WASHINGTON (AP) – Barack Obama has developed a clear lead nationally over Hillary Rodham Clinton – 54 percent to 41 percent in the Democratic presidential race, a Pew Research Center poll shows.
That’s a change from April, when the same poll found he and Clinton were running about even.
Three in 10 Democrats think the party will [...]

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – The voters of South Dakota look a lot like those who have favored Hillary Rodham Clinton in presidential primaries this year, but her rival, front-runner Barack Obama, has plenty of friends in high places in this rural state.
Not quite the stone faces atop Mount Rushmore. But most Democrats who’ve won statewide [...]

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – House budget writers rolled out portions of their spending plan for next year Thursday, recommending more money for dropout prevention programs but failing to meet expectations of Gov. Mike Easley on preschool funding and teacher pay.
Public school teachers would receive on average 3 percent raises as part of the tentative plan [...]

LANSING, Mich. (AP) – A top Clinton supporter in Michigan said Thursday the state Democratic Party’s plan to split the convention delegates between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama is “fatally flawed.”
Democratic National Committee member Joel Ferguson sent a letter Thursday to the co-chairs of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee seeking to seat all [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sens. John McCain and Chuck Hagel have long been friends. Fellow Republicans and Vietnam War veterans, their Senate offices are just across the hall from each other.
But at least during the presidential primary, Hagel’s wife, Lilibet, is helping McCain’s likely Democratic rival, Barack Obama. According to Federal Election Commission records, Mrs. Hagel [...]

RENO, Nev. (AP) – Call it the political version of how to win the West.
Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are tripping over each other this week in New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado, a prelude to a likely general election matchup and inevitable fight for three booming battleground states. President Bush narrowly won the [...]

CARY, N.C. — The upcoming general election in November has the potential to be one of the most exciting in U.S. history.
Voters can learn more about the process at a voter information session on Monday from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the West Regional Library, 4000 Louis Stephens Drive in Cary.
A representative from the League of Women [...]

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – A trial court judge says the threshold required for third parties to get candidates on North Carolina ballots are constitutional.
The Libertarian Party of North Carolina said Wednesday it was disappointed with the ruling.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Robert H. Hobgood ruled late Tuesday that citizens don’t have a fundamental right for [...]

By BILLY HOUSE
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON – The back-and-forth last week during appearances in Florida by presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama on U.S. policy toward Cuba showed one of two things:
•If the political maxim still holds that a presidential candidate has to be a hard-liner on enforcing the U.S. trade embargo and other [...]