The announcement bolsters the Democratic candidate in the early days of his Middle East trip. Meanwhile, John McCain visits with President George H.W. Bush in Maine.

After Barack Obama met with Iraqi leaders here on Monday, the Iraqi government outlined a possible schedule for a U.S. troop withdrawal that is similar to the plan the Democratic presidential candidate has pledged to follow if he is elected.

Her former donors step up in June to chip in over a million dollars to his campaign. His backers have barely made a dent in her $25-million debt.

Apparently heeding Hillary Rodham Clinton's plea to heal the rift in the Democratic Party, her donors gave as much as $1.6 million to Barack Obama's presidential campaign last month, campaign finance reports show.

The essay, about Iraq, was supposed to counter one by Obama.

John McCain has felt the sting of rejection for what he no doubt considered a finely wrought piece of prose (we know the feeling). But it appears that for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee (and perhaps one of his ghost writers), all's well that ends well.

Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren will interview each candidate separately, with a few minutes of overlap.

An Orange County pastor was able to do what no one else could: arrange John McCain and Barack Obama's first joint general-election campaign appearance.

As Los Angeles formulates a bike plan, politicians, residents, cyclists and motorists begin a long-overdue conversation about how best to coexist on the city's highways and byways.

It was big news when prosecutors filed criminal charges against a motorist who allegedly slammed on his brakes in front of two experienced cyclists July 4 on Mandeville Canyon Road, sending both to the hospital with serious injuries.

The Republican's support of his gay daughter energized conservatives to push Proposition 8 onto the ballot.

The campaign against same-sex marriage in California was treading water until it got help from an unexpected corner: a Republican mayor choking up and announcing he would not betray his gay daughter.

The candidate is a tricky target for comedy, but performers in his adopted hometown are happy to poke fun.

Comedians and satirists here have learned what their peers across the country are finding out about making fun of Barack Obama.

Fair Political Practices Commission issues warning letters instead of publicly announced fines for breaches deemed minor or inadvertent. Watchdogs fear the policy will lead to less transparency.

Since a shift in enforcement policy last year, more than a dozen elected state officials, including leaders of the Legislature and Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, have been quietly let off the hook for some violations of campaign finance laws, receiving warning letters instead of publicly announced fines.

He lags behind Obama, but is cooperating with party fundraisers to raise more than individual limits allow.

Wall Street, gambling and energy interests have contributed generously to presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain and the GOP as they amass money for the fall campaign, according to newly filed campaign finance reports.

Barack Obama's 'radical positions on life, marriage and national security force me to reevaluate the candidacy of our only other choice,' the conservative Christian leader says.

Conservative Christian leader James C. Dobson has softened his stance against Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, saying he could reverse his position and endorse the Arizona senator.