Obama looks beyond vote in W. Virginia

LOGAN, W.Va. — Signaling he has written off today's West Virginia primary, Sen. Barack Obama is aiming this week at the five remaining Democratic contests — and the fall election, with a stop in suburban Detroit, home to many "Reagan Democrats" a generation ago.

Obama spent little time Monday in West Virginia. He gave a speech about his ideas to help veterans, took a swipe at presumptive Republican nominee John McCain for not doing enough to help, dropped into a pool hall and then left the state for good.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is heavily favored to win, spent a long day of campaigning in West Virginia, including a stop in Logan, where she argued that she is more electable than Obama.

"West Virginia is a real indicator of where the political winds are going to blow," she told a crowd.

"The goal is to nominate someone who can beat John McCain in November."

Ex-congressman enters race as Libertarian

WASHINGTON — Bob Barr, a former congressman from Georgia and a former Republican, on Monday announced his candidacy for president as a Libertarian who would rein in federal spending and foreign wars.

Expected to win the nomination of the Libertarian Party when it holds its convention in Denver over the Memorial Day weekend, Barr, 59, said Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, was not a true conservative.

Los Angeles Times