Washington, Sep. 10 : Officials involved with the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama, have set a goal of collecting 55 million dollars for the third quarter of the year that closes at the end of this month.

According to Politico, Obama''s national finance committee for his re-election bid says this is a smaller goal than the re-elect set for last quarter, the first one where the committee was up and running, and is much less than the 86 million dollars the joint Democratic National Committee and campaign committee ultimately took in.

Washington, Aug 30: A new poll has revealed that over half of American respondents have said the world would not have been much different had Al Gore won the 2000 presidential election.

The 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll found that 56 percent of respondents said it would not have made much difference if Gore had won the presidential election instead of George W. Bush.

Just a quarter of respondents said the world would have been a better place if Gore had won, and just 44 percent Democrats ascribed to the view, the Politico reports.

Washington, Apr 27 : A record 14.7 million Latino voters sat out the 2010 U. S. midterm elections, a new report by the Pew Hispanic Center has said.

According to the report on minority voting, about 31 percent of eligible Latino and Asian voters cast ballots in the 2010 congressional elections, compared with 49 percent of eligible white voters and 44 percent of eligible blacks.

Republican John McCain has accepted the victory of Democrat Barack Obama in the US presidential election, and has congratulated him on his win. Though he conceded the presidential race to Obama before a crowd of supporters in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday, McCain appeared unable to overcome the crushing twin burdens of President Bush’s unpopularity and the tarnished GOP image.

While current and former McCain aides had stressed the long odds that the Republican faced, they continued to profess their conviction that he could pull off another stunner similar to his startling resurrection in the primaries. However, that was not to be!

Survey USA’s latest Obama vs McCain opinion polls show that Barack Obama is leading in Virginia and Wisconsin; John McCain is leading in Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, while they are statistically tied in North Carolina.

Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Wyoming are safe states for Republicans, but Virginia, Wisconsin, and North Carolina are battleground states. Let’s check out what the Survey USA’s latest Obama vs McCain opinion polls show.

The Fox News/Rasmussen Reports’ latest Obama vs McCain opinion polls show that Barack Obama is currently leading in Colorado, Missouri, and North Carolina, while John McCain is having slim lead in Florida and Ohio.

Colorado, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio are battleground states. Let’s check out what the Fox News/Rasmussen Reports’ latest Obama vs McCain Colorado, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio polls show.

Colorado Poll —

DFL Senate candidate was joined by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, a rousing rally at the University of Minnesota, in what Al Franken termed as “a true statewide grass-roots campaign.” Franken is waging a tough battle against Republican incumbent Norm Coleman, and Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley.

More than 1,500 supporters crammed into the McNamara Alumni Center of the University campus, and more than 600 were in an overflow room and outside.

Early voting began in Utah on Monday, October 21, and will continue till October 31. Every county in Utah is offering at least one early voting location for residents who registered to vote before October 6; and about half of the counties have multiple locations.

County clerks around the state are setting up satellite locations for early voting. Pat Beckstead, Davis County elections manager, said that early voting was initiated because purchasing enough electronic voting machines for the presidential election is an expensive proposition for counties.

Gallup Daily Tracking's Obama vs McCain poll, conducted from October 15 to October 17, shows Obama leading McCain by 8 % points — 50 % to 42 % among the likely voters nationally.

Reuters/CSPAN/Zogby's Obama vs McCain poll, conducted on October 19, shows Obama leading McCain by 3 % points — 48 % to 45 % among the likely voters nationally.

Gallup Daily Tracking's Obama vs McCain poll, conducted from October 16 to October 18, shows Obama leading McCain by 10 % points — 52 % to 42 % among the likely voters nationally.

Reuters/CSPAN/Zogby's Obama vs McCain poll, conducted on October 20, shows Obama leading McCain by 6 % points — 50 % to 44 % among the likely voters nationally.

The California Secretary of State said that Mark Anthony Jacoby, the owner of Young Political Majors - a signature-gathering firm hired by the California Republican Party to sign up Southland voters - was arrested today in Ontario on suspicion of committing voter registration fraud in Los Angeles.

Arrested in Ontario by Canadian and California investigators late Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Jacoby fraudulently registered himself to vote at a childhood California home, where he grew up but no longer lives.

US Representative Michele Bachmann - a first-term Republican, up for reelection in Minnesota’s 6th District - has come under fire for her controversial comment about Obama’s patriotism. The comments came during the course of a Friday night interview on MSNBC, when Bachmann asserted that Obama has a close connection to 1960s radical William Ayers. She said that Obama “had a very strong association with Bill Ayers.”

When asked by Chris Matthews whether she believes that Obama may have anti-American views, Bachmann replied: “Absolutely. I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views.” She also said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, both Democrats, have “far-leftist views.”

In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, retired US General Colin Powell - who was once seen as a possible presidential candidate himself - made an announcement that he will be voting for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.   

Citing Obama’s “ability to inspire” and the “inclusive nature of his campaign” as the reasons for his endorsement of the Democrat, the former secretary of state in the Bush administration called Obama a “transformational figure” who could be an “exceptional president.”

Senator Barack Obama has sent fundraising record. On Saturday, Obama campaign revealed that the Illinois senator raised an astounding $150 million in September. Since money and influence always loom large in presidential campaigns, this announcement highlights just how much his campaign has upended standards for raising money.

Barack Obama has set several fundraising records in his two-year White House run – his changing rules of the fundraising game have been consistent. Gathering momentum in August with $66 million, his previous record, Obama has more than doubled that.

Barack Obama criticized McCain’s healthcare plan by saying that it would deplete the existing health programs for the poor and elderly.

Obama remarked at a rally in Virginia,"It turns out Senator McCain would pay for part of his plan by making drastic cuts in Medicare - $882 billion worth - $882 billion in Medicare cuts to pay for an ill-conceived, badly thought through healthcare plan that wouldn't provide more healthcare to people, even as Medicare already faces a looming shortfall".

The latest Obama vs McCain pre-election opinion polls show that Barack Obama is currently leading John McCain in Minnesota and Pennsylvania, while the latter is leading is in West Virginia.