Special Report: U.S. presidential election 2008

    WASHINGTON, March 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton overtook her rival, Barack Obama, in a latest national poll released on Thursday.

    According to the Gallup poll conducted from March 14 to 18,about 48 percent of 1,209 American adults surveyed favors New York Senator Clinton to be the party's presidential nominee, five percentage points more than Illinois Senator Obama.

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton delivers a campaign speech on the war in Iraq at George Washington University in Washington, Mar. 17, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

 

    The poll has an error margin of 3 percentage points.

    Gallup said that it was the first statistically significant lead for Clinton over Obama since a daily tracking poll conducted Feb. 7 to 9, days after the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses.

    The lead coincided with controversy caused by Obama's relations with his long-time Chicago pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who has been heard criticizing the U.S. government for its "racist policies."

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama speaks to supporters during a campaign stop at the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia, Mar. 20, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

 

    Although Obama made a major speech on Tuesday on the race issue, hoping to move past the controversy, the polling numbers have not shown immediate benefit for him, Gallup said.

    However, Obama still maintained a lead in the number of delegates who would vote for him at the nomination convention over Clinton by 1,621 to 1,479.

    The survey also indicated that voters moved closer to Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain, who has a lead of 47 percent to 43 percent over Obama and holds an edge of48 percent to 45 percent over Clinton.

Obama blames Iraq war for U.S. current economic woes

    WASHINGTON, March 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama delivered a major speech on Thursday, linking U.S. slipping economy with the ballooning defense budget on the Iraq war.

    "How much longer are we going to ask our families and our communities to bear the cost of this war?" the Illinois senator said before a rally in West Virginia.  Full story

New poll previews tie in U.S. 2008 national elections

    WASHINGTON, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Either Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton would face a neck-and-neck race with John McCain in the November national presidential elections, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

    The poll by CNN and Opinion Research Corporation indicated that if Illinois Senator Obama were nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, he would get 47 percent of the vote compared to 46 percent for Republican presumptive nominee McCain.  Full story

Former first lady Hillary's secret revealed

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton coughs as she conducts a roundtable discussion at the Yale Child Study Center in New Haven, Conn., Monday, Feb. 4, 2008. (Photo: huanqiu.com) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Wondering the innermost details of Hillary Clinton's time as first lady in the White House? The U.S. National Archives on Wednesday released 11,000 pages of documents detailing her day-to-day routine throughout eight years of Bill Clinton's presidency.

    The quest for public disclosure of the schedules has attracted close attention throughout the presidential campaign, since Hillary has spoken extensively of her "35 years of experience" in public life, saying she learnt how to achieve success in Washington from her early mistakes. Full story