Exit poll: Obama wins women, blacks, Hispanics

Exit poll: Obama wins women, blacks, Hispanics

Shirley Curry puts on an "I Voted!" sticker after casting her ballot Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 in Harvey, Ill. Lines of voters stretched down hallways and out doorways Tuesday, as Illinoisans flocked to the polls to cast their ballot in a historic election.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama was winning handily among women, blacks and Hispanics, while whites supported John McCain, according to preliminary exit polls. Obama also was the overwhelming choice of the one in 10 voters who went to the polls for their first time Tuesday - a racially diverse group of mostly twentysomethings, half of whom call themselves Democrats.

Just over half of white voters overall were backing McCain - a group that had favored President Bush over John Kerry by 17 percentage points in 2004.

McCain, 72, also got support from just over half of senior citizens, coveted for their vigilance in going to the polls.

McCain also drew strength from white, working-class voters, exit polls showed. Whites who haven't finished college were giving him heavy support, but short of the 23-point margin by which Bush won their vote in 2004.

Overall, Obama's bid to become the nation's first black president drew the votes of more than half of women, two-thirds of Hispanic voters and nearly all blacks who went to the polls. A young and dynamic candidate at age 47, Obama was winning the under-30 vote by a 2-1 margin.

Women voters are typically the key to a Democratic presidential victory, and Obama was pulling well over half their votes. He held a narrower edge over McCain among all men, according to the preliminary national survey, which doesn't show how candidates performed in state-by-state voting for president.

First-time voters were key to Obama's strategy, and they were voting for him by a 3-1 margin. Young voters tend to favor Democrats, but not in such high numbers. Four years ago, Kerry won 53 percent of their votes.

One in five of the new voters was black, almost twice the proportion of blacks among voters overall. Another one in five of the new voters was Hispanic. About two-thirds of them were under 30 years old.

A third of first-time voters this year said they were political independents; only about one in 5 was a Republican.

Twenty-six-year-old Jennifer Sunderlin, who typically votes Republican, said she didn't stick with her usual party this election year.

"Don't tell my Dad, but I voted for Barack Obama," said Sunderlin, of Albany, N.Y. She said she was turned off by McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

She wasn't alone. Four in 10 voters overall said Palin was an important factor in deciding who to vote for, and this group leaned slightly toward Obama. But nine in 10 Republicans calling Palin's selection important were voting for McCain.

Andrew Greenaway, 18, said he was swayed by all "the buzz" about Obama in his dorm at Cleveland State University. "All my buddies told me to vote for Obama," he said.

About a third of voters said the quality that mattered most was the candidates' ability to bring about change - the mantra of Obama's campaign - while a fifth focused on the candidates' experience, McCain's strong point.

"I don't think Obama knows what he's doing," said Craig Burnett, 55, a Republican in Hagerstown, Md. "He's too young and inexperienced."

More than half strongly disapproved of the way Bush has handled the job, and they overwelmingly voted for Obama.

Two-thirds of voters worried about how to pay for health care and at least as many feared terrorists will attack the U.S. again. But the economy weighed heaviest on their minds.

Six in 10 voters picked it as the most important issue facing the nation, according to preliminary polling. None of the four other issues listed by exit pollsters - energy, Iraq, terrorism and health care - was picked by more than one in 10 people.

Almost everyone agreed the economy's condition is either "poor" or "not good." And more than eight in 10 said they were worried about the economy's direction over the next year.

Half of voters said they're very worried the current economic crisis will harm their families, and another third were somewhat worried about that. One reason: about two-thirds of voters have stock market investments, such as retirement funds.

Yet there was room for optimism - nearly half predict the economy will get better over the next year.

In a historic year, when Obama could become the first black president, nine out of 10 voters said the race of the candidates wasn't important to their votes. Almost as many said age wasn't important, a nod to 72-year-old McCain.

The results were from exit polling by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and television networks conducted in 300 precincts nationally. The preliminary data was based on 10,747 voters, including telephone polling of 2,407 people who voted early, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 1 percentage point for the entire sample, smaller for subgroups.

Preliminary results from a national Associated Press exit poll of voters in Tuesday's elections:

THE ECONOMY DOMINATES

Six in 10 voters picked the economy as the most important issue facing the nation, overwhelming other problems named. Barack Obama was doing strongly with this group - nearly six in 10 of those naming the economy were backing the Democrat. None of four other issues on the list - energy, Iraq, terrorism and health care - was picked by more than one in 10.

Further underlining voters' preoccupation with the economy, nine in 10 said it is in bad shape. Nearly six in 10 of this group were backing Obama, too. In addition, almost nine in 10 said they are worried about the economy's direction, and here, too, almost six in 10 were supporting Obama.

NEW VOTERS

About one in 10 voters said this was the first year they have voted - roughly the same proportion of new voters as in 2004. About seven in 10 of them were voting for Obama. Overall, six in 10 new voters were under age 30, one in five were black and another one in five were Hispanic - all far greater than their share of the entire population. All of those groups were voting overwhelmingly for Obama. In addition, half were Democrats and a third were independents - and both were heavily favoring Obama. New voters were making up about one in seven Obama supporters but only about one in 20 of Republican John McCain's.

THE PALIN FACTOR

A third of Republicans and about the same share of conservatives said McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was an important factor in deciding who to vote for. Underscoring how well she has fired up the party's base, both of those groups leaned heavily toward McCain. But her choice had the opposite effect on other voters. About a quarter of independents said Palin's selection had an important impact on their decision, and just over half of them were supporting Obama. More than four in 10 moderates also said her choice was a factor - and six in 10 of them were Obama voters.

CANDIDATES' QUALITIES

More than a third of voters said they most wanted a candidate who would bring change to Washington, and they were voting heavily for Obama. Nearly as many said they wanted someone who shares their values, and six in 10 preferred McCain. About one in five were looking most for experience, a group that heavily favored McCain. A smaller portion were seeking a candidate who cares about people like them, and they favored Obama.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Nearly six in 10 women were Obama voters, while men divided their votes about evenly.

Just over half of whites were backing McCain, giving him a slender edge in a group that President Bush carried by 17 percentage points in 2004. White women were about evenly divided between the two candidates, while just over half of white men were supporting McCain.

One group Obama has had trouble with all year - whites who haven't finished college - were leaning solidly toward McCain, almost approaching the 23-point margin by which Bush won them in 2004.

Virtually all blacks were supporting Obama. But while Bush got about one in 10 black votes in 2004, McCain got almost none of their votes this year.

About two-thirds of Hispanics were also behind Obama. That was significantly stronger than the four in 10 who backed Bush four years ago.

More than two-thirds of people under age 30 were backing Obama, while those age 65 and up were tilting slightly toward McCain.

According to the early results, blacks and people under age 30 - two groups Obama heavily courted - were comprising roughly the same portion of all voters as they did in 2004.

PARTY MATTERS

About four in 10 voters were Democrats while about a third were Republicans. Roughly nine in 10 Democrats were backing Obama, and about the same number of Republicans were supporting McCain.

Independents were voting for Obama by a modest margin.

Answering one question that has been lingering since Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries, Obama was doing strongly among Democrats who'd supported the New York senator and former first lady in the primaries. About nine in 10 of them said they were voting for Obama.

OTHER WORRIES

Two-thirds of voters said they were worried about being able to afford the health care they need. Of this group, about six in 10 were supporting Obama. On an issue that had been one of McCain's strengths during the campaign, about seven in 10 voters said they worry that there will be another terrorist attack in the United States. Those voters, though, were about evenly divided between the two candidates.

OTHER ISSUES

Six in 10 voters said future appointments to the Supreme Court were an important factor in their vote. This group leaned slightly toward Obama.

Two-thirds favor drilling for oil offshore in U.S. waters. Six in 10 of them were McCain backers.

More than half oppose the $700 billion government plan to help failing financial companies. These voters were about equally split between McCain and Obama.

---

The results were from exit polling by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and television networks conducted in 300 precincts nationally. The preliminary data was based on 10,747 voters, including telephone polling of 2,407 people who voted early, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 1 percentage point for the entire sample, smaller for subgroups.

Democrats snag Va. Senate seat, seek more gains

Democrats snag Va. Senate seat, seek more gains

Democratic senatorial candidate, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner speaks with Alexandria, Va. resident Beverly Ryland after he voted at the Lyles Crouch School in Alexandria, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner breezed to victory in his bid for the Senate on Tuesday, snagging a southern seat long held by Republicans and fueling expectations that Democrats would solidify their now-thin leadership grip over the chamber.

Warner beat another former governor, Republican Jim Gilmore, in the race to replace retiring five-term Sen. John W. Warner. The two Warners are not related.

The victory came as Democrats, piggybacking on aggressive Barack Obama voter-registration and get-out-the-vote drives in battleground states, reached for a coveted 60-seat, filibuster-proof Senate majority.

Voters flocked to the polls to fill 35 Senate seats in a year in which both parties said they expected Democratic gains.

In South Carolina, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close adviser to GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, won a second term, defeating Democrat Bob Conley. Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller won his fifth Senate term in West Virginia.

With Warner's victory in Virginia, Democrats now control both Senate seats and the governor's mansion. Virginia usually votes Republican in presidential elections, but this year Democrats viewed it as one of their most promising pick ups.

Despite Democratic optimism, leaders in both parties portrayed a 60-40 Democratic majority as a long shot.

Yet even bringing their numbers to close to 60 would enable Democrats to exercise far more control than they have now, since some Republicans probably would join them in efforts to break Senate logjams on many bills and judicial appointments.

Senate Democrats now have a tenuous 51-49 majority, and only thanks to the support of two independents. But a slumping economy, an unpopular war and voter fatigue after eight years of President Bush could help them bolster that majority, building on the six seats they added in 2006.

That fueled Democrats' optimism that the only two Democratic senators would lose their Senate seats as a result of the national elections: Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

And if the Democratic presidential ticket prevails, Democratic governors in Illinois and Delaware are sure to appoint Democrats to replace them.

Biden is running for re-election as senator from Delaware as well as for vice president. The Senate seats of Obama and GOP presidential candidate John McCain are not on the ballot.

Polls were open nationwide with long lines in many places. North Carolina GOP Sen. Elizabeth Dole, ending a very difficult bid for a second term as she voted in her home district in Salisbury, said she "feels mighty good" about her chances, while acknowledging to reporters that "it's been a tough climate" for Republicans this year.

Democrats had fewer seats to defend than Republicans. Of the 35 races on Tuesday's ballot, 22 are now held by Republicans, 13 by Democrats.

In addition to the Virginia seat won by Warner, Democrats also counted as good prospects the seats of two other retiring GOP senators - in Colorado and New Mexico.

In Colorado, Democratic Rep. Mark Udall, son of the late Arizona Rep. Morris "Mo" Udall, faced former Republican Rep. Bob Schaffer for the seat now held by Republican Wayne Allard. And in New Mexico, Democratic Rep. Tom Udall - a cousin of the Colorado Udall - faced Republican Rep. Steve Pearce to succeed retiring Sen. Pete Domenici.

Both Udalls were comfortably ahead in pre-election polls.

Republicans seeking re-election faced tight contests in five other states - Dole in North Carolina, Ted Stevens in Alaska, Norm Coleman in Minnesota, John Sununu in New Hampshire and Gordon Smith in Oregon.

One route to 60 for Democrats was to win these five states on top of Virginia, Colorado and New Mexico, plus pick up at least one of three other closely contested races in Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi. And not lose any Democratic seats.

Going into the election, only one incumbent Democrat appeared vulnerable: Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. Republicans made a spirited run at her, but Democrats saw her seat as a safe one.

In one of the most closely watched races, Alaska's Stevens, at 84, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, sought re-election despite calls from GOP leaders to resign after he was convicted last week of seven counts of lying on Senate financial disclosure forms. He was locked in a tight contest with Democrat Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage.

Another closely contested race was in Minnesota, where Republican incumbent Coleman was challenged by Democrat Al Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" writer and actor. A significant third-party candidate, Independent Dean Barkley, was complicating the race.

Underscoring the closeness of the race, Coleman embarked on an all-night bus tour with overnight stops in St. Cloud, Brainerd, North Branch, and Forest Lake before voting at 9 a.m. CST at the Linwood Recreation Center in St. Paul.

Democrats also took sharp aim at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, challenged by Democratic businessman Bruce Lunsford in a close and costly race in Kentucky. In North Carolina, a southern state into which the Obama poured heavy resources, Dole, the incumbent, was battling an aggressive challenge by Democratic newcomer Kay Hagan.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., head of the GOP's senatorial campaign committee, acknowledged ahead of the voting that "Democrats are poised to pick up some seats." His Democratic counterpart, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., predicted "a whole lot of seats" for Democrats, but said reaching a 60-vote majority was unlikely.

Obama takes the lead, sweeping usually Dem states

Obama takes the lead, sweeping usually Dem states

In this two picture combination, on the left, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, and his wife Michelle, cast their votes at a polling place in Chicago; and on the right, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., accompanied by his wife Cindy, votes in the 2008 presidential election at the Albright United Methodist Church in Phoenix.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama, seeking to become the first black president, moved ahead of Republican John McCain Tuesday night in the race for the White House in a country clamoring for change. Fellow Democrats picked up a Virginia Senate seat and elected a Missouri governor.

Obama swept to victories in traditionally Democratic states in the East and Midwest, while McCain countered in the safest of Republican territory.

That left the battlegrounds to settle the race: Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania and more. Most of them were customarily Republican, but Obama spent millions hoping to peel away enough to make him the 44th president.

Interviews with voters suggested that almost six in 10 women were backing Obama, and men leaned his way by a narrow margin. Just over half of whites supported McCain, giving him a slim advantage in a group that President Bush carried overwhelmingly in 2004.

The results of The Associated Press survey were based on a preliminary partial sample of nearly 10,000 voters in Election Day polls and in telephone interviews over the past week for early voters.

The same survey showed the economy was by far the top Election Day issue. Six in 10 voters said so, and none of the other top issues - energy, Iraq, terrorism and health care - was picked by more than one in 10.

The AP made its calls of individual states based on surveys of voters as they left the polls.

Obama had Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusets, Maryland and New Jersey, as well as the Distirct of Columbia, for 78 electoral votes. McCain had challenged in none of them.

McCain had Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma and South Carolina, for 34 electoral votes. Obama conceded them from the outset.

The nationwide popular vote also favored Obama, who was gaining 53 percent to his rival's 47 percent.

In Pa., Convicted Felons Can Vote

In Pa., Convicted Felons Can Vote

Contrary to what some people believe, convicted felons who have served their time now have the right to vote in Pennsylvania.

It used to be that convicted felons had to wait five years before having their voting rights restored in Pennsylvania – and that’s part of the reason for the confusion, says Jennine Miller of Project H.O.M.E. in Philadelphia:

For full story to to: http://www.kyw1060.com/

Nuggets, Pistons swap Iverson for Billups, McDyess

Nuggets, Pistons swap Iverson for Billups, McDyess

In this oct. 10, 2008 file photo, Denver Nuggets guard Allen Iverson, left, works the ball inside for a shot past Minnesota Timberwolves forward Al Jefferson in the third quarter of the Nuggets' 118-95 victory in an NBA exhibition basketball game in Denver. The Nuggets have traded Iverson to the Detroit Pistons for two players who once played for the Nuggets, Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess, according to reports on Monday, Nov. 3, 2008.

DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit Pistons worked the phones last summer, trying to trade for a superstar to shake up their roster. They ended up standing pat because a deal didn't make sense. Two games into the season, Allen Iverson was the answer to their hopes in a blockbuster that generated rare buzz for the NBA in November.

Detroit acquired the former NBA MVP on Monday for All-Star point guard and former finals MVP Chauncey Billups, top reserve Antonio McDyess and project Cheikh Samb.

"We just felt it was the right time to change our team," Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars told The Associated Press. "Iverson gives us a dimension that we haven't had here and we really think it's going to help us."

