Candidates continue to spar over increasingly unlikely town halls

Senior advisers to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) on Thursday criticized Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) for pushing an “all or nothing” approach to his suggestion the two agree to 10 joint town hall meetings.

McCain campaign responded by accusing Obama of stalling so there would not be enough time for the two candidates to discuss issues at one town hall a week from now until the conventions.

{mosads}Robert Gibbs, Obama’s communications director, told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor that senior Obama staff had been in contact with the McCain campaign in search of a compromise, but McCain has taken a “take it or leave it posture.”

Obama’s campaign has said their candidate would participate in two town halls in addition to the three traditional debates.

Gibbs, who responded in answer to a question about whether Obama had agreed to participate in the McCain proposed town hall at the La Raza conference in San Diego next month, said the McCain campaign is more interested in gaining political traction from the idea than actually having the forums.

Tucker Bounds, a McCain spokesman, said Obama’s refusal to join McCain is another example of Obama’s actions coming up short of his rhetoric.

“It undermines his claim to be running a different kind of political campaign,” Bounds said. “It is a campaign of avoidance, and we’re running a campaign of engagement.”

Obama critic now on Illinois senator’s side

One of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) most potent and ardent backers began its delicate transition to Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) side Thursday, when the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee.

AFSCME was among the harshest critics of Obama in the primary, excoriating his healthcare plan and suggesting he would struggle to win the general election. Now, President Gerald McEntee and 40,000 activists will be responsible for helping Obama do just that.

McEntee, who just four weeks ago said Obama would enter the Democratic National Convention a bruised and battered candidate given his losses in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky, said AFSCME has begun to come around to Obama and will continue to get to know him and his campaign.

McEntee, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and American Federation of Teachers President Ed McElroy met privately with Obama on Thursday. McEntee said they were able to “sort out, to a degree, our differences and the way to move ahead.”

“After all of that, we have changed positions,” McEntee said on a conference call. “He’s more sure-footed. Indeed he is. We fought like hell for Hillary, there’s no question about it, and at times it was tough on the campaign trail.”

Specifically, AFSCME criticized Obama for not mandating coverage for everyone in his health care plan — a key difference with Clinton. McEntee said he would still like to see the Democratic Party adopt that position as a platform.

“I think we’ll have to, as he sorts his way through some of these problems, wait for what the final plan does look like, and I hope and I think that we’ll be able to support that,” McEntee said. He said the board voted unanimously to support Obama and that the union will spend close to $50 million on the campaign.

McEntee also confirmed that the AFL-CIO would likely endorse Obama within about two weeks.

—  Aaron Blake

Obama’s first TV ad to air in 18 states

Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign released its first general-election television ad Thursday, highlighting the Illinois Democrat’s “heartland” upbringing in a single-parent home.

The ad, titled “Country I Love,” is intended to reintroduce Obama to the general-election audience as working-class and patriotic. The Democratic candidate has been labeled an “elitist” throughout the primary campaign season.

“I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents. We didn’t have much money, but they taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland where they grew up,” Obama says in the ad. “Accountability and self-reliance. Love of country.”

The ad will run in 18 states, covering much of the Mountain West and Midwest, as well as in North Carolina, Alaska, Georgia and Virginia. It can also be seen in traditional battleground states, such as New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Florida.

—  Andy Barr