Obama Pays Parking Tickets 17 Years Late

Democratic Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 7, 2007. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (Manuel Balce Ceneta - AP)

If the campaign does not pay the money back, the FEC could take steps to enforce the repayment.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) _ Nevada Republicans have approved a plan to move their 2008 presidential caucus to Feb. 7, six weeks earlier than previously scheduled.

"We're committed now," Paul Willis, acting state GOP chairman, said Thursday. "It's going to coincide with our precinct meetings throughout the state."

The state executive committee approved the move late Wednesday, amid concern that Nevada Democrats were reaping a windfall of media and candidate attention since moving their party caucus to Jan. 19 _ second in the nation behind Iowa.

Nevada Republicans' new spot on the calendar places them two days after "Super Tuesday," when more than a dozen states, including California, are considering holding their primaries.

Supporters of the move have said they believe the new date will encourage candidates campaigning in California to stop in Nevada with hopes of keeping the state competitive in the general election.

"Some people are saying it could be anticlimactic, with the other votes before then," Willis said. "But no one's going to take the chance to leave us out of the equation."

States that move their contests earlier than Feb. 5 lose delegates at the party convention, according to Republican National Committee rules.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama just can't escape the word articulate.

"He's charismatic, he's articulate, he's a very strong figure on the national stage," White House political adviser Karl Rove told an Arkansas crowd. "But something tells me that people are going to say (they want) experience and depth. As a result it's going to be, 'Can he live up to the standards?'"