It could be a couple of days before Democrats in New Mexico have an idea when they'll be finished counting more than 17,000 provisional ballots from Tuesday's presidential caucuses. That means Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama will simply have to wait to find out who won a tightly contested race. With all votes counted yesterday except the provisionals, Clinton holds a lead of slightly more than 1,100 votes. The process of verifying the thousands of provisional ballots could begin today. Such ballots were given to voters who showed up at the wrong voting site, whose names were not on registered voter lists, or those who requested an absentee ballot but signed an affidavit saying they did not return it. Democratic Governor Bill Richardson says he's ``deeply disturbed'' by problems and long lines at polling places and by how the caucus was managed. (newser) – John McCain is finally trying to assuage conservatives in the wake of his Super Tuesday triumphs, reaching out to radio hosts and other vocal critics, and readying to roll out new endorsements. Surrogates have begun working Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity; others are getting a two-phase courtship—a call from a conservative McCain ally followed by an approach from the candidate himself. • As McCain works the phone, Politico reports, Republican bigwigs like Bob Dole, Bill Frist, and George Allen prepare to endorse the man the right refuses to love. The Arizona senator faces a big test today when he addresses major conservative group CPAC: He’ll stress shared positions on foreign policy, taxes, and judges—and hope right-wingers listen. Source: Politico
(newser) - John McCain sought to mend fractured ties with conservatives today, telling members of the Conservative Political Action Conference that he can't win without them, the Washington Post reports. McCain defended his own conservative credentials, calling himself a "foot soldier of the Reagan revolution." Speaking hours after Mitt Romney used the same forum to suspend his campaign, McCain said the GOP must unite behind him to defeat the Democratic nominee. Source: Washington Post
Evangelical Christian leader James Dobson says he's for Mike Huckabee. Dobson, who heads ``Focus on the Family,'' made the endorsement on the same day that Mitt Romney suspended his campaign. Dobson says he had been reluctant to make a primary endorsement, but in a statement says that Romney's decision ``changed the political landscape.'' Dobson's statement also reiterated his declaration on Super Tuesday that he could not in good conscience vote for John McCain, the front-runner, because of concerns over the Arizona senator's conservative credentials. He says Huckabee's positions on social issues are ``unwavering.'' Dobson concedes that Huckabee faces ``an uphill struggle'' but is the best ``remaining choice for president.'' Dobson has said if McCain is the nominee, he will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in his life. McCain has won more than 707 nominating delegates, more than half the 1,191 needed to win the nomination. Huckabee has 195.
MORNING UPDATE
Friday 02-08-2008 5:14am ET
(newser) – Chrysler plans to cull its Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands by at least a third, and drastically reduce the network of 3,600 dealers selling its vehicles to reduce costs, reports the Wall Street Journal. Chrysler dropped three models last year, leaving it with about 30 product lines. The company expects to cut back to approximately six cars, six trucks and no more than six SUVs over the next few years. • Chrysler lost about $1.6 billion in 2007. "We are a 2.7 million-vehicle-a-year company, not a 4 million-a-year company," the company vice chairman told dealers in a series of meetings. Executives told dealers they have accepted the "reality" that Chrysler can't substantially increase its sales volume. Source: Wall Street Journal
(newser) – Nearly half the world's population will find themselves really in the dark Feb. 20 as Earth's shadow totally eclipses the moon, LiveScience reports. Visible to 3 billion residents of North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia, the eclipsed moon will create a celestial triangle in the night sky, joining the planet Saturn and the bright star Regulus. • The third such occurrence in a year, the lunar eclipse will begin at 10:01 pm ET. Weather permitting, North American backyard astronomers will be able to observe the entire 51-minute phase, but shouldn't expect utter darkness. The Earth's shadow is never total, and the rays of the sun that slip through our atmosphere will give the satellite a rusty, red-and-orange tint. Source: LiveScience A new study says the widespread use of ethanol instead of gasoline could actually increase greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers say past studies showing the benefits of using ethanol to combat climate change didn't take into account almost certain changes in land use. The study says farmers under economic pressure to produce biofuels will increasingly plow up more land and release much of the carbon that would have been stored in plants and soils. And they say globally, more grasslands and forests will be converted to growing crops to replace grains lost when U.S. farmers convert land to biofuels. Still, a group representing ethanol producers says the researchers' view of land-use changes is ``simplistic'' and that the study ``fails to put the issue in context.'' The study appears in Science magazine. There might be some scientific evidence to back up the idea of ``retail therapy.'' A new study shows that people's spending judgment goes out the window when they're feeling down -- and especially if they're a little self-absorbed. In the study, participants who watched a sad clip about a boy's mentor dying offered to pay nearly four times as much for a bottle of water than a group that watched a not-so-sad video -- about the Great Barrier Reef. The research found that sad people were more willing to spend freely when their sadness led them to focus more on themselves. Researchers say those people were willing to pay more -- presumably to feel better about themselves. And personal shoppers say they see the same thing -- clients who stray from their budgets when they're feeling blue. The study appears in the journal Psychological Science. A lot of people do their banking online. But in many cases, you still have to show up at the branch or ATM when you need to deposit a check. But that may be about to change with some new technology provided through the CheckFree Corporation. The online banking service provider is out with something called Remote Deposit Capture. It's a technology that lets people scan checks through their home computers -- and deposit them electronically. The technology isn't new, it's been around for years. But until now, it has been used mainly by businesses. CheckFree said the service is available starting this week for any consumers who bank online, as long as their banks offer the ability to scan checks into the system. To use it, customers will need a scanner, a computer and an Internet connection. To ``deposit'' a check, users can go to their banking site, enter the amount of the check, scan both sides, do a quick review and submit it to the bank. On the Net: CheckFree: http://www.checkfree.com
No Drugs for the Dying
Tuesday 01-15-2008 7:08am ET
The Supreme Court has declined to hear what could have been a landmark case on whether terminally ill patients should be given access to experimental drugs not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The decision lets stand a lower court ruling that the terminally ill have no special right to experimental therapy. The White House had asked the court not to hear the case. • The petition was brought by a patients' rights organization founded by a parent whose teenage daughter was denied access to an anti-cancer drug approved for use after her death. An organization spokesman called the decision "a tragedy." The government has "abandoned our constituents, which number in the thousands," he said. The solicitor general argued in a brief that allowing patients to use experimental drugs was too risky and potentially detrimental to public health.
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