PRESIDENTIAL RACE | Latest developments

Here are the latest developments on the campaign trail in the races for the presidential nomination:

Barack Obama on Thursday promised an “unshakable commitment” to Israel if he is elected president. Speaking at a town hall meeting at a Boca Raton, Fla., synagogue, the Illinois senator also said he hopes his presidency will help improve strained relations between American black and Jewish communities.

Republican John McCain rejected the months-old endorsement of an influential Texas televangelist after a recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. Hagee quickly responded by withdrawing the endorsement.

McCain said Thursday that Obama had no right to criticize McCain’s position on military scholarships because the Illinois senator did not serve in uniform. “And I will not accept from Senator Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did,” the Arizona senator said in a harshly worded statement Thursday. McCain was a Navy fighter pilot who was shot down and spent nearly six years as a Vietnam prisoner of war. At age 46, Obama is too young to have been drafted or fought in Vietnam.

Obama has agreed to deliver the commencement address at Wesleyan University in place of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who pulled out Thursday after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Kennedy, 76, had planned to speak at the Sunday ceremony in Middletown, Conn., where his stepdaughter will be among the graduates.

Associated Press