John McCain Needs More Funds

Raising money and thinking about a running mate are two of the big challenges facing likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Both are on the agenda as the McCain team plans a transition to a campaign focused more on the Democrats and the general election. But one -- fundraising -- is being treated with considerably more urgency.

Sources involved in the effort say the McCain fundraising operation is reaching out to some 300 major Republican fundraisers, many of whom were supporting other GOP presidential candidates.

McCain is CNN's Larry King's guest for the entire hour tonight at 9 p.m. ET.

Also on the list are top fundraisers for President Bush's political organization. Top Bush fundraiser Mercer Reynolds, for example, endorsed McCain this past week, and campaign aides say he's actively helping to expand McCain's financial network.

The goal is to raise millions -- tens of millions -- by tapping these fundraising networks and finding donors who may have given the maximum amount to their first choice in the GOP field but have yet to give to McCain.

It's an effort proceeding on two tracks: raising millions for the "primary" campaign that continues up to the nominating convention this summer, while also beginning to amass millions more for the general election campaign.

Meanwhile, sources inside and close to the McCain camp acknowledge some casual conversations about a vice presidential search process. These sources stress emphatically that there have been no official meetings or discussions with McCain or even among his senior staff, though they expect the subject to come up in a series of transition meetings over the next several days and weeks.

"It is a top concern of the media and a relatively low concern of ours," one senior McCain adviser said. One reason for the lack of urgency: While McCain is the all-but-certain GOP nominee, the Democratic race is anything but clear -- and McCain is unlikely to make his pick until after the Democratic nominee chooses a running mate.

The Republican convention is a week after the Democrats', and while GOP sources don't rule out a McCain choice earlier, they say that under no circumstances would McCain pick a running mate without first knowing who would lead the Democratic ticket.

Still, there are informal conversations about how to begin a search process.

Again, the sources said no decisions have been made. But several McCain aides and advisers who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity suggest a logical choice to shepherd the process, at least at the beginning, is McCain adviser and veteran GOP strategist Charlie Black. In a brief conversation with CNN, Black said the subject has not come up in any of his conversations with McCain or campaign manager Rick Davis.

Others have suggested Davis would lead the process, though most in the campaign suggest he is too busy with day-to-day challenges, including expanding the staff to prepare for a national campaign, thinking ahead to the GOP convention and preparing for conversations with the Republican National Committee about installing a number of McCain operatives in the party's staff structure.

Those who discussed the running mate issue said that for now, the goal would be, as one put it, "to come up with a list of 20 or 25 people as your starting point and begin the basic research and early vetting."

So what does McCain need to do with his choice?

"Try back in June or July," one campaign official said with a laugh.

But GOP circles, of course, are full of such conversations. Some suggest former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's continued strong showing among social conservatives suggests McCain needs to shore up his right flank. Others say his choice will matter more than most vice presidential picks because McCain is 71 years old, so there will even more than the traditional scrutiny of whether the pick is up to being president.

USA Election Update : Oba Gets Three

DAY IN A NUTSHELL

Barack Obama sweeps to victory in the three Democratic primaries in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC.

For the Republicans, presumptive nominee John McCain also wins all three contests, although his rival Mike Huckabee mounts a strong challenge in Virginia, taking more than 40% of the vote. Hillary Clinton unveils a stellar endorsement from former astronaut and Ohio Senator John Glenn.


KEY QUOTES

"My friends, I promise you, I am fired up and ready to go."
John McCain ends his victory speech with one of Barack Obama's signature lines

"With all of the challenges facing Ohio and America, we need a leader who can deliver real solutions on her first day in office."
Former senator and astronaut John Glenn endorses Hillary Clinton

"The nomination is not secured until one candidate has 1,191 delegates."
Mike Huckabee

"John McCain is an American hero. We honour his service to our nation... But his priorities don't address the real problems of the American people, because they are bound to the failed policies of the past."
Barack Obama turns his sights on the Republicans in his victory address

"In the dark days when Iraq's al-Anbar province was the bloodiest place on the planet - John McCain was one of the few in Congress brave enough to venture into that cauldron. I know, because I saw him there."
Col Oliver North


NUMBER NEWS

Because many pollsters assumed that the presidential races would be settled after Super Tuesday, little polling has been done in the states holding contests later on in the primary calendar.

So polls published today from Wisconsin and Ohio shed some much-needed light on the state of the races in those states.

A Public Policy Polling survey of Wisconsin voters suggests that Barack Obama and John McCain have the advantage there. The poll has Mr Obama leading Hillary Clinton by 50% to 39% and Mr McCain leading Mr Huckabee 53% to 32%.

Mr McCain also leads Mr Huckabee in the SurveyUSA poll of Ohio voters (50% to 36%), but for the Democrats in Ohio, Mrs Clinton has the lead - with 56% to Mr Obama's 39%

Obama's Chance ?????????

Democratic rivals Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton squared off Tuesday in primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, home to the White House, their long-sought prize

With 175 delegates at stake, Obama hoped to erode if not erase the lead Clinton has held since the campaign began.

The Illinois senator won a string of contests in all regions of the country over the weekend, routing Clinton in a Louisiana primary as well as caucuses in Nebraska, Washington state and Maine.

Early turnout in Virginia was reported high and city officials in the District of Columbia were hoping that a swath of new registered voters would show up at the polls. Maryland election officials were also projecting a strong turnout, particularly in the Democratic race.

The final Maine returns had not been tallied when Clinton's campaign manager announced she was stepping down. Coming several days after the former first lady loaned her own campaign $5 million, it was a fresh indication of the trouble the one-time front-runner is having fighting off Obama's strong challenge for the nomination.

Aides to the former first lady concede she is in the midst of a difficult period in which she could lose 10 straight contests. She is hoping to rebound on March 4, in primaries in Ohio and Texas, states where both candidates have already begun television advertising.

Clinton began the night with 1,147 delegates, to 1,124 for Obama. Both are far from the 2,025 needed to win the nomination at the Democratic National Convention this summer.

Among Republicans, Sen. John McCain, the faraway front-runner, hoped to rebound in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia from a poor weekend showing. There were 116 GOP delegates at stake.

McCain lost caucuses in Kansas and a primary in Louisiana on Saturday to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, his last remaining major rival. He won caucuses in Washington state.

The AP count showed McCain with 729 delegates. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who dropped out of the race last week, had 288. Huckabee had 241 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 14.

It takes 1,191 delegates to clinch the nomination, and McCain appears to be on track to reach the target by late April.

Obama has campaigned before huge crowds in recent days, and far outspent his rival on television advertising in the states participating in the regional primary in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

He began airing commercials in the region more than a week ago, and spent an estimated $1.4 million. Clinton began hers last Friday, at a cost estimated at $210,000.

With Clinton facing a series of possible defeats, and Obama riding a wave of momentum, the two camps debated which contender is more likely to defeat McCain in the general election.

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll found Obama with a narrow lead over the Arizona senator in a potential match-up, and Clinton running about even.

"We bring in voters who haven't given Democrats a chance" in the past, said Obama pollster Cornell Belcher, citing support from independents.

Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, countered that she holds appeal for women voters and Hispanics. "Hillary Clinton has a coalition of voters well-suited to winning the general election," he said.

Death Sentence

The Pentagon has announced charges against six Guantanamo Bay prisoners over their alleged involvement in the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the six, who include alleged plot mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The charges, the first for Guantanamo inmates directly related to 9/11, are expected to be heard by a controversial military tribunal system.

About 3,000 people died in the hijacked plane attacks.

The Guantanamo Bay detention centre, in south-east Cuba, began to receive US military prisoners in January 2002. Hundreds have been released without charge but about 275 remain and the US hopes to try about 80.

Tribunal process

Brig Gen Thomas Hartmann, a legal adviser to the head of the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions, said the charges alleged a "long-term, highly sophisticated plan by al-Qaeda to attack the US".

He said there would be "no secret trials" and that they would be "as completely open as possible".

"Relatively little amounts of evidence will be classified," Gen Hartmann said.

The other five defendants are Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni, Walid bin Attash, also from Yemen, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, who was born in Balochistan, Pakistan, and raised in Kuwait, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, a Saudi, and Mohammed al-Qahtani.

Gen Hartmann said the charges included conspiracy, murder in violation of the laws of war, attacking civilians, destruction of property and terrorism.

All but Mr Qahtani and Mr Hawsawi are also charged with hijacking or hazarding an aircraft.

The charges listed "169 overt acts allegedly committed by the defendants in furtherance of the September 11 events".

Gen Thomas Hartmann said: "The accused will have his opportunity to have his day in court.

It's our obligation to move the process forward, to give these people their rights."

In listing more details of the charges against the defendants, Gen Hartmann alleged that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had proposed the attacks to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in 1996, had obtained funding and overseen the operation and the training of hijackers in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a Kuwaiti of Pakistani extraction, was said to have been al-Qaeda's third in command when he was captured in Pakistan in March 2003.

He has reportedly admitted to decapitating kidnapped US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 but these charges do not relate to that.

The BBC's Vincent Dowd in Washington says Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has said he planned every part of the 9/11 attacks but that his confession may prove problematic as the CIA admitted using controversial "waterboarding" techniques.

Human rights groups regard the procedure as torture.

Legal challenge

The charges will now be sent to Susan Crawford, the convening authority for the military commissions, to determine whether they will be referred to trial.

Any trials would be held by military tribunal under the terms of the Military Commissions Act, passed by the US Congress in 2006.

The Act set up tribunals to try terror suspects who were not US citizens.

The law is being challenged by two prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, who say they are being deprived of their rights to have their cases heard by a US civilian court.

Nineteen men hijacked four planes in the 9/11 attacks. Two planes hit the World Trade Center in New York, another the Pentagon in Washington and the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.

Clinton, Obama Pitch to Va. Democrats

Relishing a clean sweep of elections held Saturday, Sen. Barack Obama appealed to Virginia Democrats to help him turn the page away from the "same old Washington games with the same old Washington players," an indictment meant for presidential rivals Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Sen. John McCain.

Obama addressed about 4,000 Democratic officials and activists at the state party's annual Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner, taking the stage fresh from victories in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington state and the Virgin Islands.

Clinton addressed the crowd before he arrived. The gala served as a can't-miss stop in their short, intense campaign for contests Tuesday in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

Obama exulted in his wins but mentioned them only briefly. He said his victories from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast and in the heartland were a rousing "yes we can" from voters fed up with divisive politics and failed policies. Like Clinton before him on the stage, he painted McCain, the likely Republican nominee, as more of the same from the party of President Bush.

"He has made the decision to embrace the failed policies of George Bush's Washington," Obama said of McCain. "He speaks of a hundred-year war in Iraq and sees another on the horizon with Iran."

The New York senator made no reference to her losses in the Washington and Nebraska caucuses or to the Louisiana primary, which was still unsettled when she spoke. She left the dinner immediately after her remarks, ensuring no overlap with Obama, who was on his way.

The crowd greeted Clinton enthusiastically but was largely supportive of her rival. Chants of "Obama" rang through the hall as she made her way offstage, and they grew much louder when the Illinois senator arrived.

The Clinton campaign said 100,000 donors had given $10 million since Super Tuesday, the money-sapping mega-contest that left Obama and Clinton close to a tie in delegates won. After Tuesday, Clinton acknowledged lending her campaign $5 million of her own money — a disclosure that seemed to help open the money taps from supporters to try to counter Obama's fundraising prowess.

Both candidates spent most of Saturday campaigning in Maine for the state's nominating caucuses Sunday.

Saturday's results were clearly disappointing for Clinton, although not entirely a surprise. Obama has generally done well in smaller states and those holding caucuses rather than primaries.

Clinton's prospects in Tuesday's Maryland, Virginia and D.C. primaries were uncertain, because of high numbers of black voters and highly educated voters — groups that have favored her rival. She planned to fly Tuesday night to Texas, where she hoped to perform well in the state's March 4 primary.

Before Clinton arrived at the spirited Richmond dinner, Obama supporters in the crowd waved placards and chanted the stump-speech line that has become a slogan — "Yes we can" — while Clinton supporters roared back "Hill-a-ry."

Clinton brought both camps to their feet when she blistered the Bush administration and, by inference, a likely Republican nominee she had no problem branding a conservative — even if he's struggling to sell that label to his party's right.

"We have tried it President Bush's way," she said, and now "the Republicans have chosen more of the same."

