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Published: May 01, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: May 01, 2008 06:27 AM
 

It's unanimous: McCain is 'natural born'

Sen. John McCain was born to American parents in the Panama Canal Zone 71 years ago. Does that make him the kind of "natural born" citizen the Founding Fathers determined could serve as president?

Yes, the Senate agreed, and senators passed a resolution to that effect by unanimous consent Wednesday.

Not that there was much doubt about it. Even Democrats, including rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, have said they didn't see a problem with McCain meeting the constitutional requirement that only a "natural born" citizen can serve.

Still, there were questions in the minds of some bloggers because McCain was born Aug. 29, 1936, in the Panama Canal Zone while his father was stationed at a U.S. naval base.

SUPERDELEGATE GAP: Obama is closing in on Clinton among superdelegates, building on his lead in the primary race even as he faces troubled times.

Party leaders are encouraging superdelegates to pick a side by late June to prevent the fight from going to the national convention in August, and it seems some are listening.

Clinton had a big jump-start among superdelegates, many of whom have ties to the Clintons and backed her candidacy early on. But most of the superdelegates taking sides recently have gone for Obama, who has won more state contests.

Obama trails Clinton by 21 superdelegates, 243-264, cutting her lead in half in less than two months. This week, he has picked up seven delegates to her four.

OBAMA WANTS INVESTIGATION: Obama's presidential campaign wants federal regulators to investigate fellow Democrats who are backing Clinton's candidacy.

Obama's campaign lawyer, Robert Bauer, filed a complaint Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, accusing the pro-Clinton American Leadership Project of violating campaign finance laws by running ads against Obama.

The group is largely financed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and is run by Democratic operatives, many of whom are based in California and have past connections to Clinton or her husband. Its organizers say they are abiding by the law and a 2007 Supreme Court ruling.

That ruling opened the door for organizations to air issue ads that mention political candidates, as long as they do not explicitly call for their election or defeat. The FEC followed up with a regulation that gave outside groups more latitude to run ads during elections.

HUCKABEE ON WRIGHT: Former Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Wednesday that Obama's bid for the White House is not being derailed because he is black but because his former pastor does not want him to prove the country's race relations have progressed.

Obama has struggled in recent weeks to distance himself from incendiary comments made by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.

"His campaign is not being derailed by his race; it's being derailed by a person who doesn't want him to prove that we have made great advances in this country," Huckabee told reporters after a fundraiser for Montana gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown.

Wright has claimed that AIDS was created by the government to kill "people of color" and that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were spurred by U.S. "terrorism" against minorities at home and abroad.

"Jeremiah Wright needs for Obama to lose so he can justify his anger, his hostile bitterness against the United States of America," Huckabee said.

On Tuesday, Obama said he was outraged by Wright's comments and denounced the remarks as "giving comfort to those who prey on hate."

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