IN THE HEADLINES
Obama announces support and expansion for Bush's faith based programs ... McCain to visit Colombia, Mexico to show support for free trade ... McCain to visit Colombia, Mexico to show support for free trade
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Obama to expand Bush's faith based programs
CHICAGO (AP) _ Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans to expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and _ in a move sure to cause controversy _ support some ability to hire and fire based on faith.
Obama was unveiling his approach to getting religious charities more involved in government anti-poverty programs during a tour and remarks Tuesday in Zanesville, Ohio, at Eastside Community Ministry, which provides food, clothes, youth ministry and other services.
"The challenges we face today ... are simply too big for government to solve alone," Obama was to say, according to a prepared text of his remarks obtained by The Associated Press. "We need all hands on deck."
Obama's announcement is part of a series of events leading up to Friday's Fourth of July holiday that are focused on American values.
The Democratic presidential candidate spent Monday talking about his vision of patriotism in the battleground state of Missouri. By twinning that with Tuesday's talk about faith in another battleground state, he was attempting to settle debate in two key areas where his beliefs have come under question while also trying to make inroads with constituencies that are traditionally loyal to Republicans and oppose Obama on other grounds.
But Obama's support for letting religious charities that receive federal funding consider religion in employment decisions could invite a protest from those in his own party who view such faith requirements as discrimination.
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McCain to talk free trade in Latin America
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ John McCain concedes he still has work to do to convince voters in America's Rust Belt, where the presidential election could be decided, that his support for free trade will benefit them, not just cost more jobs.
Winding up a campaign swing through Pennsylvania, which has been hard hit by the loss of manufacturing jobs to Mexico and elsewhere, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting pledged to improve programs for displaced workers and unemployment insurance if elected, but acknowledged that wouldn't be enough.
"I have to convince them the consequences of protectionism and isolationism could be damaging to their future," the Arizona senator said.
"I understand it's very tough. But for me to give up my advocacy of free trade would be a betrayal of trust," he said. "And the most precious commodity I have with the American people is that they trust me."
On Tuesday, McCain was beginning a three-day visit to Colombia and Mexico, to bookend a trip earlier this month to Ottawa, where he talked up cross-border cooperation with Canada on economic issues, especially trade.
He is a strong supporter of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, among the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
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Clark: Obama had no part in McCain comments
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Ret. Army Gen. Wesley Clark said Democrat Barack Obama played no part in remarks he made about Republican John McCain's qualifications to be president that have been sharply criticized by the GOP candidate's supporters.
"Sen. Obama had nothing to do with this," Clark said Tuesday in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America." "I'm very sorry this has distracted from the message of patriotism that Sen. Obama wants to put out, but I want to make very clear that as a Democrat and a former Army officer I fully respect Sen. McCain and all others who served, especially now on this Fourth of July."
The dustup began on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday when Clark, the former supreme commander of NATO under Bill Clinton, said McCain's military service was not the same as executive experience. McCain, a former Navy fighter pilot, was shot down over Hanoi and held prisoner by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam war.
Several McCain supporters in Congress have criticized Clark's remarks as disrespectful of McCain's service.
Clark said Tuesday his point was that there is a difference between fighting in a war and high-level military decision-making.
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THE DEMOCRATS
Barack Obama campaigns at Eastside Community Ministry in Zanesville, Ohio.
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THE REPUBLICANS
John McCain holds an informal news conference in Cartagena, Colombia.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"John McCain as a young officer demonstrated courage and character. But the service as president is about judgment. And the experience that he had as a fighter pilot isn't the same as having been at the highest levels of the military and having to make _ work with the president and other heads of state and make those kinds of life or death decisions about national, strategic issues." _ Ret. Army Gen. Wesley Clark
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STAT OF THE DAY:
Seventy-six percent of the people contacted in an AP-Ipsos survey in June said the country was on the wrong track. That's up from 71 percent in April and 66 percent near the end of 2007.
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Compiled by Jesse J. Holland and Joan Lowy.
