Obama criticizes McCain for opposing flood spending

The flood-ravaged communities of the Midwest became a new battleground in the presidential election as Democrat Barack Obama criticized Republican John McCain for opposing federal spending on flood prevention programs, attacks McCain's campaign called typical partisan politics.

... Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, criticized McCain for opposing a measure to spend $23 billion on water projects. It passed Congress overwhelmingly and was vetoed by President George W. Bush because he said it spent too much on lawmaker's pet projects. Congress voted to override the veto, for the first time in Bush's presidency.

Obama moves to reintroduce himself to voters

Jim Margolis, Obama's media adviser, said that, despite the long primary season, Obama still is not well known to voters in many parts of the country. "They don't know the full story," he said. "They don't have a complete sense of what motivates him, what are the biographical points of his life that have made him the person that he is today and what he wants to do as president."

Margolis said the campaign is primarily working to fill an information vacuum, but he acknowledged that combating rumors that could endanger Obama's candidacy is also part of the motivation behind the opening ad...

National push by Obama on ads and turnout

Senator Barack Obama is drawing up plans for extensive advertising and voter-turnout drives across the nation, hoping to capitalize on his expected fund-raising advantage over Senator John McCain to force Republicans to compete in states they have not had to defend in decades.

... Mr. Obama has added several seasoned hands to his advertising team, a harbinger of a multifaceted television campaign that people inside and outside Obama headquarters said would grow well beyond its already large presence in 18 states.

Future commercials could run on big national showcases like the Olympics in August and smaller cable networks like MTV and Black Entertainment Television that appeal to specific demographic and interest groups.

He is also dispatching paid staff members to all states, an unusual move by the standards of modern presidential campaigns where the fight is often contained to contested territories.

To ease gas prices, Obama urges more regulation of speculators

Mr. Obama proposed closing the so-called Enron loophole, a legal provision requested by that company in 2000 that exempts crucial energy commodities from government oversight. He also proposed preventing traders of American crude oil from routing transactions through offshore markets to evade American limits and working with other countries to better regulate oil-futures markets, and he called on the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to investigate market manipulation and oil futures.

“My plan fully closes the Enron loophole and restores common-sense regulation,” the senator said in a campaign statement.

Obama camp closely linked with ethanol

Ethanol is one area in which Mr. Obama strongly disagrees with his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain of Arizona. While both presidential candidates emphasize the need for the United States to achieve “energy security” while also slowing down the carbon emissions that are believed to contribute to global warming, they offer sharply different visions of the role that ethanol, which can be made from a variety of organic materials, should play in those efforts.

... Ethanol industry executives and advocates have not made large donations to either candidate for president, an examination of campaign contribution records shows. But they have noted the difference between Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain.

Obama urges mayors to focus on urban growth, but not to expect increased Federal aid

Senator Barack Obama told the nation’s mayors on Saturday that current urban policy was obsolete and needed to be replaced by a model that focused on rational metropolitan growth rather than chiefly on inner-city crime and poverty.

Drawing on his years as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, said that while he intended to be a supportive partner if he won the White House, the mayors should not count on significant additional help from Washington. Change, he said, comes from the bottom up, not the top down...

Michelle builds bridges to Hillaryland

Michelle Obama climbed into her charter jet Friday and flew here from Chicago for lunch and a speech -- I clocked it at seven minutes -- before an influential women's group whose board includes key supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Obama's brief appearance before the National Partnership for Women & Families -- she turned around and flew right back home when she was done -- shows how Obama is shaping her role as a potential first lady and how the Obama campaign is working hard to build bridges to the women who supported Clinton over presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama...