Ask five Americans about Barack Obama, and you're likely to get six opinions: America's not ready for a black president; America can't afford not to have a black president; Barack Obama isn't really black. We're about to find out. The wunderkind Chicago Senator became the party's presumptive nominee in June after clinching the magic number of delegates. Will the man who inspires comparisons, favorable and not, to Kennedy, make it all the way?http://www.newser.com/2008 - Newseren-usNewser Feed GeneratorMon, 06 Oct 2008 13:58:23 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39252/dems-win-registration-wars.html?refid=rss_all_defaultWith voter registration closing in many states today, it appears Barack Obama has largely succeeded in his attempt to make over the electorate, the Washington Post reports. Some 4 million new voters have registered across a dozen battleground states, with new Democrats greatly outnumbering new Republicans. In Florida, Obama has over twice as many new voters; in North Carolina. the ratio is roughly 6-1.http://www.newser.com/story/39252/dems-win-registration-wars.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 06 Oct 2008 9:31:08 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39267/hillary-raises-big-money-for-obama.html?refid=rss_all_defaultHillary Clinton has raised more than $8 million since July for Barack Obama, USA Today reports, and has hit 40 Obama campaign events in the past 2 months. She’ll headline two more Obama fundraisers this month, plus 11 events for other Democratic candidates. But while she’s raising money for others, her own campaign still owes $9 million to various vendors.http://www.newser.com/story/39267/hillary-raises-big-money-for-obama.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 06 Oct 2008 13:03:29 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39263/mccain-health-plan-would-shrink-medicare-medicaid.html?refid=rss_all_defaultJohn McCain’s health care plan, based on tax credits, would be funded by cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, which analysts say could amount to some $1.3 trillion over a decade. The move would allow McCain to uphold his pledge of a “budget neutral” health strategy, the Wall Street Journal reports, but the cuts appear to run counter to campaign statements that suggest tax increases would pay for the plan.http://www.newser.com/story/39263/mccain-health-plan-would-shrink-medicare-medicaid.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 06 Oct 2008 9:42:39 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39206/mac-still-taking-weekends-off.html?refid=rss_all_defaultThere are 29 scant days until Nov. 4, but you might not know there was a tight race for the White House given the leisurely schedules both candidates have been keeping—especially John McCain, reports Politico. McCain and Barack Obama have each been averaging barely more than one campaign event per day since the Republican convention ended, and McCain has taken at least a day off each weekend.http://www.newser.com/story/39206/mac-still-taking-weekends-off.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 06 Oct 2008 3:59:17 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39241/in-08-its-the-issues-stupid.html?refid=rss_all_defaultDespite the accepted wisdom that “superficialities” win American elections, “substance is in this year,” writes Michael Tomasky in the Guardian . Just look at the public response to the debates and the financial crisis: without zingers or folksy winks, Barack Obama and Joe Biden won the debates in “literally every poll I've seen,” Tomasky notes. And Obama’s policy-driven response to Wall Street turmoil gave him a surge in the polls.http://www.newser.com/story/39241/in-08-its-the-issues-stupid.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 06 Oct 2008 8:38:10 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39228/remember-keating-5-obama-would-like-to-remind-you.html?refid=rss_all_defaultBarack Obama’s campaign is releasing a video attack on John McCain’s role in the “Keating Five” scandal in the savings-and-loan crisis of the late ’80s and early ’90s, Politico reports. The video will appear online today amid what the Obama camp calls “guilt-by-association” tactics from McCain, including Sarah Palin’s recent focus on Obama’s ties to the ex-radical William Ayers.http://www.newser.com/story/39228/remember-keating-5-obama-would-like-to-remind-you.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 06 Oct 2008 6:40:52 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39253/obama-eyes-omaha-to-split-neb-votes.html?refid=rss_all_defaultForty-eight of 50 states award electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis, but Nebraska, divvies up electoral votes by congressional district—and the Obama campaign sees an opening, reports the Washington Post . By concentrating just on the Omaha area, the Democrats are trying to pick up a single electoral vote in a state that George W. Bush won by 22 points in 2004.http://www.newser.com/story/39253/obama-eyes-omaha-to-split-neb-votes.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 06 Oct 2008 6:51:24 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39214/palin-pumps-up-funding-for-both-sides.html?refid=rss_all_defaultPolitical action groups have spent far less on ads during this presidential election than they did in 2004, but Sarah Palin’s entry into the race has begun to push that number up, reports the Wall Street Journa l . Groups like Planned Parenthood have seen an uptick in donations from “scared and motivated” liberals—while voters on the right have rallied to fill the coffers of conservative groups.http://www.newser.com/story/39214/palin-pumps-up-funding-for-both-sides.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 06 Oct 2008 3:03:01 CDThttp://www.newser.com/story/39222/obama-ordered-to-return-illegal-donations.html?refid=rss_all_defaultBarack Obama’s record-breaking $485-million war chest includes a number of small, illegal donations that federal officials have ordered the campaign to return, reports Newsweek . The GOP has requested a federal investigation into Obama’s campaign finances, the Washington Post writes. Roughly half of Obama's funds have been raised through donations of $200 or less, which are exempt from disclosure regulations. The system can be manipulated by determined contributors.http://www.newser.com/story/39222/obama-ordered-to-return-illegal-donations.html?refid=rss_all_defaultMon, 06 Oct 2008 0:59:53 CDT