Daily News Digest

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Presidential campaigns. McCain Moves Into Lead; Obama Gains on Clinton "The first contests of the 2008 presidential campaign have led to a dramatic shake-up in public opinion nationally, with Sen. John McCain now leading the Republican field and Sen. Barack Obama all but erasing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's once-overwhelming advantage among Democrats," Fluidity in G.O.P. Race; Democrats Eye Electability "Worries about the economy now dominate the voters' agenda, even more so than the war in Iraq, which framed the early part of this campaign."

Republicans. Romney, McCain rev up criticism in Michigan "Republicans Mitt Romney and John McCain dueled Sunday over who could better lead a restoration of Michigan's battered economy amid charges from each that the presidential campaign has descended into unnecessary pessimism and negativity that will do little to inspire voters." Campaign exposes deep rifts in GOP coalition "The house that Ronald Reagan built is in danger of collapsing. All the men running for the Republican party's presidential nomination invoke Reagan's name repeatedly. But all of them offend at least one wing of the party enough that they'd find it difficult, and perhaps impossible, to pull the disparate elements of the old coalition together."

Democrats. Clinton, Obama spar as race heats up "Race became a focus of the Democratic presidential campaign on Sunday with Hillary Clinton accusing rival Barack Obama of distorting remarks she made last week about the 1960s U.S. civil rights movement." Race and Gender Are Issues in Tense Day for Democrats "After staying on the sidelines in the first year of the campaign, race and to a lesser extent gender have burst into the forefront of the Democratic presidential contest, thrusting Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton into the middle of a sharp-edged social and political debate that transcends their candidacies." In '08 Democratic battle, it's Obama's movement vs. Clinton's campaign "With a booming baritone and a message of hope and change, Barack Obama is often described as a "phenomenon" and his presidential campaign as a "movement."