Daily News Digest

Dem nomination, Presidential campaign, McCain & evangelicals, Economy, Climate change, Domestic workers, Charter schools, Churches change names, Afghanistan, Iraq-Iran, Pakistan, and Op-Eds.

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Dem nomination. Clinton Ends Campaign With Clear Call to Elect Obama "Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton brought her campaign for the White House to an end on Saturday with a rousing farewell to thousands of supporters here and an emotional and unequivocal call for her voters to get behind Senator Barack Obama, the man who defeated her for the Democratic nomination." Exiting race, Clinton solidly backs Obama "It was a dramatic and emotional end to a campaign that had brought Clinton closer to the White House than any woman in U.S. history."

Presidential campaign. Each Party Is Set to Hunt The Other's Usual Ground "The 2008 general election will pit the best-organized nomination campaign in the history of modern Democratic politics against the battle-tested machinery of the Republican Party, with both Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) determined to shake up an electoral map that has been virtually static over the past two elections."

McCain & evangelicals. McCain Extends His Outreach, but Evangelicals Are Still Wary "what remains one of Mr. McCain's biggest challenges as he faces a general election contest with Senator Barack Obama: a continued wariness toward him among evangelicals and other Christian conservatives, a critical voting bloc for Republicans that could stay home in the fall or at least be decidedly unenthusiastic in their efforts to get out the vote."

Economy. Unemployment, oil prices advance, piling on economy "Economists looking for signs of trouble found a double dose of it Friday, as unemployment surged and the price of crude oil soared to a record high." Credit crisis expands, hitting all kinds of consumer loans "The credit crisis triggered by bad home loans is spreading to other areas, forcing banks to tighten credit and probably extending the credit crisis that's dragging down the economy well into next year, and perhaps beyond." Rural U.S. Takes Worst Hit as Gas Tops $4 Average "Across broad swaths of the South, Southwest and the upper Great Plains, the combination of low incomes, high gas prices and heavy dependence on pickup trucks and vans is putting an even tighter squeeze on family budgets." News Puts Economy Atop Political Agenda "A historic leap in oil prices, tumbling stocks and the biggest jump in unemployment in over two decades pushed economic issues back to the forefront of the political debate."

Climate change. After Verbal Fire, Senate Effectively Kills Climate Change Bill "the Great Climate Change Debate of 2008 ended on Friday morning, after three and a half days, with a procedural vote that effectively shelved the bill until next year. A motion by Democrats to end debate and move to a final vote, requiring 60 votes to succeed, fell far short, with 48 senators in favor and 36 against." Senate Leaders Pull Measure on Climate "Senate leaders abruptly pulled back legislation that would have mandated major cuts in U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions after they came a dozen votes shy of ending a GOP filibuster."

Immigration. Both parties duck on immigration "The tricky politics of immigration, an issue once seen as a driving force of the 2008 election, have relegated it to a back but hot burner in the presidential campaign debate and paralyzed Congress on the topic." States Take New Tack on Illegal Immigration "State lawmakers, in response to Congressional inaction on immigration law, are giving local authorities a wider berth. In 2007, 1,562 bills related to illegal immigration were introduced nationwide and 240 were enacted in 46 states, triple the number that passed in 2006,"

Domestic workers. Domestic Workers Organize to End an 'Atmosphere of Violence' on the Job "The conference drew about 100 women, most of them representatives from domestic workers' groups in about 10 cities. Nearly all of them were immigrants, from Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, the Philippines and India. They came together to build alliances and hone strategies to demand benefits that many of their employers almost assuredly take for granted:"

Charter schools. Charter Schools' Big Experiment "New Orleans, in a post-Katrina flash, has become the first major city in which more than half of all public school students attend charter schools."

Churches change names. Shrinking Flock Examines Its Identity "Recent national surveys show that in an attempt to fill pews, a small but steadily growing number of Christian churches are changing their names and even their religious denominations."

Afghanistan. Laura Bush Visits Afghanistan "Laura Bush flew by helicopter deep into central Afghanistan on Sunday on a one-day visit to highlight the United States' continued commitment to the country and to President Hamid Karzai," Laura Bush Spotlights Signs of Hope In Afghanistan "First lady Laura Bush, on a mission to highlight signs of progress in war-torn Afghanistan, ventured outside the capital Sunday to an area that symbolizes both the destruction and attempt at rebirth."

Iraq-Iran. Iraqi Premier Tells Iran Not to Fear U.S. Presence "Iraq's prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, sought to soothe Iranian opposition to a long-term American military presence in Iraq by offering assurances in Tehran that American bases would not be used to attack Iran." Iran Urges Closer Defense Ties With Iraq "Iranian officials advocated a close defense relationship with Iraq during meetings in Tehran with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his subordinates." Iraq tries to allay Iranian fears "Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in a visit to Iran where he met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, pledged closer ties between the two neighbors at the same time Baghdad is negotiating a long-term security deal with the U.S."

Pakistan. West overlooks abuses against women "The plight of tens of thousands of abused Pakistani women doesn't garner the headlines of Darfur's genocide in Sudan, the sympathy afforded Burma's forgotten victims or the outrage unleashed in New Orleans after Katrina. These battered women also don't attract the outpouring of financial support that so many other recent global tragedies have drawn."

Op-Eds.

Clinton's Real Victory (Marie Wilson, Washington Post) "They are this country's next generation of female leaders -- women of all ages and persuasions who have been searching for the means and encouragement to step into positions of leadership in their communities; women of all political affiliations who thank Hillary Clinton for making the impossible finally appear possible."

What Hillary Won (Gail Collins, New York Times) "Her campaign didn't resolve whether a woman who seems tough enough to run the military can also seem likable enough to get elected. But she helped pave the way. So many battles against prejudice are won when people get used to seeing women and minorities in roles that only white men had held before. By the end of those 54 primaries and caucuses, Hillary had made a woman running for president seem normal."

McCain's Evangelical Problem (Robert D. Novak, Washington Post) "Shortcomings by John McCain's campaign in the art of politics are alienating two organizations of Christian conservatives. James Dobson's Focus on the Family is estranged following the failure of Dobson and McCain to talk out their differences. Evangelicals who follow the Rev. John Hagee resent McCain's disavowal of him."

Sitting down at the nuclear table with Iran ( Graham Allison, Boston Globe) "Negotiations are never certain to yield results. The alternative, a world of nuclear anarchy, is of great concern to both nations. Having seen the results of seven years of nonengagement, Bush could do his successor - whether Democrat or Republican - a great favor by proposing to negotiate with Iran now."