ON THE TRAIL

June 27, 2008

Barack Obama has won over more than half of Hillary Rodham Clinton's former supporters, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll. The poll suggests time is beginning to heal some rifts from the primary campaign, and that Clinton's endorsement of Obama carried weight. But the poll, taken in the days after Clinton suspended her campaign, shows that Obama's progress with Clinton supporters is far from complete. More than one in five who had backed Clinton now plan to support Republican John McCain in the fall. "We still have work to do," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told reporters.

The 15-million member AFL-CIO endorsed Obama for president yesterday, giving him access to organized labor's massive bank accounts and political machinery. However, the Republican National Committee said the endorsement contradicts Obama's stated objections to special interests. "Obama is putting his own political interests first, accepting the sort of support he used to rail against," said spokesman Alex Conant.

McCain and Obama would sit at a table at two of three presidential debates this fall, according to a formal proposal unveiled yesterday, which, perhaps unintentionally, would neutralize Obama's height advantage. Obama is about 6 feet 1 inch tall; McCain is 5-foot-9. The Commission on Presidential Debates proposed the less formal talk-show format for two of three 90-minute debates it's seeking this fall. The remaining debate would be a town-hall-style session. The leaders of the bipartisan commission said the candidates' seating arrangements at the debates still could be open to negotiation. The proposed debates are: Sept. 26 at the University of Mississippi; Oct. 7 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., the town hall session, and Oct. 15 at Hofstra University in Hempstead.

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Related topic galleries: Barack Obama, Hofstra University, Elections, Hillary Clinton, Polls, John McCain, Government

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