"President Bush has already put his stamp of approval on Senator McCain's conservative credentials," she said, adding wryly, "and I'm sure that will help." The line won cheers and laughs. Bush has nudged his party to unite but not explicitly endorsed McCain.

The Arizona senator lost the Kansas caucuses Saturday against long-shot rival Mike Huckabee, who draws support from conservatives.

Clinton described Bush 's way as "hoard power, disregard science, shred the Constitution, smear dissenters, impugn patriots, go it alone in the world wherever you can and cooperate only when you have to."

She told the audience: "You know, for me, politics isn't a game. It's not about who's up or who's down. It's about your lives, your families and your futures. And isn't it about time you had a president who brought your voice and your values to your White House?"

Former President Clinton campaigned vigorously for his wife in Virginia, but his rhetoric was restrained after the criticism he took earlier for remarks about Obama that raised racial sensitivities, including one suggesting Obama's opposition to the Iraq war was a fairy tale.

Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, an Obama backer and Richmond's mayor, took a swipe at Bill Clinton during a news conference Saturday. "Barack Obama is not a fairy tale," Wilder said. "He is real."

Of Bill Clinton, Wilder said: "A time comes and a time goes. The president has had his time."

In Baghdad, Gates sees signs of progress

Iraq's political leaders are showing promising new signs of progress toward reconciliation, yet still face difficult decisions on how to stabilize the country, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday.

"They seem to have become energized over the last few weeks," Gates told reporters who traveled with him from an international security conference in Munich, Germany. The Pentagon chief added that he wants to "see what the prospects are for further success in the next couple of months."

Gates arrived after dark at Baghdad International Airport aboard an Air Force C-17 cargo plane. He flew by helicopter to a private dinner with Iraq's political leaders, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, as well as U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

In an interview on the trip to Iraq, Gates cited the recent passage of an amnesty law as an example of political progress. He said he would ask Iraqi leaders to assess the prospects for other important steps such as passing a law that would spell out power-sharing between the provinces and the national government.

He likened the challenge of passing an Iraqi provincial powers law to the U.S. founding fathers' struggle to find a constitutional compromise on how to share power in the Congress between big and small states.

Gates said he would make clear to al-Maliki and other political leaders that "our continued eagerness for them to proceed and successfully conclude some of this legislation" considered key to reconciling Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.

It was Gates' first visit this year and possibly his last before Petraeus and Crocker return to Washington in April to recommend to President Bush whether to continue reducing U.S. troop levels after Petraeus' current drawdown plan is completed in July. By then, four brigades are to have gone home, leaving 15.

"I would be interested in how they are planning it — which units are coming out" between now and July, Gates said.

The trickier question is whether Petraeus will tell Bush that security conditions in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country have improved enough to permit even more troop cuts without risking a deterioration in security. Petraeus' strategy is based on an expectation that improved security over time will give Iraqi political leaders an impetus to make compromises on legislation and other moves toward reconciliation.

Asked whether he would question Petraeus about the possibility of recommending a pause in the troop drawdown this summer, Gates replied, "I think our conversation will cover the whole range of possibilities."

He said on the way to Baghdad that he planned to visit troops Monday at a U.S. base in the capital, as well as pin a medal on Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. commander. Odierno is departing after 15 months in charge of the headquarters that carries out Petraeus' strategy on a day-to-day basis.

Gates also was meeting with Odierno's successor, Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin. Odierno is returning to Washington and has been nominated by Bush for promotion to four-star rank and assignment as Army vice chief of staff.

In his talks with Iraqi political leaders Gates said he intended to make clear "our continued eagerness for them to proceed and successfully conclude some of this legislation," which has taken longer than many had hoped.

Before his latest visit to Iraq, Gates said in a speech in Munich that NATO's survival was at stake in the debate over how the United States and Europe should share the burden of fighting Islamic extremism in Afghanistan.

As Gates cited signs of political progress, the U.S. military said a car bomb exploded near an Iraqi checkpoint in an open-market area north of Baghdad, killing at least 23 civilians and wounding 25. Earlier, the military said a diary and another document seized during U.S. raids show some al-Qaida in Iraq leaders fear the terrorist group is crumbling, with many fighters defecting to American-backed neighborhood groups.

