McCain to Discuss Abstinence in S.C.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson talks about the progress of the 2007 Legislative Session during a news conference at the Capitol in Santa Fe, N.M., Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Jeff Geissler) (Jeff Geissler - AP)

The man behind the 1994 "Contract with America" that won control of the House for the GOP said a big part of the problem was current finance laws that force candidates to spend so much of their time fundraising.

Gingrich and Schumer appeared together to promote books they had written.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ Arkansas' ethics panel dismissed a complaint Friday against former Gov. Mike Huckabee over the presidential candidate's destruction of computer hard drives from his office.

By a 3-0 vote, the commission voted to dismiss the complaint filed last month against Huckabee. Jim Parsons of Bella Vista, Ark., accused Huckabee of violating the state's Freedom of Information Act by crushing the computer hard drives before he left office last month.

Graham Sloan, director of the commission, said the panel ruled that it did not have jurisdiction in the case.

"We're just not the enforcement agency with regard to the FOI," Sloan said.

Huckabee has defended the destruction of the drives, saying it was done to protect sensitive information such as employees' or constituents' Social Security numbers and credit card information.

Huckabee spent the remaining $13,000 in the governor's emergency fund to destroy the computer equipment before he left office Jan. 9.

Hard drives for 83 computers and four servers were destroyed, or crushed, after some information was downloaded onto backup tapes, the Department of Information Systems said.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ Democratic presidential candidate Tom Vilsack says being a punch line to Jay Leno's jokes is a plus.