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ON THE TRAIL

The Associated Press

April 26, 2008

Democrat Barack Obama blamed high gasoline prices Friday on Washington and a political establishment, including his rivals for the presidency, that he says hasn't stood up to oil companies. Rival Hillary Rodham Clinton highlighted his vote for an energy bill she opposed and his campaign contributions from oil executives. "The candidates with the Washington experience ... mean well, but they've been in Washington for a long time and even with all that experience they talk about, nothing has happened," Obama said at an Indianapolis gas station. "This country didn't raise fuel efficiency standards for over 30 years." Clinton derided his promise to take on special interests. "When it came time to stand up against the oil companies, to stand against Dick Cheney's energy bill, my opponent voted for it and I voted against it," Clinton said at a rally at Indiana University in Bloomington.

- The Associated Press

Republican presidential candidate John McCain and former rival Mike Huckabee campaigned together for the first time Friday in Little Rock, Ark., with Huckabee joking that they were so civil as opponents they don't have to "unsay" any bad things. McCain said that early in the GOP campaign, they had a lot of time to get to know each other when both were dismissed as the longest of long shots. "We became friends on the campaign trail," McCain said. They were joined on the bus by their wives, Cindy McCain and Janet Huckabee. Huckabee, hugely popular with social conservatives, has been mentioned as a potential running mate for McCain.

- The Associated Press