The Pistons have reached six straight Eastern Conference finals - the longest such streak since the Los Angeles Lakers' dominant run in the 1980s - and won the 2004 title without a player expected to be in the Hall of Fame.

Dumars said the Nuggets first contacted him Thursday with a proposal that included Iverson. Dumars, who had become concerned the Pistons were set in their ways, struck a deal at 1:45 Monday morning.

"It gives us a different way to attack people," Dumars said. "We have been extremely successful for a long time. But I also think what comes with that is a little bit of predictability."

Iverson may not be around for long - making $20.8 million in the final season of his contract - but The Answer might be what Detroit needs to return to the NBA finals for the first time since 2005.

The Pistons are hoping Iverson will play Wednesday at Toronto and barring injury, his home debut will be Sunday night against the Boston Celtics.

Detroit played Monday night at Charlotte, where the Bobcats are led by Larry Brown. The Hall of Fame coach helped Billups and the Pistons to the 2004 NBA title and guided the Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers to a spot in the finals in 2001.

"Trading Marilyn Monroe for Jane Russell. That's not bad," Brown said. "Joe knows what he's doing, and I'm happy Chauncey's going back to Denver and his family is there."

Iverson talked about the possibility of being traded during training camp and said the only negative would be uprooting his family again.

"But it doesn't bother me because basketball is basketball," Iverson said during camp. "It won't change my game because I only know one way to play and that's like every game is my last."

Iverson's agent, Leon Rose, told the AP he is not negotiating a contract extension with the Pistons for his client, who said during training camp he was looking forward to being a free agent for the first time in his career.

The addition of Billups might placate Nuggets fans who have watched the once free-spending franchise trade defensive standout Marcus Camby to the Los Angeles Clippers in the offseason and recently decline to extend Linas Kleiza's contract.

Billups is a Denver native, former Colorado star and former Nugget.

"We fortunately fall into a guy that's an All-Star caliber point guard," Denver coach George Karl said, after saying he was sad to see Iverson go. "The connection with Denver and Colorado is fun to be a part of and enthusiastic to our owners."

McDyess also will be enjoying a homecoming of sorts, landing on the Nuggets' roster for the third time.

The Pistons kept McDyess off the free-agent market last summer by giving him a $13.5 million, two-year extension, and they would love to have him back if the cost-cutting Nuggets buy out his contract.

"I'll be talking with Antonio and his representative directly," Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien said. "But we think he's a heck of a player and know he's a quality guy. One step at a time."

Detroit, which tried to deal for the 33-year-old Iverson at least once before, added the superstar it lacked and salary-cap space for next summer by shedding Billups' contract.

"In this league, six or seven years is an eternity to have a core together," Dumars said. "So when a situation like this presents itself where you can cover yourself on both sides - the immediate impact player and the long-term flexibility, you have to push the button."

Billups is in the second season of a four-year contract worth a guaranteed $46 million with a $14 million team option for a fifth year.

Iverson will take a spectacular resume into free agency in the summer.

The 20th-leading scorer in NBA history was the league MVP in 2001 - four years after being the Rookie of the Year - and is a nine-time All-Star.

Philadelphia drafted him No. 1 overall in 1996 out of Georgetown and he spent 11 1/2 seasons with the franchise. He was traded Dec. 19, 2006, to the Nuggets and helped them reach the playoffs twice.

"I want to thank A.I. Allen Iverson was a joy to coach," Karl said. "When we acquired him, there were all these nightmares and stories about how difficult he was, and he never was difficult for me."

Billups bounced around the league after Boston drafted him No. 3 overall in 1997. The 32-year-old found a home in Detroit and blossomed into a three-time All-Star, and two-time All-Defensive player. He was on rosters in Boston, Denver, Orlando and Minnesota in his first four seasons before leading the Pistons along with Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace.

"Every time I look out and don't see Ben (Wallace) there I get a strange feeling," Brown said. "Now not to see Chauncey and Dice, it's going to be different.

"But Allen is really special. If they want excitement in that building they're going to get it because every time he steps on the court he's going to try to win the game. And I don't think you would ever consider giving up Chauncey and Dice unless you were getting something you thought was pretty special."

Billups struggled in each of the past three conference finals as the Pistons were eliminated in Game 6 each year. He has averaged nearly 15 points and 5 1/2 assists for his career.

McDyess revived his career with the Pistons, playing 321 games over four seasons after serious knee operations. The former Olympian and All-Star has averaged 13.4 points and 7.7 rebounds for his career. Like Billups, the 34-year-old McDyess is one of the league's most popular players among peers.

Detroit acquired the 7-foot-1 Samb for Maurice Evans from the Lakers during the 2006 draft. The 24-year-old center played in just four NBA games last season, spending much of his year in the NBA Development League, where he led the league with four blocks a game.

"Two teams had one common problem, or challenge," Warkentien said. "I think the Pistons looked at (Rodney) Stuckey and saw him as the point guard of tomorrow, and you have an All-Star in Chauncey who was in his way.

"We're just thrilled with the way J.R. (Smith) is progressing and he had a Hall of Famer in front of him. You understand the motivation of both teams."

Mourners attend private Hudson family funeral

Mourners attend private Hudson family funeral

One of three caskets carrying the remains of the family of Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson is transported for funeral services at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, Monday, Nov. 3, 2008. Hudson's mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, brother Jason Hudson, and nephew Julian King were killed last week on the South Side of Chicago.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Hundreds of mourners attended a private funeral service for Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson's slain mother, brother and nephew Monday at a South Side church.

A composed Hudson paused before the bodies of her relatives before giving her mother a final kiss, said attendees of the invitation-only service.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and the Rev. Jesse Jackson were among those who spoke at the three-hour service for Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, Jason Hudson, 29, and Julian King, 7.

The three were found shot to death late last month, the adults in Donerson's home and Julian in a vehicle found several miles away. Julian is the son of Jennifer Hudson's older sister, Julia Hudson.

No one has been charged in the shootings, although authorities have called Julia Hudson's estranged husband, 27-year-old William Balfour, a "person of interest." He remains in custody on a parole violation.

During the service, "American Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino sang the gospel song "Your Grace and Mercy," and at one point left the stage to take Jennifer Hudson's hand and sing directly to her, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Small blue tickets that read "Hudson Family Funeral" were needed to enter the massive Apostolic Church of God, but that didn't deter crowds of onlookers who gathered outside.

Glover Lewis, who lives in the same South Side neighborhood as the Hudson family, attended the services and told the Tribune he was touched by the way Hudson bid her family members goodbye.

"Jennifer is the pillar," Lewis said. "It's obvious she's holding the family together."

Shenika Bowers, 35, of Chicago was one of several dozen people who stood outside the church in hopes of sharing sympathies with the singer-actress.

"She needs us right now," Bowers said of Hudson. "She needs support from everyone who she can get it from. I cannot imagine how she feels but I do feel for her."

Latosha Funches, 33, of Chicago, said she's been a Hudson fan since the singer was on "American Idol" and wanted to pass along her condolences.

"I have kids of my own too," said Funches, who pushed her 11-month-old son in a stroller. "I know how she feels. I just hope she can get through it. She looks like she's very strong."

Jennifer Hudson was a finalist in the 2004 season of "American Idol" and she won her Oscar in 2007 for her film debut, a supporting role in "Dreamgirls."

Monday's services followed a public memorial held Sunday at Pleasant Gift Memorial Baptist Church, where Hudson sang in her childhood.

The bodies of Donerson and Jason Hudson were discovered Oct. 24 at the family's home. Julian's body was found three days later in a sport utility vehicle on the city's West Side.

Police arrested Balfour the same day the bodies of Donerson and Hudson were discovered. After 48 hours - the longest Chicago police can hold a person without charges - Balfour was taken by the Illinois Department of Corrections on a parole violation.

Balfour had served seven years for a 1999 attempted murder and vehicular hijacking conviction.

His mother, Michelle Balfour, of Chicago, has denied that her son had anything to do with the deaths.

