RALEIGH, N.C. — A group of people protesting the impact of big oil companies on the presidential elections will rally at 5 p.m. Wendesday at the Colony Shoping Center by the Exxon Station at Millbrook and Six Forks Road.

A Coalition of Progressive Groups are sponsoring the rally.

“The impact of Big Oil can be seen in our current energy crisis, especially in the price of gas.  Participants wish to draw attention to the impact of Big Oil in the political and social fabric of our country, and to argue against this impact,” according to the group’s press release.

For more information, contact Terry Thompson at (540) 538-2856

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Obama campaign Monday announced Marc Farinella as North Carolina State Director for the general election campaign.
 
Farinella was director of Senator Evan Bayh’s Presidential Exploratory Committee as well as Senator Bayh’s All America PAC.  Previously, he served as Chief of Staff to then Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan and as campaign manager in Governor Carnahan’s 2000 bid for U.S. Senate, which Carnahan won posthumously.  Farinella has served as an adviser to candidates across the country, including Erskine Bowles in 2002 and Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue in 2004.  

CHICAGO —Senator Barack Obama’s visit to North Carolina Monday will be postponed to a future date due to a maintenance issue with Senator Obama’s plane.
 
While en route to North Carolina, Senator Obama’s plane was diverted to St. Louis for a maintenance check.  The plane is remaining in St. Louis until the check is completed and as a result Senator Obama will not be able to hold his event today in Charlotte.  Senator Obama will return to the Tar Heel state again soon and looks forward to a continuing discussion with hard-working North Carolina families about his agenda to strengthen our economy and bring the change America needs.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - John McCain is starting a California campaign that might already be over.

The Republican presidential candidate opens a handful of political offices this week in the nation’s most populous state, the historical turf of Reagan and Nixon that in recent years has become a Democratic fortress in presidential contests.

The Arizona senator boasts that he can win California’s 55 electoral votes, the biggest prize on Nov. 4, but he’s running as the Republican successor to GOP President George Bush, whose approval rating is at an all-time low in the state. Three of four voters say the nation is on the wrong track, and McCain’s opposition to abortion rights and his support for the Iraq war and offshore drilling leave him out of step with a potentially decisive swath of Californians. (more…)