking about jobs in eastern Ohio. The Democratic presidential nominee criticized the GOP for not discussing the economy Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention. "All these speakers came up. You did not hear a single word about the economy. Now think about it: Not once did people mention the hardships that folks are going through," Obama said at a Kent State University branch campus in New Philadelphia. "Not once did they mention what are we going to do about keeping jobs here in Ohio." Obama promised to cut taxes and raise the minimum wage. It was one of two stops scheduled in Ohio's Appalachian region.-----AUGUST 29 2008 ---- HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Friday handed the country's only Olympic medalist in Beijing a $100,000 cash reward for her performance at the games. Swimmer Kirsty Coventry smashed the world record to win gold in the women's 200 meters backstroke. She also captured three silver medals ----Obama delivers a superb acceptance speech at DNC convention in Denver ---- JUNEAU, Alaska - In two short years, Sarah Palin moved from small-town mayor with a taste for mooseburgers to the governor's office and now — making history — to John McCain's side as the first female running mate on a Republican presidential ticket. ---- ST. PAUL - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama begins airing an ad Saturday that responds to rival John McCain's selection of a running mate, carefully avoiding any direct criticism of Sarah Palin, the Alaska governor whom McCain chose for the GOP ticket. Obama's campaign promptly created the spot in advance of next week's Republican National Convention. The ad, called "No Change," sought to sustain the theme that Obama and Democrats worked to cultivate at their own convention this week — that McCain represents a continuation of the policies of an unpopular President Bush. ---- Gas prices up as Gustav threatens Gulf refineries NEW YORK - Retail gas prices swung higher Friday — the first increase in 43 days — as analysts warned that a direct hit on U.S. energy infrastructure by Hurricane Gustav could send pump prices hurtling toward $5 a gallon. ---- WEEKLY HEADLINE NEWS ---- AUGUST 19, 2008 --- NATO freezes Russian ties over Georgia By Mark John and Francois Murphy BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO agreed after U.S. pressure on Tuesday to freeze regular contacts with Russia until Moscow had withdrawn its troops from Georgia in line with a peace deal. The alliance also agreed to upgrade contacts with Tbilisi but stopped short of accelerating its efforts to join NATO, an ambition which had enraged Russia even before the two-week-old conflict over Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region. "We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual," the 26 NATO states said in a joint declaration issued after emergency talks in Brussels. ---- Russian soldiers take prisoners in Georgia port By BELA SZANDELSZKY, Associated Press Writer POTI, Georgia - Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States. ---- Taliban kill 10 French troops, raid US base By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer SUROBI, Afghanistan - Insurgents ambushed a group of elite French soldiers as they climbed a mountain pass, killing 10 troops in a militant ---- Fire breaks out in Egypt's parliament CAIRO, Egypt - Fire ravaged a 19th century palace used by the upper house of Egypt's parliament Tuesday, with flames bursting through windows as helicopters scooped water from the Nile River to douse the blaze. ---- WEEKLY HEADLINE NEWS ---- AUGUST 8, 2008 ---China strides onto Olympic stage --- BEIJING (Reuters) - American swimmer Michael Phelps became the most successful Olympian of all time by winning two more Beijing gold medals on Wednesday to take his career tally to an unprecedented 11 victories. The mighty Phelps overtook an elite group including Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis who had won nine golds by breaking his own world record in the men's 200 meters butterfly. BEIJING - Once-reclusive China commandeered the world stage Friday, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pyrotechnics and pageantry — topped by the unworldly sight of a flying gymnast, traversing the heights of the stadium to light the flame and begin the Summer Games. ..... WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has admitted to having had an extramarital affair with a woman he met in a New York City bar in 2006, ABC News reported on Friday ..... Shiite militia to become religious, cultural body --- BAGHDAD - Anti-U.S. Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered most of his militiamen Friday to lay down their arms, and his spokesman said the young cleric might call off all resistance if the Americans accept a timetable to leave Iraq. In the north, a car bomb exploded Friday evening in a crowded market in the city of Tal Afar, killing at least 21 people and wounding 72, police said. Tensions have been rising among ethnic groups throughout the north because of a dispute over control of the oil-rich area around Kirkuk — claimed by Arabs, Turkomen and Kurds ..... WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney, a conservative favorite , will join President Bush in addressing delegates on the opening night of the Republican National Convention, the White House said Friday. ..... NBA champion Celtics to open season against Cavaliers --- NEW YORK (AFP) - American Greg Oden's debut and the Boston Celtics banner raising ceremony will highlight the opening day of the 2008-09 National Basketball Association season, the league announced Wednesday .... Clinton says she wants Obama to win White House --- LAS VEGAS - Hillary Rodham Clinton told an exuberant crowd Friday she wants Barack Obama to win the White House, even though he dashed her own presidential dreams — and she wants her supporters to vote that way, too "Anyone who voted for me or caucused for me has so much more in common with Sen. Obama than Sen. McCain," Clinton told her cheering audience in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. "Remember who we were fighting for in my campaign." ..... WEEKLY HEADLINE NEWS AUGUST 8 2008 ......COLUMBUS, OHIO .....----McCain campaign to return 50K in donations -- AP - John McCain's campaign said Thursday it is returning $50,000 in contributions solicited by a foreign citizen. The move follows the disclosure that the money was being raised by a Jordanian man who is a business partner of prominent Florida Republican Harry Sargeant III, who has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for McCain .... CHICAGO - Party officials say former President Clinton will deliver a speech on the third night of the Democratic National Convention before an address by the as-yet-to-be-named running mate for Barack Obama. .... BEIJING (Reuters) - President George W. Bush wasted no time on Friday raising the touchy issues of religious freedom and free speech in China, hours before he was to attend the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics. .... White supremacists hope Obama win prompts backlash -- AP - They're not exactly rooting for Barack Obama, but prominent white supremacists anticipate a boost to their cause if he becomes the first black president. His election, they say, would trigger a backlash — whites rising up, a revolution of sorts — that they think is long overdue. .... One of the Democratic Party's leading electoral street fighters, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, said that Barack Obama should respond to John McCain's personal attacks with an equally personal slap. ..... McCain campaign to return money raised by foreign national -- John McCain's campaign is returning about $50,000 raised by a Jordanian man, some of which came from individuals who were not even supporters of the GOP nominee. ..... MIAMI - A man who authorities said was keeping weapons and military-style gear in his hotel room and car appeared in court Thursday on charges he threatened to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Raymond Hunter Geisel, 22, was arrested by the Secret Service on Saturday in Miami and was ordered held at Miami's downtown detention center without bail Thursday by a federal magistrate. ..... TBILISI, Georgia - Government troops launched a major military offensive Friday to regain control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia and the president accused Russia, which has close ties to the separatists, of bombing Georgian territory. .... BAGHDAD - Iraq and the U.S. are near an agreement on all American combat troops leaving Iraq by October 2010, with the last soldiers out three years after that, two Iraqi officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. U.S. officials, however, insisted no dates had been agreed---WEEKLY HEADLINE NEWS----U.S. athletes wear face masks - - Aug 5 - As athletes from all over the world arrive in Beijing ahead of the start of the Olympics some members of the U.S. cycling team arrive wearing anti-pollution masks. A U.S. team official said members of the cycling squad were wearing the respiratory masks but declined further comment. .... Obama shifts on energy issues - - Aug 4 - Barack Obama proposed tapping the strategic oil reserves to help lower gas prices, a reversal of a stance he made just weeks ago. The emergency reserve created in the 1970s holds about 700 million barrels of crude stored in Texas and Louisiana. .... Morgan Freeman injured in accident - - Oscar Winner Morgan Freeman is critically ill in hospital after the car he was driving overturned several times. Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis but spent much of his childhood in Mississippi and has opened a music club in the state. .... Bush faces S. Korea balancing act - - President Bush faces a balancing act as he heads to South Korea to press on a North Korea nuclear deal while sidestepping other issues. The six-party nuclear talks have been complicated by South Korea's anger at the North for the death of a tourist who apparently walked into a restricted zone. .... Bush arrives in Seoul, anti-U.S. protest fizzles. SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in South Korea on Tuesday for talks focused on communist North Korea and was greeted by a minor protest aimed mostly at his host instead of a big anti-U.S. rally that had been expected. ...... Olsen seeks immunity for Ledger questioning: source Mary-Kate Olsen will not speak to federal investigators about actor Heath Ledger's death unless she is granted immunity from prosecution, a law enforcement source told Reuters on Monday. ......