Obama's grandmother dies a day before election

Obama's grandmother dies a day before election

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. wipes a tear as he talks about his grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, at a rally in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Nov. 3, 2008. Obama's grandmother, who helped raise him, died peaceably in her sleep Obama announced Monday, one day before the election. She was 86.

HONOLULU (AP) -- Barack Obama's grandmother, whose personality and bearing shaped much of the life of the Democratic presidential contender, has died, Obama announced Monday, one day before the election. Madelyn Payne Dunham was 86.

Obama announced the news from the campaign trail in Charlotte, N.C. The joint statement with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng said Dunham died late Sunday night after a battle with cancer.

"She's gone home," Obama said as tens of thousands of rowdy supporters at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte grew silent in an evening drizzle.

"And she died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side. And so there is great joy as well as tears. I'm not going to talk about it too long because it is hard for me to talk about."

But he said he wanted people to know a little about her - that she lived through the Great Depression and World War II, working the latter on a bomber assembly line with a baby at home and a husband serving his country. He said she was humble and plain spoken, one of the "quiet heroes that we have all across America" working hard and hoping to see their children and grandchildren thrive.

"That's what we're fighting for," Obama said.

Obama learned of Dunham's death Monday morning while he was campaigning in Jacksonville, Fla. He went ahead with campaign appearances. The family said a private ceremony would be held later.

"So many of us were hoping and praying that his grandmother would have the opportunity to witness her grandson become our next president," said Hawaii state Rep. Marcus Oshiro, an Obama supporter. "What a bittersweet victory it will be for him. Wow."

Republican John McCain issued condolences to his opponent. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to them as they remember and celebrate the life of someone who had such a profound impact in their lives," the statement by John and Cindy McCain said.

Last month, Obama took a break from campaigning and flew to Hawaii to be with Dunham as her health declined.

Obama said the decision to go to Hawaii was easy to make, telling CBS that he "got there too late" when his mother died of ovarian cancer in 1995 at 53, and wanted to make sure "that I don't make the same mistake twice."

Outside the apartment building where Dunham died, reporters and TV cameras lined the sidewalk as two police officers were posted near the elevator. Signs hanging in the apartment lobby warned the public to keep out.

The Kansas-born Dunham and her husband, Stanley, raised their grandson for several years so he could attend school in Honolulu while their daughter and her second husband lived overseas. Her influence on Obama's manner and the way he viewed the world was substantial, the candidate himself told millions watching him accept his party's nomination in Denver in August.

"She's the one who taught me about hard work," he said. "She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me."

Michelle Obama's voice choked with emotion during a campaign appearance in Colorado as she asked people to remember the woman her husband called "Toot," a version of the Hawaiian word for grandmother, tutu.

"Say a prayer for Toot and thank her for raising Barack Obama. I think she did an amazing job," Obama told about 2,500 people at a suburban Denver high school gym.

Madelyn and Stanley Dunham married in 1940, a few weeks before she graduated from high school. Their daughter, Stanley Ann, was born in 1942. After several moves to and from California, Texas, Washington and Kansas, Stanley Dunham's job landed the family in Hawaii.

It was there that Stanley Ann later met and fell in love with Obama's father, a Kenyan named Barack Hussein Obama. They had met in Russian class at the University of Hawaii. Their son was born in August 1961, but the marriage didn't last long. She later married an Indonesian, Lolo Soetoro, another university student she met in Hawaii.

Obama moved to Indonesia with his mother and stepfather at age 6. But in 1971, her mother sent him back to Hawaii to live with her parents. He stayed with the Dunhams until he graduated from high school in 1979.

In his autobiography, Obama wrote fondly of playing basketball on a court below his grandparents' 10th-floor Honolulu apartment, and looking up to see his grandmother watching.

It was the same apartment Obama visited on annual holiday trips to Hawaii, a weeklong vacation from his campaign in August, and his pre-election visit in October. Family members said his grandmother could not travel because of her health.

Madelyn Dunham, who took university classes but to her chagrin never earned a degree, nonetheless rose from a secretarial job at the Bank of Hawaii to become one of the state's first female bank vice presidents.

"Every morning, she woke up at 5 a.m. and changed from the frowsy muumuus she wore around the apartment into a tailored suit and high-heeled pumps," Obama wrote.

After her health took a turn for the worse, her brother said on Oct. 21 that she had already lived long enough to see her "Barry" achieve what she'd wanted for him.

"I think she thinks she was important in raising a fine young man," Charles Payne, 83, said in a brief telephone interview from his Chicago home. "I doubt if it would occur to her that he would go this far this fast. But she's enjoyed watching it."

Stanley Dunham died in 1992, while Obama's mother died in 1995. His father is also deceased.

When Obama was young, he and his grandmother toured the United States by Greyhound bus, stopping at the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park, Disneyland and Chicago, where Obama would years later settle.

It was an incident during his teenage years that became one of Obama's most vivid memories of Toot. She had been aggressively panhandled by a man and she wanted her husband to take her to work. When Obama asked why, his grandfather said Madelyn Dunham was bothered because the panhandler was black.

The words hit the biracial Obama "like a fist in my stomach," he wrote later. He was sure his grandparents loved him deeply. "And yet," he added, "I knew that men who might easily have been my brothers could still inspire their rawest fears."

Obama referred to the incident again when he addressed race in a speech in March during a controversy over his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. "I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother," he said.

Dunham was "a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world but who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her on the street."

Still, much of who Obama is comes from his grandmother, said his half sister.

"From our grandmother, he gets his pragmatism, his levelheadedness, his ability to stay centered in the eye of the story," she told The Associated Press. "His sensible, no-nonsense (side) is inherited from her."

Madelyn Lee Payne was born to Rolla and Leona Payne in October 1922 in Peru, Kan., but lived much of her childhood in nearby Augusta.

She was the oldest of four children, and she loved to read everything from James Hilton's "Lost Horizon" to Agatha Christie's "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd."

Dunham and her husband were "vicious" bridge players, according to her brother Jack. After retirement, the two of them would take island cruises and do little but play bridge and a more difficult version called duplicate bridge.

Obama, McCain both promise change on election eve

Obama, McCain both promise change on election eve

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. reaches out to shake hands with supporters upon his arrival at an airport campaign rally in Indianapolis, Monday, Nov. 3, 2008.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Barack Obama radiated confidence and John McCain displayed the grit of an underdog Monday as the presidential rivals reached for the finish line of a two-year marathon with a burst of campaigning across battlegrounds from the Atlantic Coast to Arizona.

"We are one day away from change in America," said Obama, a Democrat seeking to become the first black president - a dream not nearly as distant on election eve as it once was.

McCain, too, promised to turn the page of the era of George W. Bush, and he warned about his opponent's intentions. "Sen. Obama is in the far left lane" of politics, he said. "He's more liberal than a guy who calls himself a Socialist and that's not easy."

Republican running mate Sarah Palin was even more pointed as she campaigned in Ohio. "Now is not the time to experiment with socialism," she said. "Our opponent's plan is just for bigger government."

Late-season attacks aside, Obama led in virtually all the pre-election polls in a race where economic concerns dominated and the war in Iraq was pushed - however temporarily - into the background.

While the overall number of early votes was unknown, statistics showed more than 29 million ballots cast in 30 states and suggested an advantage for Obama. Democrats voted in larger numbers than Republicans in North Carolina, Colorado, Florida and Iowa, all of which went for President Bush in 2004.

Democrats also anticipated gains in the House and in the Senate, although Republicans battled to hold their losses to a minimum and a significant number of races were rated as tossups in the campaign's final hours.

By their near-non-stop attention to states that voted Republican in 2004, both Obama and McCain acknowledged the Democrats' advantage in the presidential race.

The two rivals both began their days in Florida, a traditionally Republican state with 27 electoral votes where polls make it close.

Obama drew 9,000 or so at a rally in Jacksonville, while across the state, a crowd estimated at roughly 1,000 turned out for McCain.

The frontrunner also choked up on the campaign's final day as he told a crowd in North Carolina of the death of his grandmother from cancer. Madelyn Payne Dunham was 86.

