The Latest on the U.S. presidential campaign (all times EDT):
2:20 p.m.
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is set to appear on ballots in at least 39 states, and party activists are working in places such as swing state Ohio to get his name before voters this fall.
Johnson’s ballot status in Ohio remained uncertain Wednesday, a day after Libertarians submitted thousands of signatures on behalf of a different candidate as a placeholder.
The state party said it would substitute in Johnson’s name once the petitions are certified by Ohio’s elections chief. The secretary of state’s office says its legal team will review the situation.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is slated to appear on ballots in at least 27 states.
Libertarians and other third parties face a patchwork of rules and laws nationwide governing access to ballots.
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12 p.m.
President Barack Obama will mix business with vacationing during his stay in Martha’s Vineyard in a nod to the hotly contested November election.
The White House says he’ll attend a fundraiser Monday for the Democratic National Committee at a private residence in Chilmark, the town where the first family is staying during their two-week summer vacation.
Obama plans to play an active role on the campaign trail this fall and has already appeared with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in North Carolina. The White House did not disclose exactly where the fundraiser would occur or the cost of attendance. He is expected to deliver remarks and take questions from those in the audience.
Obama and the first family arrived on the island Saturday afternoon.
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8:05 a.m.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign is launching an effort to win over Republicans and independents.
Called Together for America, the group aims to use a wave of nearly 50 recent endorsements by high-profile Republicans and independents to convince voters to cross party lines.
Clinton’s campaign is also releasing new endorsements from several retired Republican officials, including former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Carla Hills, former Maryland Congresswoman Connie Morella, former Connecticut Congressman Chris Shays and former Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte.
Some Republicans say they back Clinton because they don’t support Donald Trump’s bombastic style and controversial statements. Others object to his lack of foreign policy experience. The Clinton backers largely include former officials, though some current Republican officeholders have said they won’t vote for Trump.
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3:10 a.m.
On the defensive once again, Donald Trump is blaming faulty interpretations and media bias for an uproar over his comments about the Second Amendment.
He’s insisting he never advocated violence against Hillary Clinton, even as undeterred Democrats pile on.
The latest Trump controversy arose from an offhand quip at a rally. Trump said there would be “nothing you can do” if Clinton’s elected to stop her from stacking the Supreme Court with anti-gun justices, then added ambiguously, “Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is — I don’t know.”
Was Trump suggesting gun owners take matters into their own hands? Or merely musing about the powerful influence of the gun lobby?
Like so many times before, Trump’s supporters and opponents construed his comments in entirely different ways.
[Source:- US news]
