Tom DeLay calls Obama a Marxist

Former House Republican Leader Tom DeLay (Texas) called Barack Obama a "Marxist" on the Mike Gallagher radio show Thursday.

Explaining that Obama clinching the Democratic nomination is a good thing for John McCain, DeLay said Obama's "weakness" is that "nobody knows him."

"And if McCain does not define him as what he is — hey, I have said publicly, and I will again, that unless he proves me wrong, he is a Marxist," DeLay said.

THE CANDIDATES:

John McCain... today's headlines with excerpts

McCain's first ad of general election - war heroism themed

The McCain campaign today will release its first ad of the general election, a spot called "Safe" which features Sen. John McCain talking to the camera about his war heroism and judgment on national security.

That theme gives a hint of the McCain campaign's planned positive message, in addition to its plans to hit Sen. Barack Obama as inexperienced.

A campaign official calls the ad "the first shot in John McCain’s major general election ad campaign."

In the ad, McCain says: "Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war. ... I was shot down over Vietnam and spent five years as a POW. ... I hate war. And I know how terrible its costs are. I'm running for president to keep the country I love safe. I'm John McCain, and I approve this message."

The ad is posted here.

McCain pledges to keep racial issues out of campaign

Asked during that session with editors in Florida how he'd keep the racism and sexism that flared up in the Democratic primary out of the general election, McCain said he'd do his part:

"I will do everything I can to keep that kind of ugliness out of this political campaign."

$21.5 million is a record for McCain

Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign raised at least $21.5 million in May — its best fund-raising month yet — in a sign that its effort to draw donations in tandem with the Republican National Committee is yielding dividends...

Advisor ways McCain backs Bush wiretaps

A top adviser to Senator John McCain says Mr. McCain believes that President Bush’s program of wiretapping without warrants was lawful, a position that appears to bring him into closer alignment with the sweeping theories of executive authority pushed by the Bush administration legal team.

McCain bumbles the delivery

...the concern about McCain’s wooden and stumbling address before a few hundred supporters here Tuesday night – the same evening as Barack Obama’s soaring acceptance address before thousands of screaming fans – has sent something of a shudder through the party and left GOP operatives shaking their heads in dismay...

Advice for McCain: rethink strategy

McCain's latest proposal, challenging Obama to a series of town hall forums, is smart strategy. That Obama didn’t immediately agree to McCain’s proposal shows that his team has some nagging doubts about it.

But McCain needs to rethink his entire campaign strategy if he is going to compete with Obama...

McCain would like to see man on Mars

Presumptive Republican White House nominee John McCain said Thursday he would like to see a manned mission to Mars as part of a "better set of priorities" for NASA that would better engage the public.

At a townhall event in Florida, the Arizona senator was asked about funding for the US space agency's shuttle program, which is due to end in 2010.

He said he "would be willing to spend more taxpayers' dollars" to continue the program but argued that NASA must do a better job of inspiring the American public, as when it sent a man to the moon in 1969.

Hillary Clinton... today's headlines with excerpts

Clinton's exit: when push came to shove

In the end, the same man who ushered Hillary Clinton into electoral politics nine years ago pushed her out.

Wednesday, Clinton was asking supporters to wait – it was unclear for what — and to give her time to gather her thoughts. Many seemed willing to accede to the request, but Charles Rangel, the blunt, 77-year-old dean of New York’s congressional delegation, had had enough.

In public statements and on a crucial afternoon conference call, he told Clinton it was time to go. And Rangel, for reasons of state politics, personal history, and race, was not a man Clinton could afford to ignore...

Senate Dems say Clinton leadership spot doubtful

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) imminent return to the Senate does not mean she will be greeted with a newly created position within her conference’s leadership, Democratic leaders said Thursday.

Clinton has not sought a special leadership position and has made clear that she is open to being Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) vice presidential nominee. If she does not get chosen for the No. 2 spot, some have speculated that Democratic leaders might carve out a special position within the leadership as a way to appease her supporters and bring the party together.

But so far, such a position has not been considered...

Clinton disavows push to put her on the ticket

Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday disavowed a campaign by some of her supporters to press Senator Barack Obama into selecting her as the Democratic party's vice presidential candidate. Clinton said the supporters were acting on their own, and that the choice of a running mate was "Senator Obama's, and his alone."

The statement, issued by Clinton's campaign, came after two days in which a number of her key supporters had pushed the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket, saying it would salve wounds in the Democratic Party and assure a Democratic victory in the fall. And Clinton had made no obvious effort to discourage the effort, telling New York lawmakers in a private conference call earlier this week that she was open to serving as Obama's running mate.

"... if members of Congress don't pass my health care bill, I'm ready," Obama said wielding the stick as supporters laughed and cheered.

"I'll whup 'em," he joked. "They better not mess with me. I'll have that stick."

Ralph Nader... today's headlines with excerpts