"She died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side," he said of the woman who had played a large role in his upbringing. "And so there is great joy as well as tears. I'm not going to talk about it too long because it is hard for me to talk about."

McCain and his wife issued a statement of condolence.

One day before the election, no battleground state was left unattended.

But Virginia, where no Democrat has won in 40 years, and Ohio, where no Republican president has ever lost, seemed most coveted. Together, they account for 33 electoral votes that McCain can scarcely do without.

Democratic volunteers in Maryland, a state safe for Obama, called voters in next-door Virginia, where McCain trailed in the polls. The Democratic presidential candidate's visit to Virginia during the day was his 11th since he clinched the nomination.

Unwilling to concede anything, McCain's campaign filed a lawsuit in Richmond seeking to force election officials to count late-arriving ballots from members of the armed forces overseas. No hearing was immediately scheduled.

Several hundred miles away in Ohio - the state that sealed Bush's second term in 2004 - voters waited as long as three hours in line to cast ballots in Columbus, part of heavily contested Franklin County. Poll workers handed out bottles of water to sustain them.

Lori Huffman, 38, a supervisor at UPS Inc., took the day off to vote early for her man, McCain. "It's exciting isn't it?" she asked, gesturing toward the long line of waiting voters.

"This is happening all over the state, from Cleveland to Dayton," said Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat trying to deliver his state to Obama.

Obama hoped so, after more than a year building an elaborate get-out-the-vote operation, first for the primary campaign, now for the general election.

The Democrat flew from Florida to North Carolina to Virginia, all states that went Republican in 2004, before heading home to Chicago on Election Eve.

Twenty-one months after he launched his campaign, he allowed, "You know. I feel pretty peaceful ... I gotta say."

On a syndicated radio program, the Russ Parr Morning Show, he said, "The question is going to be who wants it more," he added. "And I hope that our supporters want it bad, because I think the country needs it."

If wanting it were all that mattered, the race would be a toss-up.

McCain, behind in the polls, set out on a grueling run through several traditionally Republican states that he has failed to secure. Florida, Virginia, Indiana, New Mexico and Nevada were on his itinerary, as was Pennsylvania, the only state that voted Democratic in 2004 where he still nursed hopes. His last appearance of the long day, past midnight, was a home state rally in Prescott, Ariz. Obama has been running television commercials in Arizona in the campaign's final days.

The surrogate campaigners included Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democrats and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republicans. Both lost races for their party's presidential nomination earlier in the year, and both could be expected to try again if their ticket loses the White House.

Not so, President Bush.

Deeply unpopular, the man who won the White House twice was out of public view, an effort to help McCain.

Palin was racing through five Bush states Monday - Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada - in an effort to boost conservative turnout for McCain. The Alaska governor has been a popular draw for many GOP base voters, and already, there was speculation about a future national campaign should Republicans lose in 2008.

Joe Biden, Obama's running mate, campaigned in Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania. "We are on the cusp of a new brand of leadership," he assured supporters.

Biden didn't say so, but he was as close to guaranteed a victory as any politician in America. Whatever the fate of the Democratic presidential ticket, he was heavily favored to win a new Senate term from Delaware on Tuesday.

Media Judge Maureen Fitzpatrick; Media Judge Barry C. Dozor; Phila. Activist Darryl T. Nutter Sr.; PA Activist Van Stone; BOYCOTT; PRESS RELEASE

Media Judge Maureen Fitzpatrick; Media Judge Barry C. Dozor; Phila. Activist Darryl T. Nutter Sr.; Penna. Activist Van Stone; BOYCOTT; PRESS RELEASE



Darryl T. Nutter Sr., Philadelphia Activist,
Cousin of Michael Nutter, Mayor of Philadelphia

BOYCOTT
by Van Stone

Greetings All, I am contacting you to request your IMMEDIATE participation of a BOYCOTT of Delaware County Daily Times Newspaper located at 500 Mildred Ave., Primos PA 19018, -serving Delaware County, Pa and Media Delaware County Courthouse located at 201 West Front Street Media, PA 19063 until further notice.

Delco County Daily Times and Media Delaware County Courthouse Common Pleas Judges to be named, such as Judge Maureen Fitzpatrick, Judge Barry C. Dozor, Judge Michael F.X. Coll, amongst others have been identified as supporting non-reporting of Judge Abusing Power toward our Pennsylvania community without admitting error, misconduct. And the Delco Daily Times and Media Delaware County Common Pleas Judges refuse to report alleged cover-up through Court Protection From Abuse filings, alimony, divorce complaint stipulations and decrees, custody, special relief, equitable distribution and processing continuances.

(For example: Judge M. Fitzpatrick's and Judge Barry C. Dozor ‘most recent recuse and errors’ from Filing Civil Matter case no DOWNING v. STONE DOWNING 03-6372 EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION and MARCIA BROWN -DOWNING v. SAMUEL STONE DOWNING 03-7727 PROTECTION FROM ABUSE. And BROWN-DOWNING v. STONE DOWNING 03-7727 MD 48-04 10/7/04 and [Judge Dozor] STONE DOWNING v. BROWN-DOWNING 03-06372 CUSTODY)

The Van Stone family has been victims of extreme judge arrogance using the power of the court to make efforts to falsely imprison Van Stone and other Pennsylvanians, operate a seize family property scam, operate false restriction Orders where Black Males movements in PA are limited, operate false restriction Orders where Black Males and White Males and Poor Women Parental Rights (and children) are taken from them for the childrens life span.

It is of uttermost importance for us and generations to come that The Thoughts of Black Men Community, Philadelphia, PA Community, Delaware County Community, and Pennsylvania Community come together at this time and command the attention of those newspapers and Judges in our community that take without truly reporting! WE MUST BOYCOTT Delco Daily Times until its owner communicates in writing a detailed, realistic news of action to diversify its business meaningfully into our community and support news which have an agenda that empowers our community! And also WE MUST BOYCOTT Common Pleas Judges M. Fitzpatrick, B. Dozor, amongst others until their board of Judges communicates in writing a detailed, realistic court report which have an agenda that empowers our community!

During this boycott, you are asked to call, send emails, and/ or talk to at least three people and main stream local newspapers DAILY requesting their FULL participation of the boycott! And you are asked to send this email out to local and online press as an Official PRESS RELEASE.

You are also asked to call, send emails, and talk to the Delco Daily Times and the Media Delaware County Courthouse Family Law demanding that Judges M. Fitzpatrick and B. Dozor be restricted from sitting on the bench in any Family Law Civil matters until an full investigation is completed by the Judicial Conduct Board; the Media Common Pleas Court Board President; the Members of TBM Community; and other authority involved in Civil Rights and Domestic Abuse Relations matters.

To voice your concern about alleged Media Delaware County Courthouse Judge Misconduct; Judge Abuse of Power; Judge Corruption; Judge Bias; Judge Racism Toward Black Males and their own children; Judge Failure In The War Against Drugs; Judges Imprisonment of Non-Violent Cases On The Rise In Black Community & Poor Class –

Please call Delco Daily Times Editor Phil Heron to complain about his refusal to report any fair stories and facts about Judge M. Fitzpatrick recent recuse from the Van Stone Downing case. Main Switchboard number: 610-622-8800.

Please email Delco Daily Times Editor Phil Heron: editor@delcotimes.com

Please call Media Delaware County Family Law Administrator - Denise Hansen to complain about his refusal to report any fair stories and facts about Judge M. Fitzpatrick recent recuse from the Van Stone Downing case.

Main Switchboard number: 610-891-4550

Custody 610-891.4552
Divorce 610-891.4563
Equitable Distribution 610-891.4989
Protection From Abuse 610-891.4554 For more information regarding PFA's.
Special Relief 610-891.4564

Below is an example of an email or phone call to either the Delco Daily Times and/or the Media Delaware County Courthouse:

I am Darryl T. Nutter Sr. cousin of Philadelphia Mayor, Michael A. Nutter, and an investigative reporter for www.scoopusanewspaper.com and www.frontpagenews.us.

