McCain prepares to accept Secret Service protection

April 5, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

MEMPHIS — Sen. John McCain intends to meet with Secret Service officials in the next several days in preparation for accepting security protection for the final several months of his White House bid.

McCain plans to meet with the Secret Service next week, he said in an interview for broadcast Sunday on Fox News.

Democratic candidates bash McCain on economy

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The latest unemployment figures show the nation is “sliding into recession,” Democrat Barack Obama said Friday, as he argued he has been the most aggressive presidential candidate in seeking remedies.

His rival Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a written statement: “Perhaps this jobs report will also help John McCain recognize that doing nothing is not an economic strategy in times of urgent need.”

The unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent in March, the Labor Department reported Friday.

At a town hall meeting in Fort Wayne, Ind., Obama joined Clinton in deriding the response from McCain. He said the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting simply wants to stand on the sidelines and watch the housing crisis unfold.

Michigan Dems say no to do-over primary

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Democrats are not going to hold a do-over presidential primary.

The state party’s executive committee made it official Friday, saying “it is not practical” to conduct a party-run primary or caucus as a way to get the state’s delegates seated at the Democratic National Convention this August in Denver.

Michigan and Florida were stripped of their convention delegates for moving up their primaries before Feb. 5 in defiance of party rules. Florida Democrats already had decided against holding a second primary election.

Gallup poll shows Obama slightly ahead of Clinton

Barack Obama has a slight lead nationally over Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential race, 49 percent to her 44 percent, in the latest Gallup Poll. The survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The poll was conducted April 1-3 and involved interviews with 1,219 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters.

Associated Press