Elections

BERLIN - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says U.S. troops should leave Iraq "as soon as possible," according to a magazine report, and he called presidential candidate Barack Obama's suggestion of 16 months "the right timeframe for a withdrawal."

WASHINGTON - Faced with a spending cap for his fall campaign, Republican presidential candidate John McCain is aggressively spending more money than he is raising during summer months and methodically reducing his cash reserves.

AUSTIN, Texas - Last year it was about the candidates. This year it's the climate.

While the European leg of Barack Obama’s much-touted overseas trip will take him to nations where he’s vastly more popular than John McCain, Obama is not nearly as well-liked in Israel. Polls there show Israelis prefer John McCain by as much as 20 percentage points.

DENVER - The request befuddled Leah Daughtry. The experienced political hand in charge of planning next month's Democratic National Convention — a self-described "black chick from Brooklyn" and ordained Pentecostal minister who keeps a Bible in her purse — didn't know what to tell the atheists.

DENVER - John McCain was in his favorite campaign setting, a town hall meeting, when he spotted a promising target. "I'd love to recognize you first, sir," the Republican presidential candidate said to a man in a Vietnam War veteran's hat.

NEW YORK - Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm resigned Friday from his role as GOP presidential candidate John McCain's campaign co-chairman, hoping to quiet the uproar that followed his comments that the United States had become a "nation of whiners" whose constant complaints about the U.S. economy show they are in a "mental recession."

WASHINGTON - Just as Republican John McCain was unloading on his Democratic presidential rival Friday, he was offering warm, effusive words for once bitter foe Mitt Romney. And Romney, the mega-millionaire former Republican governor of Massachusetts, was pledging to help McCain's presidential campaign financially — and in any other way.

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama intends to sit down with European leaders as well as King Abdullah of Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as part of a campaign-season trip that aides described Friday as substantive rather than political.

KABUL (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met the commander of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday to talk about the war he says is not getting enough attention from the Bush administration.

KABUL (AFP) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama met US troops in Afghanistan Saturday during a visit to assess efforts against extremist militants at the start of a major international tour, officials said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - John McCain on Saturday asked if his Democratic rival Barack Obama would be wrong about Afghanistan as, in the Republican presidential hopeful's view, he had been about Iraq.

July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan today to meet military commanders and local officials in a country he wants to make the focus of the U.S. war against terrorism, his campaign said.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.

On trip to Mideast and Europe, Obama to meet with heads of state and opposition leaders ... McCain economic adviser Gramm leaves after 'nation of whiners' flap ... John McCain, Conan O'Brien agree that age jokes are getting old, look for new punch lines ...

NEW YORK - How old is John McCain? So old, the jokes about it are getting old. So at a taping Friday night of NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," the host asked the Republican presidential candidate for some new material.

July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan today on a mission to meet with military commanders and local officials in a country he wants to make the focus of the U.S. war against terrorism.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain commented on Friday on the unannounced timing of a high-security trip by Barack Obama to Iraq, saying he believed his Democratic rival was going this weekend.

WARREN, Mich. - Republican presidential candidate John McCain pledged Friday to help auto workers rebuild their industry and in the process jump-start the entire U.S. economy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Phil Gramm, an economic adviser to Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, resigned from his campaign on Friday in the fallout over his comment that the United States had become a "nation of whiners."

WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain launched a new television ad Friday that accuses presidential rival Barack Obama of switching positions on Iraq "to help himself become president" just as the Democratic candidate prepared to make a high profile trip to Baghdad.

WASHINGTON - John McCain and Barack Obama vow to reform the nation's defense procurement if elected president, yet each is unwilling to take a firm stand against the skyrocketing cost of a plum White House perk: the new Marine One helicopter.

July 18 (Bloomberg) -- A warning by Republican presidential candidate John McCain that al-Qaeda may increase terrorist attacks ``as we get into the election season'' prompted news organizations to report that he was referring to the U.S. election.

WASHINGTON - A new U.S.-Iraqi agreement raising the possibility of a withdrawal timeline threatens to complicate the war policies of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.

TITLE: "Troop Funding."

Democratic insiders are pleased that Hillary and Bill Clinton have stepped out of the spotlight since she conceded the Democratic presidential nomination to Barack Obama several weeks ago.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - As Democrat Barack Obama was readying Friday a trip to Europe and the Middle East, rival Republican presidential hopeful John McCain planned to head to the US heartland to potential swing states.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain and the Republican Party are knocking on the door of history when it comes to joint fundraising committees.

After former Vice President Al Gore challenged the next president to set an ambitious goal of obtaining all of the nation's electricity from carbon-free sources by 2018, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama saluted Gore's leadership but appeared to stop short of embracing Gore's proposals.