Currently, I am on the trail of a possible misconduct case involving Judge Maureen Fitzpatrick of the Media Delaware County Courthouse of Common Pleas. This case involves property scams, and the improper filing of a Stay Away Order or Protection From Abuse order. I find it difficult to believe that this story has not been picked by or investigated by any mainstream newspapers up until now. The DelCo Times is now interested in this story and it’s a good one. I am doing my own investigation and wanted to see if we could talk about what you know about this issue.

Please direct suggestions of how to enhance the BOYCOTT to Van Stone at: frontpagenews1@yahoo.com Subject: BOYCOTT

Respectfully, Van Stone COMMITTED ADVOCATE OF THE TBM and PENNSYLVANIA COMMUNITY

Media Judge Maureen Fitzpatrick; Media Judge Barry C. Dozor; Phila. Activist Darryl T. Nutter Sr.; Penna. Activist Van Stone; BOYCOTT PRESS RELEASE

Media Judge Maureen Fitzpatrick; Media Judge Barry C. Dozor; Phila. Activist Darryl T. Nutter Sr.; Penna. Activist Van Stone; BOYCOTT PRESS RELEASE

BOYCOTT
by Van Stone

Greetings All, I am contacting you to request your IMMEDIATE participation of a BOYCOTT

Delco County Daily Times and Media Delaware County Courthouse Common Pleas Judges to be named, such as Judge Maureen Fitzpatrick, Judge Barry C. Dozor, Judge Michael F.X. Coll, amongst others have been identified as supporting non-reporting of Judge Abusing Power toward our Pennsylvania community without admitting error, misconduct. And the Delco Daily Times and Media Delaware County Common Pleas Judges refuse to report alleged cover-up through Court Protection From Abuse filings, alimony, divorce complaint stipulations and decrees, custody, special relief, equitable distribution and processing continuances.

(For example: Judge M. Fitzpatrick's and Judge Barry C. Dozor ‘most recent recuse and errors’ from Filing Civil Matter case no DOWNING v. STONE DOWNING 03-6372 EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION and MARCIA BROWN -DOWNING v. SAMUEL STONE DOWNING 03-7727 PROTECTION FROM ABUSE. And BROWN-DOWNING v. STONE DOWNING 03-7727 MD 48-04 10/7/04 and [Judge Dozor] STONE DOWNING v. BROWN-DOWNING 03-06372 CUSTODY)

The Van Stone family has been victims of extreme judge arrogance using the power of the court to make efforts to falsely imprison Van Stone and other Pennsylvanians, operate a seize family property scam, operate false restriction Orders where Black Males movements in PA are limited, operate false restriction Orders where Black Males and White Males and Poor Women Parental Rights (and children) are taken from them for the childrens life span.

It is of uttermost importance for us and generations to come that The Thoughts of Black Men Community, Philadelphia, PA Community, Delaware County Community, and Pennsylvania Community come together at this time and command the attention of those newspapers and Judges in our community that take without truly reporting! WE MUST BOYCOTT Delco Daily Times until its owner communicates in writing a detailed, realistic news of action to diversify its business meaningfully into our community and support news which have an agenda that empowers our community! And also WE MUST BOYCOTT Common Pleas Judges M. Fitzpatrick, B. Dozor, amongst others until their board of Judges communicates in writing a detailed, realistic court report which have an agenda that empowers our community!

During this boycott, you are asked to call, send emails, and/ or talk to at least three people and main stream local newspapers DAILY requesting their FULL participation of the boycott! And you are asked to send this email out to local and online press as an Official PRESS RELEASE.

You are also asked to call, send emails, and talk to the Delco Daily Times and the Media Delaware County Courthouse Family Law demanding that Judges M. Fitzpatrick and B. Dozor be restricted from sitting on the bench in any Family Law Civil matters until an full investigation is completed by the Judicial Conduct Board; the Media Common Pleas Court Board President; the Members of TBM Community; and other authority involved in Civil Rights and Domestic Abuse Relations matters.

To voice your concern about alleged Media Delaware County Courthouse Judge Misconduct; Judge Abuse of Power; Judge Corruption; Judge Bias; Judge Racism Toward Black Males and their own children; Judge Failure In The War Against Drugs; Judges Imprisonment of Non-Violent Cases On The Rise In Black Community & Poor Class –

Please call Delco Daily Times Editor Phil Heron to complain about his refusal to report any fair stories and facts about Judge M. Fitzpatrick recent recuse from the Van Stone Downing case. Main Switchboard number: 610-622-8800.

Please email Delco Daily Times Editor Phil Heron: editor@delcotimes.com

Please call Media Delaware County Family Law Administrator - Denise Hansen to complain about his refusal to report any fair stories and facts about Judge M. Fitzpatrick recent recuse from the Van Stone Downing case.

Main Switchboard number: 610-891-4550

Custody 610-891.4552
Divorce 610-891.4563
Equitable Distribution 610-891.4989
Protection From Abuse 610-891.4554 For more information regarding PFA's.
Special Relief 610-891.4564

Below is an example of an email or phone call to either the Delco Daily Times and/or the Media Delaware County Courthouse:

I am Darryl T. Nutter Sr. cousin of Philadelphia Mayor, Michael A.Nutter, and an investigative reporter for www.scoopusanewspaper.com and www.frontpagenews.us.

Currently, I am on the trail of a possible misconduct case involving Judge Maureen Fitzpatrick of the Media Delaware County Courthouse of Common Pleas. This case involves property scams, and the improper filing of a Stay Away Order or Protection From Abuse order. I find it difficult to believe that this story has not been picked by or investigated by any mainstream newspapers up until now. The DelCo Times is now interested in this story and it’s a good one. I am doing my own investigation and wanted to see if we could talk about what you know about this issue.
Please direct suggestions of how to enhance the BOYCOTT to Van Stone at: frontpagenews1@yahoo.com Subject: BOYCOTT

Respectfully, Van Stone COMMITTED ADVOCATE OF THE TBM and PENNSYLVANIA COMMUNITY
of Delaware County Daily Times Newspaper located at 500 Mildred Ave., Primos PA 19018, -serving Delaware County, Pa and Media Delaware County Courthouse located at 201 West Front Street Media, PA 19063 until further notice.

Boondocks at Phila. Front Page News

Boondocks at Phila. Front Page News

Daylight Saving Time Ends 2am Sunday: ''Fall Back''

Daylight Saving Time Ends 2am Sunday: ''Fall Back''


Daylight Saving Time ends this Sunday at 2am, according to federal law.

At that time, clocks should be rolled back one hour ("Spring Forward, Fall Back") to 1am.

This will cause us to see a little more daylight, a little earlier, in the mornings, and darkness to fall earlier in the evenings.

For fulls story go to: http://www.kyw1060.com/

Judge orders White House to produce wiretap memos

Judge orders White House to produce wiretap memos

President Bush listens to a speech during a graduation ceremony for FBI Special Agents in Quantico, Va., in this Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008, file photo. A judge has ordered the Justice Department to produce White House memos that provide the legal basis for the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 warrantless wiretapping program

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A judge has ordered the Justice Department to produce White House memos that provide the legal basis for the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 warrantless wiretapping program.

U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy Jr. signed an order Friday requiring the department to produce the memos by the White House legal counsel's office by Nov. 17. He said he will review the memos in private to determine if any information can be released publicly without violating attorney-client privilege or jeopardizing national security.

Kennedy issued his order in response to lawsuits by civil liberties groups in 2005 after news reports disclosed the wiretapping.

The department had argued that the memos were protected attorney-client communications and contain classified information.

But Kennedy said that the attorney-client argument was "too vague" and that he would have to look at the documents himself to determine if that argument is valid and also to see if there is information that can be released without endangering national security.

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said Saturday the department is reviewing the opinion and will "respond appropriately in court."

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush authorized the National Security Agency to spy on calls between people in the U.S. and suspected terrorists abroad without obtaining court warrants. The administration said it needed to act more quickly than the court could and that the president had inherent authority under the Constitution to order warrantless domestic spying.

After the program was challenged in court, Bush last year put it under the supervision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, established in 1978 after the domestic spying scandals of the 1970s.

