McCain accepts...Obama camp reacts...Jesse Jackson ailing

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) John McCain has claimed the GOP presidential nomination, vowing to stamp out the "constant partisan rancor" that grips Washington. And just before he and sarah palin launch the next phase of the campaign, he warned those he called the "me-first, country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming."


UNDATED (AP) Reacting to McCain's speech, Barack Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, McCain admonished the old, do-nothing crowd in Washington, but ignored the fact that he's been part of that crowd for 26 years. He says McCain has been opposing solutions on health care, energy, and education.

CHICAGO (AP) The Reverend Jesse Jackson is undergoing tests after complaining of severe stomach pains. He tells The Associated Press he entered a Chicago hospital Wednesday after getting sick earlier in the week. He says doctors told him he may have become dehydrated. He'd been working hard on voter registration in Georgia.

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) The governors of Virginia and North Carolina have declared states of emergency, with Tropical Storm Hanna on its way. Officials have urged residents to head inland as the storm heads toward the Atlantic coast, where it could bring high winds and rain from South Carolina to Maine. Meanwhile, Hurricane Ike is still raging in the distance.

WASHINGTON (AP) Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says Congress needs to give the government new powers to handle troubled companies to minimize any potential losses to American taxpayers. He warns against using the Fed as a "magical piggy bank." (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 09-04-08 2348CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list