To win, McCain needs support of evangelicals

To win, McCain needs support of evangelicals

COLUMBUS — If Christian conservatives stay on the sidelines during the fall campaign, presidential hopeful John McCain probably stays in the Senate.

Christian conservatives provided much of the on-the-ground, door-to-door activity for President Bush’s 2004 re-election in Ohio and in other swing states. Without them, the less-organized and lower-profile McCain campaign is likely to struggle to replicate Bush’s success. And so far, there’s been scant sign that the Republican nominee-in-waiting is making inroads among these fervent believers.

Evangelicals are concerned about his record on abortion rights and on campaign finance laws.

AFL-CIO endorses Obama

WASHINGTON — The AFL-CIO endorsed Barack Obama for president Thursday, uniting the nation’s 15 million union workers behind the Illinois senator and giving him full access to labor’s massive bank accounts and political machinery.

As expected, the leaders of the nation’s largest labor organization voted unanimously to endorse the Illinois senator, freeing the organization and its 56 unions to spend part of its $200 million war chest on his campaign.

The AFL-CIO says one in every four voters going to the polls in November will be a union household voter, and its planned campaigns will reach more than 13 million people, including in key states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Politics vs. economics

PITTSBURGH — Barack Obama told top business leaders Thursday that politics often get in the way of solving problems that threaten America’s ability to stay competitive in the global economy.

“There is surprising consensus in this country about what needs to be done — somehow our politics prevent us from acting on that consensus,” Obama said at an economic summit meeting. “We spend an enormous amount of time talking about what separates us, along party lines, along racial lines, along economic lines, but when it comes to how we need to retool America to continue, it’s greatness.”

Associated Press