NATIONAL
August 3, 2008 | Mark Z. Barabak, Times Staff Writer
Race has bedeviled this country from the start, when the Founding Fathers ducked the slavery issue for fear of killing the nation in its cradle. Obviously, much has changed. For one thing, Americans are seriously weighing the prospect of elevating a black man to the White House in November. But as this past week's debate over "the race card" illustrates, there is still no subject in American politics as fraught as the color of a candidate's skin.
NATIONAL
June 24, 2008 | Noam N. Levey and Ken Bensinger, Times Staff Writers
Sen. John McCain added an unusual twist to his emerging energy agenda Monday, promising to award a $300-million prize to the inventor of a next-generation battery that could power electric vehicles. The prize amount is small relative to the billions of dollars the federal government spends on other energy industries. The Bush administration has already pledged $1.2 billion toward research on hydrogen fuel cells, a technology that proponents say is 10 or more years from viability.
NATIONAL
September 24, 2008 | From the Associated Press
The lobbying firm of John McCain's campaign manager was paid $15,000 a month for several years until last month by one of two housing companies taken over by the federal government, a person familiar with the financial arrangement said Tuesday night. That money from Freddie Mac to Rick Davis' firm was on top of more than $30,000 a month that went directly to Davis for five years starting in 2000.
NATIONAL
August 8, 2008 | Dan Morain and Christian Berthelsen, Times Staff Writers
John McCain decided Thursday to return about $50,000 in campaign contributions from California donors, after media reports questioned how a businessman with a lucrative federal defense contract raised the money. Harry Sargeant III, a prominent figure in the Florida Republican Party, has raised about $500,000 for McCain's presidential bid. The Washington Post was first to question Sargeant’s donor network.
NATIONAL
July 11, 2008 | Ralph Vartabedian and Richard A. Serrano, Times Staff Writers
Outside her Bel-Air home, Nancy Reagan stood arm in arm with John McCain and offered a significant -- but less than exuberant -- endorsement. "Ronnie and I always waited until everything was decided, and then we endorsed," the Republican matriarch said in March. "Well, obviously this is the nominee of the party." They were the only words she would speak during the five-minute photo op. In a written statement, she described McCain as "a good friend for over 30 years."
NATIONAL
October 6, 2008 | Ralph Vartabedian and Richard A. Serrano, Times Staff Writers
John McCain was training in his AD-6 Skyraider on an overcast Texas morning in 1960 when he slammed into Corpus Christi Bay and sheared the skin off his plane's wings. McCain recounted the accident decades later in his autobiography. "The engine quit while I was practicing landings," he wrote. But an investigation board at the Naval Aviation Safety Center found no evidence of engine failure.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
December 30, 2009 | By Patrick McGreevy
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't the only Hollywood celebrity shaping legislation in the state Capitol this past year. Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rodriguez and Sean Penn were among the A-listers who took on starring roles in crafting or promoting new laws. When state lawmakers enacted a measure cracking down on the paparazzi, Aniston played a key part in shaping the legislation. Landmark legislation to improve the state's water supply was pushed through under pressure from a group of Latino farmers led by actor and comedian Rodriguez.
NATIONAL
May 5, 2008 | Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Times Staff Writer
If John McCain becomes president, Americans would be steered toward buying individual health insurance policies, and job-related coverage eventually could decline. If Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton wins, more people would get their insurance from the government -- with many workers offered the equivalent of Medicare and employers facing new coverage mandates. In the past, voters sometimes have complained that there was little difference between Republicans and Democrats.
NATIONAL
May 13, 2008 | Faye Fiore, Times Staff Writer
Now that the presidential contest is looking ever more like a two-man race, the country can't help but marvel: John McCain, once a longshot, wouldn't lie down. Barack Obama, the new kid, charmed voters. And Hillary Rodham Clinton, an early favorite, has yet to surrender. But Arlyn J. Imberman would say clues to the nomination fight were in plain sight, every time a candidate wrote a thank-you note, inscribed a memoir or autographed a pair of boxing gloves.
NATIONAL
July 10, 2008 | Cathleen Decker, Times Staff Writer
Carly Fiorina is one of John McCain's chief surrogates, particularly with that key group, women. But Fiorina, ousted as chief of Hewlett-Packard in 2005, is not above rounding the edges on straight talk. On Monday, as she discussed healthcare, she veered from a discussion of Viagra -- never a good idea for a campaign surrogate -- and seemed to stake out a new stance for McCain. "Let me give you a real, live example, which I've been hearing a lot about from women.