Today on the presidential campaign trail

IN THE HEADLINES

McCain disavows aide's comment that another terrorist attack on U.S. benefits GOP candidate ... Obama talks to women about the women who shaped his life ... Gas at $4 brings promises, pandering on campaign trail; few prospects for results ... McCain offers $300 million prize for new auto battery that can reduce dependence on oil ... Obama, Clinton to campaign together in Unity, N.H.

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McCain disavows aide's comment about terrorism

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - John McCain distanced himself Monday from a top adviser who said another terrorist attack on the United States in this election year would benefit the Republican presidential candidate.

Charlie Black, an adviser already in the spotlight for his past lobbying work, is quoted in the coming July 7 edition of Fortune magazine as saying such an attack "certainly would be a big advantage to him."

Black is also quoted as saying the "unfortunate event" of the assassination of former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto "helped us."

McCain was questioned about Black's comments during a news conference.

"I cannot imagine why he would say it. It's not true," the Arizona senator said. "I've worked tirelessly since 9/11 to prevent another attack on the United States of America. My record is very clear."

Citing his work to create a commission to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as well as his membership on the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain added: "I cannot imagine it, and so, if he said that - and I don't know the context - I strenuously disagree."

Black, interviewed by reporters outside a McCain fundraiser, said he regretted the comments. "They were inappropriate."

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Obama tells women he supports equal pay

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama, determined to win over female voters, talked Monday about the women who helped shape his life in arguing that he would be a better proponent of equal pay than Republican John McCain.

The presumed Democratic nominee toured a baking facility and chatted with female workers about their economic challenges.

Obama told how he was raised by a single mother and his grandmother, who made sacrifices to support their family. He told them that Sen. McCain opposed legislation earlier this year that would have made it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination. Obama supported the bill.

"I'll continue to stand up for equal pay as president - Senator McCain won't, and that's a real difference in this election," Obama said.

McCain has said he supports equal pay for women but had said the measure would lead to more lawsuits.

Obama also said he would expand the child care tax credit, increase funding for after-school programs and expand the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover small businesses with as few as 25 employees.

Later during a question-and-answer session with about 30 women, Obama said he constantly questions the balance of work and family in his life.

"I'm away from my daughters all the time, and I'm away from my wife all the time," Obama said. "And so I'm always comparing, 'OK, is what I'm doing - running for president or even being president - worth the sacrifice of not being with my family?'"

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Gas at $4 brings promises, pandering

WASHINGTON (AP) - Like two rival filling-station owners across the highway in long-bygone price wars, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain keep putting up flashy signs and offering new incentives in hopes of attracting customers battered by $4 gas prices.

McCain is offering a summer break from the 18.4-cent federal gasoline tax, and holding out the promise of more offshore drilling to help you drive more cheaply to the beach. He wants to build 45 new nuclear reactors to generate electricity. On Monday, he proposed a $300 million government prize to anyone who can develop a superior battery to power cars of the future.

He may even wash your windows.

If you pull into the Obama station, he'll promise you cash back from the windfall-profits tax he plans to slap on Big Oil. Check the tires? How about promises to go after oil-market speculators who help drive up prices as well as big subsidies for solar, wind, ethanol and other alternative-energy projects? The Illinois senator likens his energy package to the Kennedy-era space program.

Oil and gas prices that have doubled in the past year have squeezed aside the war in Iraq as the No. 1 issue this election year and both parties are blaming each other for the price spike - and for apparent congressional paralysis.

Obama and McCain have made high gas prices a top issue in their campaigns and have offered dueling remedies aimed at easing them. Their positions are being echoed daily by their surrogates on Capitol Hill. And both make it sound as if only their proposals would chart the path to lower fuel prices and a final cure for what President Bush once labeled the nation's addiction to foreign oil.

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McCain offers $300 million prize for new auto battery

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Monday that the search for alternatives to the country's dependence on foreign oil is so urgent that he's willing to throw money at it.

The Arizona senator proposed a $300 million prize for whoever can develop a better automobile battery, and $5,000 tax credits for consumers who buy new zero-emission vehicles. The latest proposal is in addition to his support for overturning the federal ban on offshore oil drilling.

"In the quest for alternatives to oil, our government has thrown around enough money subsidizing special interests and excusing failure. From now on, we will encourage heroic efforts in engineering, and we will reward the greatest success," McCain said in a speech at Fresno State University.

McCain's energy speech built off of one last week in which he proposed ending a decades-old federal ban on offshore oil drilling. McCain said gasoline prices of more $4-a-gallon makes it imperative the country consider a host of alternatives, including nuclear power and, if the host state approves it, offshore oil drilling.

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Former rivals to meet in Unity, N.H.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton plan to campaign together Friday in the small New Hampshire town of Unity, their first joint appearance meant to ease tensions over the closely fought Democratic primary.

The location, announced Monday, was chosen not only for the symbolism of its name, but because each candidate received exactly 107 votes there in the Jan. 8 primary that Clinton won. New Hampshire is a critical battleground state in November. Republican John McCain won the state's primary in his unsuccessful 2000 presidential bid and prevailed again this year.

The rally will be the day after Obama and Clinton meet privately Thursday in Washington with former Clinton donors. The former first lady will introduce Obama to her financial backers, who have been slow to embrace her one-time opponent.

Clinton, a New York senator, suspended her campaign for the Democratic nomination earlier this month after Obama, an Illinois senator, secured enough delegates to clinch the nomination.

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DAILY TRACK

Democrat Barack Obama is running slightly ahead nationally of Republican John McCain, 46 percent to 43 percent, among registered voters in the presidential race, according to the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Barack Obama campaigned in New Mexico.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain campaigned in California.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"I'm backing Senator Obama. I expect to work as hard as I need to, as I'm called on to do to make certain that he is the next president." - Elizabeth Edwards, wife of one-time Democratic candidate John Edwards, on ABC's "Good Morning America."

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STAT OF THE DAY:

John McCain won California's Republican presidential primary in February with 42 percent of the vote. Mitt Romney garnered 34 percent, compared with Mike Huckabee's almost 12 percent.

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Compiled by Ann Sanner.