McCain secured the Republican nomination thanks to a decisive win over former nominee Mike Huckabee. But with the star power and oratory smarts of Obama, how will the 72-year-old senator handle the competition?http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorThu, 28 Aug 2008 7:41:46 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35999/mccain-picks-running-mate-but-hes-not-telling-yet.html?refid=rss_all_defaultJohn McCain has picked his running mate, but he's not telling just yet, Politico reports. McCain will reportedly inform his vice-presidential pick tomorrow, then unveil his choice to the nation on Friday. The two are then expected to campaign in battleground states this weekend, ahead of the GOP convention on Monday. Speculation remains centered on Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and political chameleon Joe Lieberman.http://www.newser.com/story/35999/mccain-picks-running-mate-but-hes-not-telling-yet.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 27 Aug 2008 21:23:24 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35976/mccain-cleverly-made-race-factor-emanuel.html?refid=rss_all_defaultJohn McCain’s campaign managed to slip the issue of race into the presidential election, Democratic heavyweight Rahm Emanuel said today. “They got it through customs," Emanuel said at a Politico-hosted roundtable, characterizing the Republicans’ tactic of injecting race with reaction to a perceived offense by Barack Obama. "They did a good job bringing up a topic they wanted brought up,” Emanuel continued.http://www.newser.com/story/35976/mccain-cleverly-made-race-factor-emanuel.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 27 Aug 2008 14:19:52 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35978/arnold-may-skip-gop-convention.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWhen the Republican convention opens Monday night, its prime-time lineup could be missing one of its biggest draws: Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor is vowing to remain in California if lawmakers can’t strike a budget deal, now 2 months overdue. And agreement seems unlikely, potentially costing Schwarzenegger a national platform and John McCain a high-profile supporter who has been popular with independent voters.http://www.newser.com/story/35978/arnold-may-skip-gop-convention.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 27 Aug 2008 15:08:00 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35971/gop-leaves-alaska-drilling-off-platform.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe committee assembling the Republican Party’s election platform has officially taken drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge off the table, in an effort to help John McCain’s presidential campaign, the AP reports. McCain doesn’t support tapping the protected lands, and committee members say they’d rather convert McCain on the issue after he’s elected.http://www.newser.com/story/35971/gop-leaves-alaska-drilling-off-platform.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 27 Aug 2008 13:07:51 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35942/biden-complicates-mccains-veep-calculus.html?refid=rss_all_defaultJoe Biden presents a problem for John McCain, Jeanne Cummings notes on Politico. “McCain knows Biden well," says one Republican insider. "He knows how good he is as a knife fighter." Stacked up against Biden, all of the rumored GOP short-listers reveal potentially fatal flaws:   Mitt Romney: Considering Biden's middle-class roots, the multimillionaire former governor could undermine McCain's claims of Obama elitism.http://www.newser.com/story/35942/biden-complicates-mccains-veep-calculus.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWed, 27 Aug 2008 8:40:21 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35881/mccain-steps-up-foreign-policy-attacks.html?refid=rss_all_defaultJohn McCain continued his effort today to paint Barack Obama’s as a soft, cocky cosmopolitan who would diminish the nation's strength, Politico reports. Before a crowd of veterans, McCain attacked Obama’s foreign policy credibility. "If he really thinks that, by liberating Iraq from a dangerous tyrant, America somehow set a bad example that invited Russia to invade a small, peaceful and democratic nation, then he should state it outright—because that is a debate I welcome.”http://www.newser.com/story/35881/mccain-steps-up-foreign-policy-attacks.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 26 Aug 2008 16:43:39 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35862/mccain-borrows-clintons-3am-attack.html?refid=rss_all_defaultJohn McCain has resurrected Hillary Clinton’s “3am” attack ad, and will be running a modified version in several battleground states, USA Today reports. The Republican's ad reruns a portion of Clinton’s, along with clips of Clinton attacking Obama’s experience, and ends with the tag, “Hillary’s right.” The move continues McCain’s recent tactic of wooing Clinton voters by accentuating the Democrats’ primary differences.http://www.newser.com/story/35862/mccain-borrows-clintons-3am-attack.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 26 Aug 2008 11:17:05 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35841/its-health-not-age-that-matters.html?refid=rss_all_defaultAt 72, John McCain would be the oldest person elected president, but should that matter to voters? Probably not, according to geriatrics experts consulted by the Wall Street Journal. “Aging has such a small impact on how we function that it is of minimal importance,” says one specialist. Though brain functions deteriorate with age, that decline is offset by experience, and older brains do unconscious work-arounds to compensate for slower retrieval speed.http://www.newser.com/story/35841/its-health-not-age-that-matters.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 26 Aug 2008 8:56:13 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/35789/gop-looks-to-rain-on-convention-parade.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThe days of the parties giving each other a breather during convention week are long gone, the New York Times reports. As Democrats reveled in Denver yesterday, the Republicans began popping balloons--launching attack ads, holding press conferences underscoring the Clinton-Obama divide, and trotting their candidate out on the Tonight Show. The Dems, for their part, plan to be just as aggressive during the Republican National Convention.http://www.newser.com/story/35789/gop-looks-to-rain-on-convention-parade.html?refid=rss_all_defaultTue, 26 Aug 2008 5:33:58 CDT