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Obama quietly meets with ex-rival Edwards

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From the Associated Press

Barack Obama sneaked down to North Carolina on Sunday and met with former opponent John Edwards, who has yet to make an endorsement in the Democratic presidential nomination race.

Reporters normally travel with Obama, but he flew down in secret.

A North Carolina TV station reported having video taken from a helicopter of Illinois Sen. Obama leaving Edwards’ home.

The Obama campaign later confirmed the meeting.

“Sen. Obama visited this morning with John and Elizabeth Edwards at their home in Chapel Hill to discuss the state of the campaign and the pressing issues facing American families,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

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He wouldn’t comment on the possibility of an endorsement.

Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are spending extensive time in delegate-rich Texas and Ohio, which vote March 4.

She is trying to rebound from eight consecutive losses to Obama.

Polls show her with a comfortable lead over Obama in Ohio, and the two candidates are scheduled to debate in Cleveland on Feb. 26.

A heavy snowstorm forced Clinton to scrap three appearances Sunday in Wisconsin, which holds its primary Tuesday.

Instead she sampled a spicy Mexican sauce at a Milwaukee grocery store in a heavily Latino neighborhood and purchased hot peppers, which she eats in large quantities to try to ward off colds.

In Toledo, Ohio, former President Clinton told about 800 people at a rally Sunday that the campaign for the nomination would probably come down to their state and Texas.

“It’s up to you,” he told the crowd in a high school gym.

He said his wife was the only candidate with the ideas to help a state like theirs, which has been hit hard by home foreclosures and the loss of manufacturing jobs.

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She has proposed a plan to freeze home foreclosures for 90 days.

She also wants to encourage investment in renewable energy sources, which would benefit Ohio farmers who grow crops for biofuels and create jobs, her husband said.

On the Republican side, Arizona Sen. John McCain, his party’s presumptive nominee, said Sunday that if elected, there would be no new taxes during his administration.

McCain told ABC’s “This Week” that under no circumstances would he increase taxes, and added that he could “see an argument, if our economy continues to deteriorate, for lower interest rates, lower tax rates and certainly decreasing corporate tax rates,” as well as giving people the ability to write off depreciation and eliminating the alternative minimum tax.

Wisconsin’s primary will determine how 92 Democratic and 40 Republican delegates are allocated.

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