WHITESBURG, Ky., May 18 (UPI) - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain leads Democratic hopeful Barack Obama among rural voters in battleground states, a poll indicates.
The poll released Sunday by the Center for Rural Strategies indicates McCain leads Obama by nine points among likely voters in rural parts of 13 swing states.
ral Arts Center in Denver on May 2, 2008. Sen. McCain concludes his "Call to Action Tour" with his Denver campaign stop. (UPI Photo/Gary C. Caskey)

Heading into the Democrats' latest round of primary voting, Barack Obama is bidding to seal the deal against Hillary Clinton and unite the party for its larger battle to come against John McCain.
Senator Obama campaigned in Oregon overnight while the former first lady was set for a rally in Kentucky ahead of the two states' nominating contests on Tuesday (US time), when the Illinois senator could clinch a majority of elected delegates.
Aronchick said.

Somewhere today George Bush and John McCain are wandering around like two punch-drunk fighters, trying to explain to their dwindling entourages how they got KOed in this week's big fight. "I t'ought I had 'im on the ropes wit' my big 'Appeasement' Punch!" "He shoulda been a sucka for the ol' 'Naive' One-Two!"
Barack Obama, that wily counterpuncher, just shook up their world with a dazzling combination.
e -- and who trusts the intelligence of the American people enough to do so.

GRESHAM, OR - McCain will be getting his fair share of scrutiny from the press, his potential general-election rival Obama said here today.
During an event with mostly senior citizens, Obama was asked why the presumptive Republican nominee had not had to deal with much media scrutiny on issues like the Keating Five scandal. The voter felt the Illinois senatorâs past had gotten all the focus. Obama said he thought part of the reason was that McCainâs candidacy had been written off several months ago, but that he had been able to come back and wrap up the nomination relatively early in the primary season, and that much of the focus had been on the exciting Democratic race.
ing

The Democratic contender, speaking to retirees in Oregon, continues to essentially ignore rival Clinton. The state holds its primary Tuesday.
By Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
ing away."

By Matthew Mosk GRESHAM, Ore. - Sen. Barack Obama came to a senior citizens center here to discuss the squeeze faced by middle-class retirees and reiterate his longstanding proposal to eliminate income taxes for any senior making less than $50,000 per year.
The proposal came as the Illinois senator continued to focus his intentions not on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival in a Democratic primary contest in Oregon Tuesday, but instead on Republican Sen. John McCain.
ernoon, saying "Barack Obama's response to our slowing economy is to raise taxes on job creating investment. His response to high gas prices is to raise taxes on oil."

ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., offered up a criticism of the press' coverage of John McCain's presidential campaign,

WASHINGTON - There's nothing quite like a happy ending - or at least what seems to pass for one.
Maybe that's why so many Democrats want to see a Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton ticket this fall.
mer governor of New York, and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

John McCain's military experience and Senate record show a presidential candidate who values integrity and getting things done.
By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
o the torture and extended isolation he was subjected to in North Vietnam?

Jeff Chiu, AP A Minnesota poll shows that Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., trails either Democrat in head-to-head matchups in the state.

by FOXNews.com John McCain is working on getting the message out that he is a distinct person with his own mind and own vote, and not a carbon copy of

PRINCETON, NJ - Gallup Poll Daily tracking of national Democratic voters from May 15-17 finds Barack Obama with an 11 percentage point lead over Hillary Clinton, 52% to 41%.
Obama's current advantage matches the high-water mark for national Democratic support for his candidacy, previously attained in Gallup Poll Daily tracking from April 12-14. (To view the complete trend since Jan. 3, 2008, click here.)
words between Obama and John McCain over aspects of the Bush administration's foreign policy.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Making up for lost time, Barack Obama is dashing full-tilt into the general-election fight against Republican John McCain without waiting for the Democratic marathon to end.
He's running down McCain more often than the woman he's nominally still fighting for his own party's nomination. And he's running after white working-class voters, independents, Hispanics, Catholics and Jews — voting blocs that will be important in the November election and with whom he's had mixed successes.
nd not be prepared," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. Offering a campaign line Obama is already using, he said, "By November, every voter will know that McCain is offering a third Bush term."

By David Nitkin | Sun reporter On economic issues, Sen. Barack Obama has deflated his soaring rhetoric as he moves closer to the Democratic nomination.

'They're trying to scare you and trying to keep you from seeing the truth,' Obama says at a South Dakota forum, adding that both Republicans 'have a lot to