"We think just as a common sense matter the legal theories for the president's wiretap programs cannot be classified and should be available to the public," said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, one of the groups seeking the memos.

"It's an important decision because up to this point the judge has relied on the government's assertion that it has done everything properly under the law and that it has disclosed everything it needs to disclose," Rotenberg said Saturday.

Obama takes campaign battle to GOP territory

Obama takes campaign battle to GOP territory

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves at a rally with his wife Michelle Obama and daughters Malia Obama, 10, and Sasha Obama 7, in Pueblo, Colo. Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In the final weekend of a long race for the White House, Barack Obama promised to heal America's political divisions while rival John McCain fought to hold on to Republican-leaning states and pledged to score an upset.

For Obama, buoyed by record campaign donations and encouraging poll numbers, it was a time for soaring rhetoric and forays into Republican territory. "We have a righteous wind at our back," the Democrat said Saturday.

McCain saw the weekend as a final opportunity to persuade voters to prove the polls and pundits wrong and sweep him into office.

"We're a few points down but we're coming back," he told supporters in Virginia.

Obama campaigned Saturday in Nevada, Colorado and Missouri, all states that voted for President Bush four years ago, while McCain struggled to keep Virginia from voting for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1964.

McCain also made a quick sidetrip to New York City and an appearance on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" where he joked about his campaign and his latest plan to win over voters.

"I thought I might try a strategy called the reverse maverick. That's where I'd do whatever anybody tells me," McCain said. If that failed, he quipped, "I'd go to the double maverick. I'd just go totally berserk and freak everybody out."

Both men appealed to supporters to turn out on Election Day, saying the stakes could scarcely be higher.

"If you give me your vote on Tuesday, we won't just win this election - together, we will change this country and change the world," Obama said in a nationwide Democratic radio address.

Vice President Dick Cheney endorsed McCain, saying Americans "cannot afford the high tax liberalism of Barack Obama and Joe Biden."

Obama, campaigning in Colorado, pounced on the remark, saying McCain had earned the endorsement through supporting the Bush administration's failed social and economic policies.

Early Sunday, Obama's campaign released a new 30-second television spot highlighting the unpopular vice president's endorsement of McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

An announcer says McCain earned Cheney's support by voting with the White House 90 percent of the time. "That's not the change we need," the announcer says.

An Associated Press-Yahoo News national poll of likely voters showed Obama ahead, 51 to 43, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. McCain's campaign says its internal polling shows the gap closing.

Cautious joy as blacks imagine Obama win

Cautious joy as blacks imagine Obama win

In this Oct. 28, 2008 file photo, a supporter holds a sign for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., at a rally in Chester, Pa.

Lula Cooper expects the tears to flow if Barack Obama becomes the first black president. But she's not breaking out the tissues just yet.

"I cried when I marked my ballot for him. We've had such an incredible journey to this point," said the former civil rights activist, her voice quavering. "I think he's going to win, but I really am very, very cautious."

Like a Hollywood blockbuster whose conclusion feels assured but still sets the heart racing, the endgame of this election has gripped black America with a powerful mixture of emotions.

Obama's potential victory represents a previously unimaginable triumph over centuries of racism. But beneath the hope and pride lies fear: of polling inaccuracy, voting chicanery, or the type of injustice and violence that have historically stymied African-American progress.

Cooper, 75, experienced the oppression of the 1950s and '60s as she was dragged off to jail for protesting segregation in Wilmington, Del., where her husband was DuPont's first black chemist. Now living in the Southwest, she said she experienced modern politics when her husband lost a recent bid to become their city's first black mayor after the election was switched to mail-in ballots rather that polling-place voting.

So when it comes to Obama, Cooper is "optimistic and hopeful - but experience plays a big part."

"With my generation, in the '60s every leader that we had was killed," she said. "Then it's almost like a plate over your heart. Once you've been hurt - King, Kennedy, Medgar Evers - you dare not put that much emotion out there again."

With even some Republicans using the word "miracle" to characterize the prospect of a victory by GOP candidate John McCain, given his lagging poll numbers, the shock of an Obama loss would be almost incalculable for many blacks. So people are protecting themselves.

"I can't tell you how much fear, but at the same time joy and expectation I have," said James Lowry, a management consultant from Chicago. "It revolves around every five minutes. I have hope, I read the polls, I get excited, then I say, 'Anything can happen.'"

Michael Cornwell, a surgeon from Atlanta, checks poll numbers daily online and fully expects Obama to win. Still, "you can't shake the tension," he said.

"We're expecting something to come out, some closing of the polls," Cornwell said on Thursday. "I see these Republican-driven articles saying the polls are tightening. Are they correct, or are they just a combination of Republicans wanting to make it look good and the media wanting it to be a tight race so more of the population will be engaged or buying copy?"

Paul Durr of Guys, Tenn., voted early last week. "I was jumping up and down," he said. "The other people in line thought I was crazy."

"If Obama wins, and I know he's going to win, it will pull this country together in terms of race relations," said Durr, who owns a cemetery monument company and is mayor of Guys, pop. 500.

"He has to win," Durr said. "If he doesn't, I think you'll see this country - I'm afraid to say what I think would happen the next day. I don't even want to think that way."

Even if the polls do prove accurate and Obama does win, some of his enthusiastic supporters still have concerns about what lies beyond the mountaintop.

"The empire is in decline, the culture is in decay, the democracy is in trouble, financial markets near collapse," said Princeton professor Cornel West. "It's almost Biblical. And you can imagine what the black brothers and sisters in the barbershops and beauty salons say: 'Right when the thing is about to go under, they hand it over to the black man.'"

"If people think Obama being elected is the crescendo, they'll be disappointed," said talk show host Tavis Smiley. "That's when the real work begins."

"I'm not sure people have considered, in the euphoria and jubilation and excitement, the fishbowl Obama will be in," Smiley said. "How everything he does for black people, he runs the risk of being accused of being tribal."

That sentiment is not lost on Leomia Dyches, a sometimes-employed hospital worker and single mother from Philadelphia with one son at home, an older son locked up, and several grandchildren to help look after.

"I think it's great, but I'm not looking for no miracle anytime soon," she said. "Hopes are really raised too high now because they're looking for a quick fix, and that's not going to happen."

Then something wells up inside her. "But I know while he's in office, before he leaves he can put some good things in place for poor people."

"My 16-year-old son, he sees hope," she continued. "A lot of these kids have no hope, it's day in, day out, same thing. They can't look forward to anything different. But a lot of these kids are excited. I have a 6-year-old grandson, and that's all he talks about, 'Obama, vote for Obama, don't vote for John McCain.' My 4-year-old granddaughter told me last night, 'Not John McCain.'

"It's always been said that you can do anything, but now we can see it. My parents have always said it, but it was like, 'Yeah, right.' But now it's here and it's facing you and it can be done. It can be done. These kids have to know, whatever they have in mind for their future, it can be done."

A campaign for the ages, tilting toward Democrats

A campaign for the ages, tilting toward Democrats

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a rally in Henderson, Nev., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Counting down to Election Day, Barack Obama appears within reach of becoming the nation's first black president as the epic campaign draws to a close against a backdrop of economic crisis and lingering war. John McCain, the battle-scarred warrior, holds out hope for a Truman-beats-Dewey-style upset.

Whoever wins, the country's 44th president will immediately confront some of the most difficult economic challenges since the Great Depression.

In that effort, he'll almost surely be working with a stronger Democratic majority in Congress, as well as among governors and state legislatures nationwide. GOP incumbents at every level are endangered just eight years after President Bush's election ignited talk of lasting Republican Party dominance.

It's been an extraordinary campaign of shattered records, ceilings and assumptions. Indeed, a race for the ages.

Democrat Obama has exuded confidence in the campaign's final days, reaching for a triumph of landslide proportions.

"The die is being cast as we speak," says campaign manager David Plouffe.

Undeterred, Republican McCain vows to fight on, bidding for an upset reminiscent of Democrat Harry S. Truman's stunning defeat of Thomas E. Dewey in 1948.

