White powder, threats received at 2 McCain offices

Threatening letters containing an unidentified white powder have been received at John McCain's campaign offices in Denver, Colorado, and Manchester, New Hampshire, CBS News has learned.

McCain's campaign office in Denver received a letter containing a threat and "an amount of white powder in it," a McCain campaign said.

"We immediately notified local and federal law enforcement agencies and are looking to cooperate with them," spokesman Jeff Sadosky said.

Another McCain spokesperson later said that McCain's New Hampshire office "received a similar letter."

Poll: McCain holds edge on patriotism

The public views Sen. John McCain as more patriotic than his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, even though it prefers the way Obama talks about patriotism, according to a new poll.

The survey, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, found that 74 percent of respondents saw McCain as patriotic, compared to just 56 percent who said the same of Obama.

But when respondents were read two excerpts of Obama and McCain’s comments describing their feelings about the United States, Obama’s statement came out ahead by a 52-41 percent margin.

Sen. John McCain has all but closed the gap with Sen. Barack Obama, underscoring how international crises -- and some well-placed negative ads -- have boosted the prospects of the Republican presidential candidate.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC poll also points to a big challenge for Sen. Obama as his party gathers in Denver next week for its convention: rallying Sen. Hillary Clinton's supporters to his cause. Only half of those who voted for Sen. Clinton in the primaries say they are now supporting Sen. Obama. One in five is supporting Sen. McCain. The Republican has reached out to Clinton supporters by offering steady praise for the former first lady and hinting that he'd be open to a running mate who supports abortion rights.

John McCain stated unequivocally in an interview with Politico on Wednesday that he would not pledge to serve only a single four-year term, rejecting a suggestion that some allies believe would allay questions about his age and underscore his nonpartisan message of putting country first.

“No,” McCain said flatly, “I’m not considering it.”

Bush praises McCain's foresight

Sen. John McCain, who watched from a prison camp as America failed to deploy the overwhelming force necessary to win the Vietnam War, seized the moment after Republicans lost Congress in 2006 to push President Bush not to make the same mistake.

Mr. McCain sent a private letter to Mr. Bush on Dec. 12, 2006, that challenged the president to show the "will" to win the Iraq war by deploying 20,000 troops into Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle to beat back a growing insurgency.

The letter was the climax of a 3 1/2-year effort to persuade the president to send more troops to Iraq. The former Navy pilot, who had his arms repeatedly broken during nearly six years of captivity, couched his argument in the terms born of the Vietnam War.

"The question is one of will more than capacity," wrote the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. "If we are not willing to provide the troops necessary for victory, however, victory itself will be impossible."

Mr. McCain, whose letter is made public in the Washington Times for the first time, added that "surging five additional brigades into Baghdad by March" was the answer.

Mr. Bush, who had resisted Mr. McCain's call for a troop surge for years, now praises him for persisting in his argument that expanding the war in Iraq was the way to win it.

"John recognized early on that more troops would be needed in order to achieve the security necessary for the Iraqis to make the political progress we're seeing now," the president told The Washington Times this week.

"He supported that action even though many said it would hurt his campaign [for president]. He didn't care about popularity; he cared about success for our troops and our country. And now that the surge has worked, it proves that John's judgment was correct."

McCain's knife-wielding captor leads Vietnam in rooting for him

Le Van Lua, the first North Vietnamese that Lieutenant Commander John McCain encountered in 1967, says he greeted the American aviator with the biggest kitchen knife he could find. He'd like to welcome McCain back as president of the United States.

He isn't alone. Former prisoner of war McCain has some unlikely supporters in Vietnam, a country he bombed 23 times. Like Le, many Vietnamese are cheering for the self-confessed ``air pirate,'' absolving McCain-the-bomber and embracing the senator who pushed to normalize diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1995...

McCain calls lobbyists 'birds of prey'

Sen. John McCain called lobbyists “birds of prey” Wednesday and vowed to enforce a lifetime ban on lobbying for members of his administration.

“Whenever there’s a corrupt system, then you’re going to have these birds of prey descend on it to get their share of the spoils,” McCain said...