CAMPAIGN
Palin reasserts Obama-Ayers link
BURLINGAME, Calif. | Gov. Sarah Palin defended her claim that Sen. Barack Obama “pals around with terrorists,” saying the Democratic presidential nominee’s association with a 1960s radical is an issue that is “fair to talk about.”
On Sunday, Mr. Obama dismissed the criticism from the McCain campaign, leveled by Mrs. Palin, as “smears” meant to distract voters from real problems such as the troubled economy.
Mrs. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, made her first comments Saturday, repeating it at three events.
“The comments are about an association that has been known but hasn’t been talked about,” Mrs. Palin said Sunday as she boarded her plane in Long Beach, Calif. “I think it’s fair to talk about where Barack Obama kicked off his political career, in the guy’s living room.”
At issue is Mr. Obama’s association with Bill Ayers, a founder of the radical Weather Underground group during the Vietnam war era. Both have served on the same Chicago charity and live near each other. Mr. Ayers also let his home be used for a meet-the-candidate event to introduce Mr. Obama when he first ran for office in the mid-1990s.
Warning focuses on frozen chicken
The government is urging consumers to thoroughly cook frozen chicken dinners after 32 people in 12 states were sickened with salmonella poisoning.
The health warning by the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited frozen dishes in which the chicken is raw, but breaded or pre-browned, giving the appearance of being cooked. They include “chicken cordon bleu,” “chicken Kiev” or chicken breasts stuffed with cheese, vegetables or other items.
USDA said many of the people who became ill apparently did not follow the package’s cooking instructions and microwaved the chicken dishes even though the instructions did not provide for it. Microwaving didn’t heat the meals enough to kill the salmonella.
The department said consumers should cook chicken products to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees.
POLITICS
Indicted Jefferson wins spot in runoff
NEW ORLEANS | Rep. William J. Jefferson overcame the stigma of a federal bribery indictment in Louisiana’s Democratic primary on Saturday, garnering enough votes in his New Orleans-based congressional district to secure a spot in a Nov. 4 runoff.
Mr. Jefferson, seeking his 10th term in Congress, faces a December trial on charges that he took bribes, laundered money and misused his congressional office for business dealings in Africa.
With all of the votes counted, Mr. Jefferson led with 25 percent of the vote and was headed toward a runoff with former broadcaster Helena Moreno, who got 20 percent of the vote.
Mr. Jefferson sounded confident as he addressed a few dozen family members and supporters at a restaurant in a section of eastern New Orleans still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina. “We look forward to a rigorous campaign but a successful outcome,” Mr. Jefferson said.
CAMPAIGN
Biden cancels events after in-law dies
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden Jr. has canceled his campaign appearances Monday and Tuesday after the death of his mother-in-law Sunday.
Biden spokesman David Wade said Bonny Jean Jacobs, the mother of Jill Biden, died Sunday after a long illness.
Mrs. Jacobs was 78 and lived in Willow Grove, Pa. Mr. Wade described her as a “homemaker and avid gardener with a lifelong love of reading.”
”We appreciate everyone’s respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time,” Mr. Wade said, adding that the family is now together at home in Wilmington, Del.
Mr. Biden had been expected to campaign in Virginia on Sunday, but canceled because of Jacobs’ failing health
The death came the same day Mr. Biden’s son Beau deployed with his National Guard unit to a mobilization station in Texas before a tour in Iraq.
USDA
Food Stamp program gets new name
The federal Food Stamp Program is no more, reports Lisa Hoffmann of Scripps Howard News Service.
As of Oct. 1, its official name became the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture affectionately calls it, “SNAP.”
The USDA said the new, jazzed-up name represents the “advent of a new era” and “more accurately reflects the program’s mission.” Others say it represents the eternal impulse of government to employ more letters to say the same thing.
DIPLOMACY
U.S. reconsiders policy toward Syria
The United States is assessing its isolation policy of Syria in the final months of the Bush administration but is unlikely to return an ambassador to Damascus any time soon, a senior U.S. official said.
The official said there were talks on how best Washington could “influence” Damascus, particularly following the recent rapprochement between France and Syria, with President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to Damascus last month.
“We are seeing if there is some advantage in how we reconfigure ourselves diplomatically,” said the senior official, who asked not to be named as the issue is sensitive.
He told Reuters news agency late Friday that Washington’s move came amid some “encouraging signs” by Syria, such as its help in brokering the election of Lebanon’s president and decision to have diplomatic ties with the neighbor it dominated militarily for nearly three decades.
From wire dispatches and staff reports
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