AP - Obama says he's running for president to lead the country out of Iraq ... McCain says Iraq-style troop increase would work in Afghanistan, calls Obama plans misguided ... DNC chief to embark on Southern bus tour, hoping to register voters to turn Dixie Democratic

AP - Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura halted his political comeback before it began, using a national TV platform to announce that he won't launch a third-party bid for the U.S. Senate "at this moment."

AP - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is embarking on a voter registration bus tour he hopes will help push Dixie to the Democrats.

AP - Sen. Barack Obama said Tuesday that overall U.S. interests have been hurt rather than helped by the Bush administration's decision to increase troop strength in Iraq 18 months ago, and vowed to stick to his plan to withdraw combat troops within 16 months of becoming president.

AP - Republican John McCain said Tuesday he knows "how to win wars" and that the strategy of increasing troop levels in Iraq should also be applied to Afghanistan.

AFP - African Union Commission chief Jean Ping will hold an emergency meeting on the political crisis in Zimbabwe with South African President Thabo Mbeki, a source said Monday.

AP - Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura halted his political comeback before it began, using a national TV platform to announce that he won't launch a third-party bid for the U.S. Senate "at this moment."

AP - A satirical New Yorker magazine cover cartoon depicting Barack Obama and his wife as flag-burning, fist-bumping radicals drew outrage from the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign as it appeared on newsstands Monday.

AP - So how old is John McCain? Six-packs, automatic transmissions and the American Express card were all introduced after he was born — not to mention computers, which McCain admits he doesn't use.

AP - Democrat Barack Obama said Monday that as president he would send at least two more combat brigades to Afghanistan, where U.S. soldiers face rising violence and endured their deadliest attack in three years on Sunday.

AP - Republican presidential candidate John McCain, in one of his strongest endorsements of free trade, called himself "an unapologetic supporter of NAFTA," an agreement that many Americans feel has cost them jobs.