AP - John McCain told the NAACP and some skeptical black voters Wednesday that he will expand education opportunities, partly through vouchers for low-income children to attend private school.

AP - Democrat Barack Obama warned Wednesday about the danger of "fighting the last war" as he pledged to focus on emerging nuclear, biological and cyber threats if elected president.

AP - If Barack Obama's historic campaign to become the first black president boosts black turnout as drastically as he predicts, he could crack decades of Republican dominance across the South.

AP - Mayor Lou Barletta, whose bid to unseat a 12-term congressman is based largely on his reputation as an anti-illegal immigration crusader, is trying to keep his signature issue alive even as voters turn their attention to the troubled economy and sky-high gas prices.

Politico - The Republican reformer is back.

AP - Advocates for gay and lesbian parents are denouncing Sen. John McCain, an adoptive father himself, for opposing adoptions by gays, which prompted his presidential campaign to clarify Tuesday that he does not seek a federal ban on the practice.

AP - Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday that the New Yorker magazine's satirical cover depicting him and his wife as flag-burning, fist-bumping radicals doesn't bother him but that it was an insult to Muslim Americans.

AP - Democrat Barack Obama wants to prove he's ready to be a wartime commander in chief. Republican John McCain hopes to sell the idea that his rival is not.

AFP - The United States vowed Monday not to abandon its efforts to press Zimbabwe to stop attacking political foes after the United Nations failed to secure fresh sanctions.