Guam goes to Obama; Clinton loses super

HAGATNA, Guam — Barack Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton by seven votes in the Guam Democratic presidential caucuses Saturday.

Results of the count completed early today show delegates pledged to Obama with 2,264 votes to 2,257 for Clinton's slate. Eight pledged delegates will attend the convention, each with one-half vote, giving the two candidates two pledged delegates each.

The territory also has five superdelegates. Voters picked two, electing uncommitted Pilar Lujan party chairman and Jaime Paulino vice chairman. Paulino ran as an Obama supporter. One other superdelegate endorsed Clinton earlier.

The vote for party chairman and vice chairman also added a superdelegate for Obama and subtracted one for Clinton because the outgoing vice chair had endorsed her.

Obama now has 1,490 pledged delegates and Clinton has 1,338. Including superdelegates, Obama leads 1,742-1,607, according to The Associated Press. A total of 2,025 is needed to win the nomination.

Candidates renew gas-tax debate

INDIANAPOLIS — Broadening his attack, Barack Obama said Saturday that Hillary Rodham Clinton's support for a summertime break from the federal gasoline tax symbolizes a candidacy consisting of "phony ideas, calculated to win elections instead of actually solving problems."

"We've seen this from him before," the former first lady shot back. "Instead of attacking the problem, he's attacking my solutions."

The two rivals campaigned across Indiana and North Carolina, three days before the states' primaries.

The gasoline-tax issue has emerged as a key dividing line.

Clinton and Republican Sen. John McCain have both proposed suspending the levy from Memorial Day to Labor Day as a way of providing relief from record gasoline prices for consumers. Obama opposes the plan, saying it would save a mere 30 cents a day and cost thousands of construction jobs. Money from the tax goes into a federal fund that pays for highway projects such as bridge and road construction.

McCain clarifies Iraq comment

PHOENIX — Republican John McCain has clarified comments suggesting that the Iraq war involved U.S. reliance on foreign oil. He said he was talking about the first Gulf War and not the current conflict.

At issue was a comment he made at a town hall-style meeting Friday morning in Denver.

"My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East," McCain said.

The presumptive GOP nominee sought to clarify his comments later in the day, in Phoenix. "No, no, I was talking about that we had fought the Gulf War for several reasons," McCain told reporters.

It was the second time in as many days that McCain had to clarify his comments. On Thursday, the Arizona senator backed off an assertion that pork-barrel spending led to last year's deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

Oregon ballots to set record

SALEM, Ore. — Over the years, Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury has appeared at more than 100 high schools to drive home the message that young people should register and vote.

It hasn't taken much coaxing to get more young people registered for the May primary.

Across the state, elections offices this weekend are beginning to ship a record-shattering 2.2 million mail ballots to registered voters, largely the result of a history-making presidential race that has brought out tens of thousands of new, younger voters.

"This just thrills me," Bradbury said. "It's hugely satisfying to have Oregon's primary actually mean something for the first time in 40 years."

Oregon's mail-in primary is one of the last in the nation — votes are counted May 20.

Seattle Times news services