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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, September 18, 2008

'60 Minutes' will profile candidates

Advertiser news services

NEW YORK — CBS' "60 Minutes" will devote its full broadcast Sunday to profiles of Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama with fresh interviews, hoping to set the stage for the general election campaign's first presidential debate on Sept. 26.

Scott Pelley plans to interview McCain in Wisconsin today, the same day Steve Kroft is talking to Obama in Nevada. Both candidates also talked with the CBS newsmen earlier for pieces that will be unusually long by "60 Minutes" standards.

The separate, nearly 20-minute pieces will mix profile material with a snapshot of a moment in the campaign.

CLINTON ESCHEWS PALIN FOR MCCAIN

NEW YORK — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is avoiding a public face-off with Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin while still raising money and votes for the Democrat who wrested the presidential nomination from her.

Advisers to party nominee Sen. Barack Obama and Clinton say she will resist pressure to speak out against Palin, believing it would diminish her own stature while creating a sideshow that would distract voters from the contest at the top of the ticket. Any mention Clinton makes of Palin will only be in the context of her partnership with GOP nominee Sen. John McCain, aides said.

The New York senator abruptly canceled an appearance at a rally protesting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after learning that Palin had also been invited to the event scheduled next week outside the United Nations. Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines said Clinton was never told the Alaska governor would be there.

PALIN'S E-MAIL ACCOUNT HACKED

WASHINGTON — Hackers broke into the Yahoo! e-mail account that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used for official business as Alaska's governor, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since Sen. John McCain selected her as his running mate.

"This is a shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law. The matter has been turned over to the appropriate authorities and we hope that anyone in possession of these e-mails will destroy them," the McCain campaign said in a statement.

The disclosure yesterday raises new questions about the propriety of the Palin administration's use of nongovernment e-mail accounts to conduct state business. The practice was revealed months ago — prior to Palin's selection as a vice presidential candidate — after political critics obtained internal e-mails documenting the practice by some aides.

One of the e-mails apparently revealed yesterday was an exchange in July with Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell discussing a talk show host who had been critical of Parnell. Parnell declined to discuss the matter.

CLINTON FUNDRAISER ENDORSES MCCAIN

WASHINGTON — A top Hillary Rodham Clinton fundraiser threw her support behind Republican Sen. John McCain yesterday, accusing the Democrats of becoming too extreme.

"I believe that Barack Obama, with MoveOn.org and Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean, has taken the Democratic Party — and they will continue to — too far to the left," Lynn Forester de Rothschild said. "I'm not comfortable there."

Rothschild is also a member of the Democratic National Committee's Platform Committee. She said she would be stepping down from her position on the committee but will not switch political parties.