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News from the campaign trail
Here's a list of today's news/ events from the presidential campaign trail, courtesy of the AP:
Today on the Presidential Campaign Trail
By The Associated Press – 1 hour ago
IN THE HEADLINES
State Department says passport files of 3 candidates breached ... N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson, the only Hispanic governor, backs Obama for president ... McCain meets France's Sarkozy, comments on China and Tibet ... Federal appeals court dismisses Florida primary challenge ... Obama outspends and outraises Clinton, ends month with more cash on hand
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3 candidates' passport files breached
WASHINGTON (AP) — State Department employees snooped through the passport files of three presidential candidates — Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain — and the department's inspector general is investigating.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the violations of McCain and Clinton's passport files were not discovered until Friday, after officials were made aware of the unauthorized access of Obama's records and a separate search was conducted.
The incidents raise questions as to whether the information was accessed for political purposes and why two contractors involved in the Obama search were dismissed before investigators had a chance to interview them. It recalled an incident in 1992, when a Republican political appointee at the State Department was demoted over a search of presidential candidate Bill Clinton's passport records. At the time, Clinton was challenging President George H.W. Bush.
McCormack said one of the individuals who accessed Obama's files also reviewed McCain's file earlier this year. This contract employee has been reprimanded, but not fired. The individual no longer has access to passport records, he said.
"I can assure you that person's going to be at the top of the list of the inspector general when they talk to people, and we are currently reviewing our (disciplinary) options with respect to that person," McCormack said.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke with all three candidates on Friday and expressed her regrets. In the meantime, State Department officials headed to Capitol Hill to brief the candidates' staffs.
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NM Gov. Bill Richardson endorses Obama
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, threw his support behind Barack Obama for president Friday, delivering one of the most coveted and tightly held endorsements in the race for the Democratic nomination.
The New Mexico governor joined Obama at spirited rally Friday and said the Illinois senator demonstrated his leadership abilities this week with his speech on race. "You are a once-in-a-lifetime leader," the governor said from the stage. "Above all, you will be a president who brings this nation together."
Richardson dropped his own bid for the nomination in January. His support for Obama comes during a tough period for the senator, the leader in the delegate chase over Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama has seen his lead in national polls wither as he's grappled with the fallout from divisive remarks by his former pastor.
Richardson was relentlessly courted by both candidates and his support for Obama represents a potential counterweight to Clinton's strength among Hispanic voters.
As a Democratic superdelegate, the governor plays a part in the tight race for nominating votes and could bring other superdelegates to Obama's side. He also had been mentioned as a potential running mate for either candidate.
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McCain meets Sarkozy, comments on China
PARIS (AP) — Sen. John McCain said Friday that China is harming its world image with its crackdown in Tibet and expressed hope Beijing would seek a peaceful solution to the crisis.
McCain did not discuss the issue during a 45-minute meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, but told reporters later the subject was "one of the first things I would talk about if I were president of the United States today."
China's crackdown "is not correct," McCain said in the courtyard of the French presidential Elysee Palace.
"The people there are being subjected to mistreatment that is not acceptable with the conduct of a world power, which China is," McCain said in response to a question by a Chinese television journalist.
The White House has urged Beijing to respect Tibetan culture and multi-ethnicity in its society.
McCain was in Paris for a matter of hours at the end of a weeklong tour of the Middle East and Europe. He was traveling as part of a U.S. congressional delegation that visited Iraq, Jordan, Israel and London.
The delegation discussed a range of issues with Sarkozy, from climate warming and nuclear energy to the Middle East crisis, Iraq and Afghanistan, where France has troops.
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Court dismisses Florida primary lawsuit
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee over the party's decision to strip Florida of its delegates to its national convention.
But the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling released Friday, said the lawsuit "raises a number of interesting and potentially significant questions," and gave the plaintiff an opening to amend and refile the lawsuit.
The plaintiff, Victor DiMaio, a Democratic Party activist from Tampa, Fla., said he would refile.
DiMaio filed the lawsuit in 2007 accusing the party of disenfranchising Florida's Democratic voters by barring them from having their say in choosing their party's nominee. The party stripped both Florida and Michigan of their national convention delegates because they moved their primaries to January dates that were earlier than party rules allowed.
The Democratic National Committee argued the party has the right to set its own rules and not seat delegates who refuse to follow them.
The three-judge panel agreed with a U.S. district judge in Tampa who dismissed the challenge, saying that DiMaio "undeniably" lacked standing to bring the lawsuit because he had yet to vote in the Florida primary when it was filed.
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Obama outspends and outraises Clinton
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton upped the tempo of her fundraising and her spending last month, only to be eclipsed by rival Barack Obama. At month's end, with debts of nearly million, her money was nearly spent and he was sitting atop million in available cash.
Obama's campaign spent at a rate of nearly id="blog_post".5 million a day in February — a crucial month that began with the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday and ended with both candidates marching to a showdown March 4 in Texas and Ohio. Clinton, riding her best fundraising period yet, spent about id="blog_post" million a day on average.
But reports filed with the Federal Election commission late Thursday showed that Obama set a single month fundraising record, with more than million in contributions.
Both Democrats ended up with more than million in the bank, but Clinton can't use two thirds of her cash on hand because it's only for the general election. That and her debt left her with less than million in the black. The debt doesn't include the million she lent her campaign in January.
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THE DEMOCRATS
Hillary Rodham Clinton is in Chappaqua, N.Y. Barack Obama campaigns in Oregon.
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THE REPUBLICANS
John McCain is overseas on a congressional trip.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
"He could have thrown me under the bus, but he stood behind me." — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, explaining how he missed a question during a Democratic presidential debate and rival Barack Obama came to his rescue by whispering the subject of it to him. Richardson endorsed Obama on Friday.
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STAT OF THE DAY:
Since January, more than 68,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania changed their affiliation to one of the major parties, with those switching to Democratic registration outpacing those turning Republican by more than 3-1.
Compiled by Ann Sanner
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