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Obama and McCain roll through Western swing states
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Obama and McCain roll through Western swing statesRENO, Nev. – Scrambling to win the West, Democrat Barack Obama mocked John McCain on Saturday for aggressively trying to distance himself from President Bush. McCain touted his Western ties and warned that Obama is a tax-and-spend threat to the nation. Ten days before the election, both candidates were targeting the same trio of states — Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico. Any of them could help shape who wins the presidency. The flurry of appearances by Obama and McCain likely represent the last time in a long, testy campaign that the toss-up territory of the West will get this much attention. Electoral prizes of the East Coast, like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, will soon take command. Obama recharged his habit of lumping McCain with the unpopular president of his own party. McCain, an Arizona senator, has outspokenly blamed Bush's leadership for the country's woes in recent days, a line of attack that may be giving him some traction as time runs out. Obama said it was too late for McCain to portray himself as independent from Bush after standing with him for years. McCain has a mixed record of supporting and bucking Bush. Real change, Obama said, is "not somebody who's trying to break with his president over the last 10 days after having supporting him for the last eight years." As the front-running Obama campaigned at a baseball stadium, McCain was at an outdoor rally at the New Mexico state fairgrounds in Albuquerque. The Arizona Republican claimed he had the edge in battleground states in the region, calling himself "a fellow Westerner." "Sen. Obama has never been south of the border," said McCain, arguing that he has a feel for issues like water that resonate throughout the region. Obama's campaign said Obama has, in fact, been to Mexico before he got into public office. Later, in Mesilla, N.M., McCain said he had a home-court advantage in the West. "I know the issues, I know land, I know water, I know native American issues," said McCain, speaking at a sun-splashed rally. "I know how western states are growing with dynamic strength. Senator Obama does not understand these issues." McCain continued to portray Obama, an Illinois senator, as a tax-and-spend liberal certain to push for more government and higher spending. "He believes in redistributing wealth," McCain said. "That's not America." His running mate, Sarah Palin, evoked the same theme Saturday in Sioux City, Iowa. While she spoke, the crowd at her rally cried out about Obama: "He's a socialist." Obama, meanwhile, continued to use his massive fundraising appeal to his advantage. On Sunday, his campaign unveiled a two-minute TV ad that asks, "Will our country be better off four years from now?" The length of the ad, which will air in key states, highlights Obama's fundraising superiority — most campaign commercials run 30 seconds or a minute. Without mentioning McCain, the ad promotes Obama's economic policies while saying that Obama will work to end "mindless partisanship" and "divisiveness." The Republican National Committee released its own TV ad Saturday questioning whether Obama has the experience to be president. The ad, featuring the image of a stormy ocean, says the nation is in "uncertain times" that could get worse and asks whether voters want a president "who's untested at the helm." In competitive Virginia, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Americans have been "knocked down" by Bush's economic policies. "It's time for us to get back up," he said. "It's time for us together to get back up and demand the change we need." The West, once reliable Republican territory, has seen its politics and demographics shift over the last decade. Bush narrowly won Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico four years ago and Democrats see them and their 19 electoral votes as a real opportunity. There was a glitch for Obama in Reno, though. A generator at his rally apparently failed, killing power and cutting off his microphone. Obama said someone from the McCain campaign may have pulled the plug on the rally — but quickly added he was kidding. Later, at a rally at a high school football field in Las Vegas, Obama said: "We're not going to let George Bush pass the torch to John McCain." Obama resumed his campaign in Nevada after spending Thursday night and Friday in Hawaii with his grandmother, who is gravely ill. He offered thanks to those who wished her well. Despite sour polls, McCain pledged a scrappy close to the campaign. "We're a few points down and the pundits, of course, as they have four or five times, have written us off," said McCain. "We've got them just where we want them." McCain was headed briefly to El Paso, Texas, before moving on to Iowa where he's looking to make up for some lost ground in a state campaign aides argue is closer than the public polling shows. McCain was to appear on "Meet the Press" and hold a campaign rally. Obama is campaigning on Sunday in Colorado. _____
Associated Press writers Dena Potter, Mike Glover and Anna Jo Bratton contributed to this report. The Stink in Farts Controls Blood PressureA smelly rotten-egg gas in farts controls blood pressure in mice, a new study finds. The unpleasant aroma of the gas, called hydrogen sulfide (H2S), can be a little too familiar, as it is expelled by bacteria living in the human colon and eventually makes its way, well, out. The new research found that cells lining mice's blood vessels naturally make the gas and this action can help keep the rodents' blood pressure low by relaxing the blood vessels to prevent hypertension (high blood pressure). This gas is "no doubt" produced in cells lining human blood vessels too, the researchers said. "Now that we know hydrogen sulfide's role in regulating blood pressure, it may be possible to design drug therapies that enhance its formation as an alternative to the current methods of treatment for hypertension," said Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., a co-author of the study detailed in the Oct. 24th issue of the journal Science. Snyder and his colleagues compared normal mice to mice that were missing a gene for an enzyme known as CSE, long suspected as being responsible for making hydrogen sulfide. As they measured hydrogen sulfide levels taken from tissues of the CSE-deficient mice, the scientists found that the gas was depleted in the cardiovascular systems of the altered mice. By contrast, normal mice had higher levels of the gas, thereby showing that hydrogen sulfide is naturally made by mammalian tissues using CSE. Next, the mice were subjected to higher blood pressures comparable to serious hypertension in humans. Scientists had them respond to a chemical called methacholine that relaxes normal blood vessels. The blood vessels of the CSE-lacking mice hardly relaxed, indicating that hydrogen sulfide is a huge contender for regulating blood pressure. Hydrogen sulfide is the most recently discovered member of a family of gasotransmitters, small molecules inside our bodies with important physiological functions. This study is the first to reveal that the CSE enzyme that triggers hydrogen sulfide is activated itself in the same way as other enzymes when they trigger their respective gasotransmitter, such as a nitric oxide-forming enzyme that also regulates blood pressure, Dr. Snyder said. Because gasotransmitters are common in mammals all over the evolutionary tree, these findings on the importance of hydrogen sulfide are thought to have broad applications to human diseases, such as diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. The research was supported by grants from the U.S. Public Health Service and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research as well as a Research Scientist Award.
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