Today on the presidential campaign trail

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IN THE HEADLINES

McCain uses speech to pro-Israel group to criticize Obama on Iran ... Clinton wins most Puerto Rico delegates, but Obama moves closer to nomination ... Obama, Clinton try to wrap up nomination with American Indian votes

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McCain criticizes Obama on Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican John McCain raised the specter of a nuclear Iran in a speech to a pro-Israel group, once again chastising Democrat Barack Obama for his willingness to meet with leaders of Iran and other U.S. foes.

McCain has criticized Obama for saying in a debate last year that he would meet leaders of Iran and other U.S. foes without preconditions. The Arizona senator argues Obama is naive and inexperienced to think that such a meeting would yield progress.

"It's hard to see what such a summit with President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad would actually gain, except an earful of anti-Semitic rants, and a worldwide audience for a man who denies one Holocaust and talks before frenzied crowds about starting another," McCain told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

He criticized Obama for seeming to suggest that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear program because the U.S. refuses to engage in presidential-level talks. McCain said the Clinton administration in particular tried to engage Iran for two years, even lifting some sanctions, to no avail.

In his speech, McCain also called for measures aimed at increasing pressure on Iran, such as severely limiting Iranian imports of gasoline, targeted sanctions such as denying visas and freezing assets and a worldwide campaign to divest from companies doing business with Iran.

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Puerto Rico moves Obama closer to nomination

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton won most of the delegates in Puerto Rico's primary Sunday, but Barack Obama crept closer to clinching the Democratic nomination for president.

Clinton won 38 delegates and Obama won 17, according to an Associated Press analysis of election results. All of the Puerto Rico delegates have been allocated.

Obama has a total of 2,073 delegates, leaving him 45 shy of the number needed to clinch the nomination, with two primaries remaining. Clinton has 1916.5, according to the latest tally by the AP.

Obama also picked up two superdelegates Sunday, which means he has made up most of the ground he lost Saturday when the national party's rules committee voted to reinstate delegates from Michigan and Florida. The delegates had been stripped because the two states violated party rules by holding primaries before Feb. 5.

Before Saturday's decision, Obama was 42 delegates shy of the nomination. Seating delegates from Florida and Michigan increased the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination to 2,118.

There are a total of 31 delegates at stake in Tuesday's contests in Montana and South Dakota. If Clinton and Obama split them, Obama would need to pick up about 30 superdelegates to secure the nomination.

There are about 200 superdelegates left to be claimed. Clinton would need more than 180 of them.

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Obama, Clinton woo American Indian voters

CROW AGENCY, Mont. (AP) — In a tight Democratic race, American Indians living in poor conditions on isolated prairie reservations could have a pivotal voice in the selection of a presidential candidate. As a result, they're hearing a lot of promises from politicians: better health care, improved housing and stepped-up law enforcement in Indian country.

Their votes could be decisive in the last two Democratic primaries, Tuesday's votes in Montana and South Dakota, that Barack Obama would very much like to win to bring him closer to the Democratic nomination. He and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who would like victories just as much, are wooing the oft-ignored Indian vote — which is small, but big enough to matter this year.

"Indian country could make the difference in South Dakota and Montana, no question about it," said former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, an Obama supporter who narrowly lost re-election in 2004 after campaigning extensively on reservations.

To get out the vote on reservations, both campaigns dispatched American Indian outreach coordinators to educate voters. The candidates themselves held several one-on-one meetings with tribal leaders.

"For a presidential campaign there has never been anything quite like this," Daschle said.

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THE DELEGATE BREAKDOWN

Barack Obama: 2,073 — 45 short of the nomination

Hillary Rodham Clinton: 1,916.5

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THE DEMOCRATS

Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigns in South Dakota. Barack Obama talks with voters in Troy, Mich.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's conference in Washington before stopping in Nashville, Tenn.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"It does appear to be pretty clear that Senator Obama is going to be the nominee. After Tuesday's contests, she needs to acknowledge that he's going to be the nominee and quickly get behind him." — Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa governor and a national co-chairman of Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

South Dakota has voted Democratic for president just four times — 1896, 1932, 1936 and 1964 — since it joined the union in 1889.

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Compiled by Ann Sanner.

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