Barack Obama

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (AP) - Democrat John Edwards endorsed former rival Barack Obama on Wednesday, a move designed to help solidify support for the party's likely presidential nominee even as Hillary Rodham Clinton refuses to give up her long-shot candidacy. Edwards made a surprise appearance with Obama in Grand Rapids, Mich., as the Illinois senator campaigns in a critical general election battleground state. The endorsement came a day after Clinton defeated Obama by more than 2-to-1 in the West Virginia primary.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Speculation swirled over what appointments President-elect Barack Obama would make as he pivots from an election campaign to the task of building a Democratic administration. Obama was set Thursday to receive the first of what will become regular briefings on highly classified information from top intelligence officials. He has promised to hold a news conference later in the week as his transition team steps up its work. Obama's choice for chief of staff, Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, appeared conflicted over whether to take on what promises to be a grueling job. Emanuel told Chicago's WLS-TV that he was honored to be considered but needed to weigh the impact on his family.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama said Wednesday that reforming massive government entitlement programs - such as Social Security and Medicare - would be "a central part" of his effort to control federal spending. Obama made the pledge but provided few details as he named Nancy Killefer as his administration's chief performance officer, creating a new White House position aimed at eliminating government waste and improving efficiency. Noting that the Congressional Budget Office had just estimated he would inherit a $1.2 trillion federal deficit for fiscal 2009, Obama promised to cut unnecessary spending.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama said the economy seems destined to get worse before it gets better and he pledged a recovery plan "that is equal to the task ahead. " Obama also said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the survival of the domestic car-making capacity is important, yet any bailout must be "conditioned on an auto industry emerging at the end of the process that actually works. " Less than six weeks before he takes office, Obama said that help for homeowners facing foreclosure is an option as part of his plan.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama rejoined his family in Washington on Sunday evening after bidding a poignant farewell to his Chicago home as he begins final preparations for his Jan. 20 inauguration. "I've got to tell you, I choked up a little bit leaving my house today," Obama told reporters aboard a government 757 plane typically used by vice presidents and first ladies. It was his first trip on a government aircraft since winning election Nov. 4. Obama said pictures of his daughter, 10-year-old Malia, and her friends triggered the emotion as he left his Hyde Park home in Chicago.

MIDDLETOWN, Connecticut (AP) - Filling in for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and tying himself to the family's legacy, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama urged college graduates Sunday to "make us believe again" by dedicating themselves to public service. "We may disagree as Americans on certain issues and positions, but I believe we can be unified in service to a greater good. I intend to make it a cause of my presidency, and I believe with all my heart that this generation is ready and eager and up to the challenge," Obama told Wesleyan University's Class of 2008.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama promoted an economic plan Saturday he said would create 2.5 million jobs by rebuilding roads and bridges and modernizing schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars. "These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis. These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long," Obama said in the weekly Democratic radio address. The goal is to get the plan quickly through Congress, with help from both parties, after Obama takes office Jan. 20. The plan, which envisions those new jobs by January 2011, is "big enough to meet the challenges we face," he said.

CHICAGO. Illinois (AP) - The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized Wednesday to Barack Obama for making a "regretfully crude" comment about the Democratic presidential hopeful during what he thought was a private conversation three days ago. Jackson said the "hurtful and wrong" comments Sunday came in response to a question from a fellow guest during a break from taping "Fox & Friends. " The guest asked about speeches on morality Obama has given at black churches. Video from WBBM-TV Watch the Controversial Comments Jackson said at a news conference that he had replied that Obama's speeches can come off as speaking down to black people and that there were other important issues to be addressed in the community, such as unemployment, the mortgage crisis and the number of blacks in prison.

NEW YORK (AP) - A satirical New Yorker magazine cover cartoon depicting Barack Obama and his wife as flag-burning, fist-bumping radicals drew outrage from the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign as it appeared on newsstands Monday. The illustration, titled "The Politics of Fear and drawn by Barry Blitt, depicts Obama wearing traditional Muslim clothing - sandals, robe and turban - while his wife, Michelle, has an assault rifle slung over one shoulder and is dressed in camouflage and combat boots with her hair in an Afro.

CHICAGO (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday that he will resign from the Senate effective Sunday. In a statement, the junior Illinois senator called his four-year term "one of the highest honors and privileges" of his life and said the people of Illinois will stay with him as he leaves the Senate to begin "the hard task of fulfilling the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans as our nation's next president. " Obama won the presidency last week over Republican John McCain.