AP - If Barack Obama's got so many issues going for him in the presidential election, from the economy to war fatigue to a national hunger for change, how come John McCain is so close to him as their race begins in earnest?

AP - With economy top issue, McCain and Obama offer competing visions on taxes ... AFSMCE and MoveOn together criticize McCain's stance on Iraq war in new ad ... Gore backs Obama as the candidate who can move the country past the Bush years

AP - A major labor union and the liberal organization MoveOn.org are joining forces to air a provocative new ad portraying John McCain's Iraq policy as a prolonged presence that would involve a new generation of Americans.

AP - Sen. John McCain said Monday the federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling should be lifted, and individual states given the right to pursue energy exploration in waters near their coasts.

AP - Al Gore made his debut in the 2008 presidential campaign Monday night, encouraging voters to back Barack Obama because "take it from me, elections matter."

AP - Make more than $250,000 a year? Watch out. Barack Obama wants to raise your income taxes. Social Security taxes, too.

AFP - The quicker Iran responds to an offer from world powers aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff the better, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Monday.

AFP - The US Supreme Court Monday refused to hear an appeal by the last US horse abattoir against its forced closure, despite claims that American horse meat is greatly valued in Europe.

AP - Confined to the bench back in his high school basketball days, Barack Obama felt the fierce urgency of now.

Politico - The conservative Evangelical biographer of George W. Bush and Tom DeLay has moved on to a new subject: Barack Obama. And his new book, due out this summer, may lend credibility to Senator Obama's bid to win Evangelical Christian voters away from the Republican Party.

AP - Obama says he'll visit Iraq, Afghanistan before the November election ... Obama campaign looks for way to win presidency without Ohio, Florida