Looking back only to early this year, campaign manager Rick Davis says, "We are witnessing perhaps, I believe, one of the greatest comebacks since John McCain won the primary."

The odds for Republicans in 2008 have been long from the start: Voters often thwart the party that's been in power for two terms. And this year, larger factors are working against the GOP: the war in Iraq, now in its sixth year, and the crisis on Wall Street and in the larger economy. Voters deeply distrust government and crave a new direction.

Republicans are girding for widespread losses.

"It's a fairly toxic atmosphere out there," said Nevada Sen. John Ensign, chairman of the Senate GOP's campaign effort. Added his House counterpart, Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole: "We haven't caught very many breaks."

Democrats are looking ahead to expanded power.

"Things are looking very good," said Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the head of the House Democrats' campaign committee. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Senate Democrats' effort, predicted: "We're going to pick up a large number of seats and that's going to make Democrats very happy."

The Democrats are reaching for a 60-vote Senate majority that would allow the party to overcome Republican filibusters, and could pick up two dozen or more House seats. Democrats also hope to pad their slim majority of governorships and increase their ranks in what already is their strongest majority in state legislatures in more than a decade.

The implications are far-reaching: Governors and state legislators elected Tuesday to four-year terms will help preside over the redrawing of legislative and congressional districts following the 2010 Census. The party in charge can redraw districts in its favor.

Atop the ticket, Obama leads in national and key battleground state polling, though the race appears to be tightening as it plays out primarily in states that Bush won twice. Among the unknowns: the choices of one in seven likely voters who are undecided or could still change their minds; the impact of Obama's efforts to register and woo new voters, particularly blacks and young people; the effect of Obama's race on voters just four decades after the tumult of the Civil Rights movement.

"Right now, it's very clearly Obama's to lose, and I think his chances of doing so are pretty minimal," said Republican Dick Armey, the former House majority leader from Texas. He said the possibility of a McCain comeback is "getting down to slim-to-none."

An Obama victory would amount to a wholesale rejection of the status quo: voters taking a chance on a relative newcomer to the national stage, a 47-year-old first-term senator from Chicago, rather than stick with a seasoned veteran of the party in power. With strengthened Democratic majorities in Congress, he'd have to deal with the party's left flank while governing a country that's more conservative than liberal.

The Republican Party essentially would be in tatters, searching for both a leader and an identity.

An Obama loss - or McCain comeback - would be a crushing disappointment for Democrats in a year tailor-made for the party. It would suggest McCain's experience trumped Obama's clarion call for change, and raise troubling questions about white Americans' willingness to vote for a black man.

Blacks, in particular, might be furious and deeply suspicious of an almost sure thing that slipped away.

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THE PRESIDENCY:

Tuesday's election caps a nearly two-year campaign unprecedented in many ways, merely unusual in others.

"The candidates are more interesting. The media is bigger. The technology is better. Participation has increased dramatically," said Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic senator from Nebraska who once aspired to the presidency himself. "This is the first global campaign that the United States has had. People will always remember this as an extremely important election."

From the start, the race was different: It was the first since 1928 in which neither a president nor a vice president competed.

The Democratic primary was excruciatingly long, with historic and improbable characters: Obama, a black upstart Illinois senator, against a former first lady turned New York senator, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

McCain, at 72 once the GOP's most vocal scold, early on was the favorite for the Republican nomination. His campaign all but imploded, then he came back to overcome multiple opponents and win the party's nomination. He chose the first woman for the national GOP ticket, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Racism, sexism and ageism all colored the campaign, to varying degrees.

Interest appeared exceptionally high across the globe, particularly in Obama. More than 200,000 people turned out to attend an Obama speech in Berlin when he made a trip abroad to bolster his foreign policy credentials. His U.S. crowds also were gargantuan; 75,000 in Portland, Ore., before he was the nominee, more than 100,000 in Denver just a week before the general election.

An estimated 42.4 million people tuned in to watch Obama and McCain accept their parties' nominations.

More voters were projected to cast ballots before Election Day than ever before; Democrats outnumbered Republicans in the early voting in key states.

Fundraising and spending were off the charts, too.

McCain and Obama amassed $1 billion combined over the course of their candidacies.

Obama reversed a previous pledge to stay in the public financing system for the general election if his opponent did. Thus, he became the first to reject taxpayer money, raising $641 million from a breathtaking 3.2 million donors. That dealt what's almost certain to be a fatal blow to the post-Watergate-era system for presidential campaigns. McCain, for his part, collected more than $250 million in contributions, and accepted $84 million in public funds.

Obama took the next step after Howard Dean's embrace of the Internet in 2004, creating a remarkable cyber-networking tool that brought in legions of new voters.

He expanded the Electoral College playing field by pouring advertising and manpower into Republican bastions like Indiana and North Carolina.

Beyond any previous year, the Internet amplified the feeding frenzy nature of the media and gave campaigns new tools, including YouTube videos, partisan and nonpartisan blogs, and social networking sites like Facebook.

Both campaigns also got burned and, as a result, curtailed the candidates' non-scripted interactions with reporters. Authenticity and spontaneity were sacrificed.

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THE SENATE:

No matter how the presidential race plays out, Democrats are poised for gains in the 100-seat Senate. They currently have the barest of majorities - 51 seats under their control, including two occupied by independents. Several pickups are likely, even if Democrats fall short of getting the magic 60 needed to stop filibusters.

Democrats are overwhelmingly favored to pick up GOP-held seats in Virginia, New Mexico and Colorado, where Republicans are retiring. And many Republican incumbents running for re-election are in difficult races, including Ted Stevens of Alaska, convicted this past week on seven corruption counts.

No Democratic seats appear in jeopardy.

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THE HOUSE:

Democrats, with a 235-199 majority and one vacancy, are expected to add at least 20 seats. They hope Obama's coattails give them a 35-seat gain or more. It would be the first time in more than 50 years that a party saw large waves of victories that boosted their congressional margins in back-to-back elections. All 435 seats are up for election.

Many Republican incumbents are endangered, and open GOP seats are at risk in Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and two each in New Mexico and New York.

Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney of Florida, under investigation after admitting to adulterous affairs, is in trouble, and Democratic Rep. John P. Murtha is in a fight after calling voters in his Pennsylvania district "racist."

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GOVERNORS:

Chief executives in 11 states are on the ballot. Democrats hope to boost their 28-22 majority.

The GOP's best chances for gains are in Washington and North Carolina.

Washington's Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire and GOP challenger Dino Rossi are in a repeat battle of 2004, when Gregoire won by 133 votes after two recounts and a lawsuit. In North Carolina, Republican Pat McCrory, the Charlotte mayor, is in a dead heat with Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Mike Easley.

Democrats expect to gain a seat in Missouri, where Attorney General Jay Nixon leads GOP Rep. Kenny Hulshof. Republican Gov. Matt Blunt is leaving office.

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STATE LEGISLATURES:

Voters also will choose 5,824 lawmakers across 44 states.

With their strongest majority in more than a decade, Democrats hold nearly 55 percent of all legislative seats and control the legislatures in 23 states; Republicans dominate in 14 states. Twelve states are split, and Nebraska is nonpartisan.

The election could determine the control of legislatures in several states. The biggest prize may be New York, where Democrats are two seats from taking the Senate majority. They already control the House and the governorship.

Pennsylvania Republicans need a one-seat gain to take back the House, while Indiana Republicans need two. In Nevada, Democrats are one seat away from a Senate majority.

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BALLOT MEASURES:

Some 153 initiatives are on the ballots in 36 states.

Voters will weigh constitutional amendments that would ban same-sex marriage in California, Florida and Arizona.

An amendment in South Dakota would ban abortion except in cases of rape, incest and a serious health threat to the mother; another in Colorado would define human life as beginning at fertilization.

Initiatives in Colorado and Nebraska would ban race- and gender-based affirmative action. Washington voters will decide whether to offer terminally ill people the option of physician-assisted suicide.

A North Dakota initiative would cut the state income tax rate by 50 percent for individuals and 15 percent for corporations. A measure in Massachusetts would repeal the income tax altogether.