Bush, in an interview broadcast Sunday in the United States, discussed the long-term U.S. relationship with Iraq. "We will be there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. ... We won't have permanent bases. I do believe it is in our interests and the interests of the Iraqi people that we do enter into an agreement on how we are going to conduct ourselves over the next years."

Last year, Bush ordered five additional Army brigades to Iraq. One of those brigades left in December and the other four are due to come out by July, leaving 15 brigades, or about 130,000 to 135,000 troops — the same number as before Bush sent the reinforcements.

Petraeus recently said it would be prudent to "let things settle a bit" before embarking on a new round of cuts. Gates has not said whether he agreed with Petraeus, though the secretary noted other commanders and service chiefs would weigh in with their opinions.

Bush, who met with Petraeus during his recent trip to the Middle East, said in the broadcast interview, "My message to the general was success is paramount and therefore, whatever you recommend, make it based upon the need to succeed."

"So we said, `What is succeed? What does succeed mean? It means there's enough security and stability for this reconciliation to continue to take place and for democracy to take hold," Bush said.

The president said he did not know what Petraeus or the Pentagon would recommend later this year on troop levels. "I will listen — give them careful consideration and make up my mind. But it's going to be based upon whether or not we can succeed or not."

At the German conference, Gates acknowledged that the U.S. has had innumerable disputes with its NATO allies in the 59 years since the security alliance was founded as a bulwark against the former Soviet Union. But Gates portrayed today's debate over the importance of the mission in Afghanistan and how to accomplish as among the most difficult ever.

A central theme was that al-Qaida extremists, either in Afghanistan or elsewhere, pose a greater threat to Europe than many Europeans realize.

Gates said the Bush administration had learned from mistakes made in Iraq, including the need to more closely integrate the civilian-led stabilization efforts with the military efforts. He said the U.S. and NATO must apply that lesson in Afghanistan to assure success.

Obama, Clinton compete in 3 states

Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton competed for Democratic convention delegates across three states on Saturday, locked in a landmark struggle for the party's presidential nomination.

A total of 158 delegates was at stake in the Louisiana primary and caucuses in Nebraska and Washington. Caucuses in the Virgin Islands offered three more.

Clinton began the day with a slender delegate lead in The Associated Press count. She had 1,045 delegates to 960 for Obama. A total of 2,025 is required to win the nomination at the party convention in Denver.

Republican contests in Louisiana, Kansas and Guam provided John McCain a chance to advance closer to the 1,191 delegates he needs to make his nomination official.

The Arizona senator began the day with 707 delegates. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, with 195, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, with 14, were his only remaining rivals following Mitt Romney's withdrawal from the race.

The day's contests opened a new phase in the Democratic race between Clinton, attempting to become the first woman in the White House, and Obama, hoping to become the first black.

The Feb. 5 Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses in 22 states, which once looked likely to effectively settle the race, instead produced a near-equal delegate split.

That left Obama and Clinton facing the likelihood of a grind-it-out competition lasting into spring — if not to the convention itself.

With the night's events, 29 of the 50 states have selected delegates.

Two more — Michigan and Florida — held renegade primaries and the Democratic National Committee has vowed not to seat any delegates chosen at either of them.

Maine, with 24 delegates, holds caucuses on Sunday. Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia and voting by Americans overseas are next, on Tuesday, with 175 combined.

Then follows a brief intermission, followed by a string of election nights, some crowded, some not.

The date of March 4 looms large, 370 delegates in primaries in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Mississippi is alone in holding a primary one week later, with a relatively small 33 delegates at stake.

Puerto Rico anchors the Democratic calendar, with 55 delegates chosen in caucuses on June 7.

If Super Tuesday failed to settle the campaign, it produced a remarkable surge in fundraising.

Obama's aides announced he had raised more than $7 million on line in the two days that followed.

Clinton disclosed she had loaned her campaign $5 million late last month in an attempt to counter her rival's Super Tuesday television advertising. She raised more than $6 million in the two days after the busiest night in primary history.

The television ad wars continued unabated.

Obama has been airing commercials for more than a week in television markets serving every state that has a contest though Feb 19.

Clinton began airing ads midweek in Washington state, Maine and Nebraska, and added Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia on Friday.