As for McCain, his speech earlier in the evening offered no grace notes about Obama, simply a full-throated attack on him as not representing "real change." That will be a difficult sell for McCain even if he makes it artfully--and this speech was anything but artful. It relied on assertion, not persuasion. And for all the red meat that he offered, McCain hardly roused himself, much less his audience. Obama, in contrast, spoke with subtlety, but was received like a rock star.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- California's highest court Wednesday refused to stay its decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, clearing the final hurdle for gay couples to start tying the knot this month. Conservative religious and legal groups had asked the California Supreme Court to stop its May 15 order requiring state and local officials to sanction same-sex unions from becoming effective until voters have the chance to consider the issue in November. The justices' decisions typically become final after 30 days. An initiative to ban gay marriage has qualified for the Nov. 4 ballot. Its passage would overrule the court's decision by amending the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- California's highest court Wednesday refused to stay its decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, clearing the final hurdle for gay couples to start tying the knot this month.
Conservative religious and legal groups had asked the California Supreme Court to stop its May 15 order requiring state and local officials to sanction same-sex unions from becoming effective until voters have the chance to consider the issue in November. The justices' decisions typically become final after 30 days.
An initiative to ban gay marriage has qualified for the Nov. 4 ballot. Its passage would overrule the court's decision by amending the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are no longer seeking stiffer prison sentences for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy. Prosecutors filed a motion this week with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking that their appeals of the sentences be dropped. Their appeal had called for a longer prison term than Siegelman's more than seven-year sentence and Scrushy's almost seven-year sentence. The latest filing does not say why prosecutors want to drop their appeal.