From Reuters:
Democrat Barack Obama took aim on Thursday at potential White House opponent John McCain, accusing the Arizona senator of switching his stance on tax cuts in order to help his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Obama, locked in a tight Democratic battle with Hillary Clinton for the right to face McCain in November's presidential election, noted McCain opposed President George W. Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 but now supported their extension. "He made a decision to reverse himself on that, that was how I guess you got your ticket punched to be the Republican nominee," Obama told reporters. "But he was right then and he's wrong now." Obama, an Illinois senator, and Clinton, a New York senator, called a truce in their fierce Democratic battle, shaking hands on the Senate floor and sitting down together for a brief chat. All three senators, including McCain, voted for a Democratic proposal to permanently extend a 10 percent tax rate, mostly for low-income earners, along with a child tax credit and marriage penalty relief. All were all set to expire in 2010. A Republican amendment that would have extended the remaining Bush tax cuts was defeated. McCain voted for it, while Obama and Clinton opposed it.
From the New York Times:
Senator Barack Obama on Thursday released a list of $740 million in earmarked spending requests that he had made over the last three years, and his campaign challenged Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to do the same. ... Obama's presidential campaign also said that only about $220 million worth of his requests had been approved by Congress. ... Campaign officials said he had voluntarily released the list of his earmark requests to underscore his promise to bring greater openness and transparency to government. ... "Bringing real change requires changing the way we do business in Washington," said Robert Gibbs, Mr. Obama's communications director. "If Senator Clinton will not agree to join Senator Obama in releasing her earmark requests, voters should ask why she doesn't believe they have the right to know how she wants to spend their tax dollars."
From the Washington Post:
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama announced yesterday that they had agreed to participate in a nationally televised debate in Philadelphia on April 16, in advance of Pennsylvania's April 22 primary. The debate, the 21st of the primary season, will be hosted by ABC News. The candidates are likely to cover much of the same ground as in earlier debates: arguments about health-care mandates, the 2002 congressional vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq and who is more qualified to be commander in chief. The forum will also give the candidates a chance to debate issues that will have come up since the end of February, when the candidates held what many thought would be their final debate. Obama has also accepted an invitation to participate in a debate hosted by CBS News in North Carolina on April 19, in advance of that state's May 6 Democratic primary. Clinton has not said whether she will participate in that one.
From the Indianapolis Star:
All 2,000 or so tickets available for the event at the Plainfield High School gymnasium were snapped up in less than two hours after it was publicized on the candidate's Web site Thursday morning. For anyone with a ticket, doors to the gym will open at 12:30 p.m. Obama is expected to take the stage at 2:20 p.m. ... Indiana's 72 delegates have gained added importance because of the close contest for the Democratic Party's nomination between Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Plainfield High School Principal Scott Olinger is excited. "What is really nice for us is that we hope to have some students involved as ambassadors and spectators," Olinger said. "This is a tremendous opportunity for our students and teachers to experience the election process and democracy. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." ... Shannon Gilson, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, said the senator will not appear in Indianapolis on this trip, but "there will be other opportunities in the state in the next seven weeks" before the May 6 primary.
The Obama campaign made another foray into Pennsylvania today, sending Michelle Obama to the upscale Main Line suburbs of Philadelphia. Her husband, Senator Barack Obama, is expected to do well with the area's affluent, well-educated voters, many of whom view the war in Iraq as the most important issue. ... Mrs. Obama visited a day-care center here and read Dr. Seuss' "The Cat in the Hat" to some children. She then sat for a half-hour discussion with five women — in front of about 50 people, most of them women, and a phalanx of cameras — and talked about the pressures of trying to balance work and family life. ... Mrs. Obama said [her husband] wanted to build a new majority in Congress because without it, no Democratic plan for health care or anything else could pass. "His ability to win in all kinds of states is something we haven't seen in a while," she added, noting that he was attracting both independents and moderate Republicans, of whom there are many in this area. "Welcome, welcome," she said to those voters. She said her husband's candidacy was "the first time in a while that people have felt energized, and that energy isn't just fluff." ... Her visit helped change the mind of at least one of her listeners. Michelle Daniszewski, 35, a teacher who lives in Drexel Hill and has two young girls, said she came to the event undecided. In fact, she came just to listen but ended up being asked by the campaign to be one of the women to sit and talk with Mrs. Obama. "It's nice to see another working mom who's dealing with all these issues," she said. And of Mr. Obama she said, "He really is fresh blood."
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