Presidential Election 2008:
▪  In today's Washington Post -- Obama up by 10 points as McCain favorability ratings fall -- Overall, Obama is leading 53% to 43% among likely voters, and for the first time in the general-election campaign, voters gave the Democrat a clear edge on tax policy and providing strong leadership.
▪  In today's Washington Post -- Clintons join Biden to campaign for Obama in PA -- "It took a Democratic president to clean up after the last President Bush; it's going to take a Democratic president to clean up after this president," says Sen. Hillary Clinton.
▪  Today from AP -- McCain offers mixed signals on economic plan -- McCain's campaign is sending mixed signals about whether he will offer new proposals to address the financial crisis. 
▪  In today's NY Times -- The man behind the whispers about Obama -- Andy Martin, the man who started false rumors about Obama being a Muslim, has left a trail of animosity -- some of it provoked by anti-Jewish comments -- among political leaders, lawyers and judges in three states over more than 30 years. He is a law school graduate, but his admission to the Illinois bar was blocked in the 1970s after a psychiatric finding of “moderately severe character defect manifested by well-documented ideation with a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character.”

Local news:
▪  In today's Columbian -- Unions still big players in local politics -- Even as union membership has dropped, members’ political donations have swelled at every level of government.
▪  In the Spokesman-Review -- Kaiser Aluminum lays off 36 employees -- The economic slowdown cost 36 workers their jobs, but USW 3358 says could be rehired when business recovers.
▪  In today's News Tribune -- Puyallup's 911 dispatchers complain about overtime -- Their union (AFSCME) says the 14 dispatchers are working three times the OT hours they were in March. 
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Regional economy: Jobs, jobs, jobs (editorial) -- While there should be a strategic review about how government can help lure employers, it's also worth recalling the direct role that government can play in job creation. Some of the region's greatest assets were either built or improved during the Great Depression as employment projects.

National news:
▪  From AP -- Columnist Paul Krugman wins Nobel Prize for Economics -- The New York Times columnist has been a harsh critic of the Bush administration and the Republican Party. He has come out forcefully against McCain during the economic crisis, saying he is "more frightening now than he was a few weeks ago" and earlier that the GOP has become "the party of stupid."
▪  In today's NY Times -- Gordon does good (column by Nobel-winner Paul Krugman) -- Gordon Brown and the British government has shown itself willing to think clearly about the financial crisis, and act quickly on its conclusions. And this combination of clarity and decisiveness hasn’t been matched by any other Western government, least of all our own.

The public is invited to join the Washington Fair Trade Coalition and Bellevue Community College's Center for Liberal Arts at an Election Town Hall on Trade Policy and the Economy on Thursday from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at BCC in Room N201 (map & directions). This is a great opportunity to gather together with congressional candidates and community leaders to discuss how we can improve America's trade policy in the public interest.

Speakers include Darcy Burner (D), congressional candidate in the 8th District; U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert (R), incumbent candidate in the 8th District (not confirmed); Larry Ishmael (R), congressional candidate in the 1st District; David Henry of Machinists District 751; Kathleen Ridihalgh  of the Sierra Club Cascade Chapter; and Gaylan Prescott of the USW.

The speakers will present their views on how U.S. trade policy should be changed or improved in the next administration. There will be plenty of time for questions from the audience, so bring your questions and ideas on trade.

This will be a non-partisan event discussing trade policy issues. The Washington Fair Trade Coalition does not endorse any party or candidates. It does like to hold candidates' feet to the fire, however. You can help by asking the tough questions of our congressional candidates and community leaders.

Organizational sponsors include the Washington Fair Trade Coalition, Bellevue Community College Center for Liberal Arts, BCC Associated Student Government Legislative Council, the Washington State Labor Council, and the Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council.