2008 Presidential Election News

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pressed the Senate Tuesday to take action on climate change, but key senators made it clear that a bill is unlikely to pass this year.

The euphoria of 2008 is over: America is in a funk. Elected last November on a wave of optimism, President Barack Obama now finds himself governing an increasingly pessimistic country in recession while muscling through Congress a health care reform overhaul and weighing whether to commit more troops to the 8-year-old Afghanistan war.

The American Medical Association on Tuesday voted to oppose the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and declared that gay marriage bans contribute to health disparities.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd is circulating legislation that would give the government sweeping new powers to prevent another economic collapse, including the ability to dismantle failing institutions and increased oversight of lenders to consumers.

The action at the group's semiannual meeting in Houston could be seen as a vote of confidence for AMA leaders who voiced support for the $1.2-trillion, 10-year bill the U.S. House passed Saturday.

The deepening debate over the future of a major U.S. Marine base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa has opened a broad rift in Washington's most important alliance in Asia ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to the region this week.

The chief Palestinian negotiator on Monday warned Israel that if it does not take peacemaking seriously, it will find itself dealing with the militant Hamas instead of moderates like him.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will visit the Hawkeye State next month to promote her new book, "Going Rogue," according to a press release from the bookstore chain Barnes and Noble.

Vice President Joe Biden is making a trip to Detroit to raise money for two Democratic congressmen.

Myanmar's military-ruled government may release pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi soon so she can play a role in next year's general elections, according to a senior Myanmar diplomat.

Read-only mm_head JANET HOOK Reporting from Washington With the struggle over healthcare entering an even tougher phase, President Obama has hit both a milestone and a speed bump in his duel pursuit of a major overhaul of the nation's medical system and a rebirth of progressivism in America.

Democrats just don't get the election message from voters and are pushing a liberal, big government agenda at their party's peril, Republican officials said Sunday as they predicted a political price after the majority's victory on health care.

Two weeks ago, Republican candidate Rick Lazio was quietly running an uphill campaign for the 2010 race.

The high-stakes election is still a year away, but Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is already leveling criticism at Republican Sue Lowden, the former state GOP chairwoman, state legislator and Miss America candidate who hopes to unseat him.

Health revamp victory...Ida draws closer...Suicide bombing WASHINGTON House Democrats pressing for the health care overhaul have triumphed, but just barely.

Thousands of people in Japan have attended a rally against a US military base on Japan's Okinawa Island.

President Barack Obama is nearing a decision to send more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year, but he may not announce it until after he consults with key allies and completes a trip to Asia later this month, administration and military officials have told McClatchy.

Israel's president on Saturday called on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to rescind his decision to stand down, invoking the memory of Yitzhak Rabin at a public commemoration for the assassinated Israeli premier.

Russia and the United States have a good chance at signing a new nuclear arms reduction deal before year's end, but other nuclear powers must join disarmament efforts, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in remarks released Saturday.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty plans to present the image of a common-sense conservative who can win in Democrat territory when he introduces himself today to a key political focus group, a hall full of Iowa Republican Party activists.