Obama's wife decries blackness question 59 minutes ago

Obama's wife decries blackness question 59 minutes ago



CHICAGO - The wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Sunday admonished those who question her biracial husband's credentials as a black man, calling the issue "nonsense."

"We're still playing around with the question: Is he black enough?" Michelle Obama told a campaign event on Chicago's South Side. "Stop that nonsense."

Michelle Obama, who was raised on the South Side, was speaking at a predominantly black "Women for Obama" rally, which cheered her comment about the U.S. senator from Illinois.

She added that raising the specter of whether her husband — whose mother was white and whose father was Kenyan — was sufficiently black sent a confusing message to kids.

"We are messing with the heads of our children," she said.

At the gathering, Michelle Obama also thanked the South Side community for supporting her family over the years.

"This community of people has raised us ... has helped create our moral fabric," she said. "We couldn't do it without the South Side."

She also told the several hundred people at the elaborately decorated Grand Ballroom that she hoped her husband serves as a role model in how he helps raise their two young daughters.

"If you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House," she said.

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TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton told hundreds of supporters in Oklahoma she will make a strong effort to win over the politically conservative state.

"I don't know whether we can carry Oklahoma or not, but we're going to give it a try," she said at a fundraiser late Saturday evening. "After today, I'm on the way."

Clinton, whose flight from Texas was more than an hour late, spoke for about 30 minutes but hung around afterward to sign autographs and talk with people.

More Americans should become energy conscious, just like her late father was, who turned the lights off when people left a room and turned the heat off at nights even during cold Chicago winters, she said.

"I'm acting more and more like him all the time," Clinton said.

Mike Turpen, Oklahoma finance chairman for her presidential bid, said Clinton's two Oklahoma fundraisers, including one in June, show she has "committed, enthusiastic supporters" in the state.

He said she raised a total of approximately $400,000 in the two events.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The wife of Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul of Texas had surgery Sunday to install a heart pacemaker.

A statement from Paul's campaign said that the surgery on Carol Paul was a success and that she is expected to make a full recovery.

Carol Paul was hospitalized Saturday after experiencing an irregular heartbeat. Her husband, who was due to participate in a high profile Republican straw poll in Ames, was delayed in arriving at the event because he was at his wife's side.

Paul attended the straw poll — where he placed fifth — after doctors gave him assurances his wife would be fine.