The Trail

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

'FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP' ON IRAQ

McCain Hits Democrats' Pullout Plans

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- John McCain said his Democratic rivals' promises to withdraw from Iraq amount to "the height of irresponsibility" and "a failure of leadership."

Before about 200 people at the National World War I Museum here, McCain argued Monday that the United States must stay for now in order to capitalize on the military gains it has made over the past year.

"The job of bringing security to Iraq is not finished," McCain said at the Veterans of Foreign Wars event. "But there is no doubt about the basic reality in Iraq: We are no longer staring into the abyss of defeat, and we can now look ahead to the genuine prospect of success."

The speech highlighted the extent to which McCain still sees his political fortunes tied to the war, despite plans to focus on the economy.

He argued that his Democratic opponents are pushing for "a hasty withdrawal from Iraq" that could destabilize the Middle East.

The United States, McCain said, is "within reach" of its ultimate goal: "the establishment of a generally peaceful, stable, prosperous, democratic state that poses no threat to its neighbors and contributes to the defeat of terrorists."

-- Juliet Eilperin

NEXT . . .

McCain to Release Tax Returns

Now that both Democratic presidential contenders have made public their tax returns, John McCain plans to follow suit. A campaign spokeswoman said the campaign plans to release McCain's tax returns on April 18.

Previous reliable estimates put McCain's net worth at more than $100 million, largely because of the wealth of wife Cindy McCain. She is the heiress to her father's stake in Hensley & Co. of Phoenix, one of the largest beer distributorships in the country.

-- Matthew Mosk

'IT'S A TRUE STORY'

Dead Woman's Aunt Defends Clinton

The aunt of a young pregnant woman who died after an Ohio hospital told her she needed to pay $100 upfront for care said in an interview Monday that Hillary Rodham Clinton has been telling the story accurately on the campaign trail, regardless of assertions by a different Ohio hospital that it did not turn the patient away.

For weeks, Clinton repeated an anecdote she heard in Ohio on Feb. 28 involving a young woman who lost her baby and later died because she lacked health insurance and did not have $100 to get into a nearby hospital.

But over the weekend, Clinton came under fire when officials at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, after reading about her remarks, demanded that she stop recounting it because the patient, Trina Bachtel, was admitted there and did have insurance.

That part, it turns out, is true. But so is Clinton's assertion that Bachtel did not get care at another hospital that wanted a $100 pre-payment before seeing her, according to the young woman's aunt, Lisa Casto, who described her niece as having had preeclampsia. "It's a true story," said Casto, 53.

-- Anne E. Kornblut

NO VEEP PLANS

Rice Not Campaigning for No. 2

Condoleezza Rice wants it known: She is not interested in being vice president.

Sean McCormack, her spokesman, tried on Monday to dampen speculation that erupted Sunday after Dan Senor, a GOP political operative, said on ABC's "This Week" that the secretary of state was "actively, actually, in recent weeks campaigning" for the job.

Questioned at the regular State Department briefing, McCormack said Rice wants to return to Stanford University, where she is a tenured professor.

"If she is actively seeking the vice presidency, then she's the last one to know about it," McCormack said.

-- Glenn Kessler