STAUNTON — As the first African-American to serve as lieutenant governor of Maryland, Michael Steele is understandably proud of Democrat Barack Obama’s candidacy for president.

HARRISONBURG — The woman whose son could be the next president of the United States said Wednesday he was a born leader.

HARRISONBURG — Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, came to the Shenandoah Valley on Tuesday to rally Republicans and assure a strong showing for his friend, Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, in a critical part of what has become a battleground state.

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — John McCain assailed Barack Obama’s character and his campaign positions on taxes, abortion and more Wednesday night, hoping to turn their final presidential debate into a launching pad for a political comeback. “You didn’t tell the American people the truth,” he said.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — President Bush hailed John McCain on Tuesday night as a man “ready to lead this nation” and a courageous candidate who risked his White House ambitions to support an unpopular Iraq war. Republicans defended vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin in the face of fresh controversy.

The candidate with the carefully coiffed reputation for straight talk finally delivered some Saturday in the hospitable environs of Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, and in the process took one of two necessary steps to win the voting affections of conservatives en route to Pennsylvania Avenue.

HARRISONBURG — Sen. John McCain is opposed to the federal mandates and subsidies for producing corn-based ethanol that are driving up the cost of corn for Shenandoah Valley poultry farmers, two Valley state delegates said Tuesday.

John McCain, like Bob Dole before him, is a Republican senator seeking to win the presidency in spite of himself.

John McCain’s Virginia supporters have wasted no time in taking shots at McCain’s presumed Democratic opponent in November, Sen. Barack Obama.

For some Virginians, the presidential battle began Tuesday night at a music club on Broad Street in Richmond.

Check your pots for chickens. If no cluckers are found, it is only because the Straight Talk Express has not yet rumbled onto Pennsylvania Avenue and deposited its contents, an Arizona senator foremost among them, on the White House lawn.