Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama vied for the support of women voters as they faced off for electoral contests yesterday, after nationwide races this week failed to anoint either candidate as the Democratic front-runner for the presidential nomination.
Republicans Senator John McCain and Mike Huckabee hunted for delegates in three state contests yesterday, keeping a vigorous pace despite the sense that the Republican race is essentially over, with McCain firmly on the road to the nomination.
Clinton and Obama split wins during Tuesday's series of nomination contests in 22 states, a deadlock that promised to transform this already historic race between a woman and a black man into a fight that will last until the party's convention in August.
The two Democrats face four contests yesterday, with the three most important ones -- Washington state, Nebraska and Louisiana -- offering a total of 161 delegates or about 10 percent of the total needed to win the party's nomination. Of those three races, Washington and Nebraska are caucuses, contests that have served Obama well in the past.
Clinton and Obama both campaigned on Thursday and Friday in Washington state, the richest weekend prize, with 78 delegates.
No state better illustrates the competition for women voters than Washington. The governor and both US senators are Democratic women. Clinton scored first, winning the endorsements of senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, but on Friday Obama won the endorsement of Washington Governor Chris Gregoire.
"He is leading us toward a positive feeling of hope in our country and I love seeing that happen," Gregoire said.
On the Republican side, McCain was seeking to heal divisions with his party's right-wing base by casting himself as the US' steadfast protector against terrorism. He suggested on Friday that a vote for Clinton or Obama would ultimately encourage terrorists.
"They want to set a date for withdrawal from Iraq that I believe would have catastrophic consequences," he said following a discussion on national security issues in the Navy town of Norfolk, Virginia.
"I believe al-Qaeda would trumpet to the world they defeated the United States of America, and I believe, therefore, they would try to follow us home. There would be catastrophic consequences in the region, and we would be back," he said.
Without naming McCain, Republican President George W. Bush called for unity in a party that has splintered as his approval rating plummeted to a historic low of 30 percent, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll on Friday showed.
Former Arkansas governor Huckabee remains in the race with strong support from conservative Christians, but is far behind in the delegate hunt. Representative Ron Paul has a small loyal following, but is far behind in polls.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia