Here are some of the hottest and most current stories on Senator Barack Obama’s :

Obama starts general campaign as favorite in Iowa
The Associated Press -
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A political infrastructure that pushed to victory in the Iowa caucuses and an increase in Democratic voter registration make him the favorite in the state in November, but an intense catch-up effort could put Republican John McCain back in the game, veteran political strategists in both parties say."John McCain's problem in Iowa is Obama already has an infrastructure here and McCain doesn't.

McCain, Obama Again Spar Over Economy
U.S. News & World Report - Washington,DC,USA
Barack Obama's economic policies, particularly those related to taxation, during a speech to a gathering of small business leaders yesterday. The AP notes McCain, addressing the National Federation of Independent Business, "said small businesses make the economy run and that his Democratic rival would slow the creation of new jobs." McCain "said small businesses would bear the brunt of the tax increases proposed by Obama." The Washington Post reports on its front page that McCain says that under Obama's plan, "Americans of every background would see their taxes rise -- seniors, parents, small-business owners."

Obama Fires Back on Taxes
Wall Street Journal - USA
Barack Obama dismissed as old-style politics John McCain's and the Republican Party's warnings that he would be a tax-and-spend liberal. Most Americans, Sen. Obama said, would pay lower taxes if he is elected president. The presumed Democratic nominee, taking questions from reporters Tuesday, also indicated he would raise the 15% capital-gains tax on the income from sales of investments to about 20%--not the near-doubling to 28% that Republicans and others have warned Sen. Obama would seek and would put the economy at some risk by doing so.

How Obama Won -- and May Win
Yahoo! News - USA
Thus did Joe Biden famously describe his rival for the nomination, Barack Obama, to the The New York Observer, a year ago. Biden, however, thought Obama might not be able to win the fall election, as he is "a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate. ... I don't recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic."

Obama, McCain trade jabs on economic policies
Dallas Morning News - Dallas,TX,USA
McClatchy Newspapers, AP WASHINGTON – Republican nominee-to-be John McCain blasted Democratic rival Barack Obama's economic policies Tuesday, calling them bad for small business and American families. While outlining his own economic plans to the National Federation of Independent Business, Mr. McCain criticized Mr. Obama for vowing to renegotiate provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement, proposing a tax increase for Americans making more than $250,000 and advocating a greater government role in the nation's health care system.

Barack Obama recruits staff to fight web smears
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
By Sally Peck Barack Obama is recruiting senior staff to fight internet smear campaigns that could damage his chances against John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. Since he launched his presidential campaign, the Illinois senator has faced inaccurate claims that he attended a madrassa, or religious school, as a child when his family lived in Indonesia.