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Barack obama became the first american presidential candidate since Richard Nixon to rely solely on private money to sustain his White House bid when he declared that he would opt out of the Watergate-era public financing system

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ahead of a big fundraising event next week, many hollywood heavyweights are rallying behind Barack obama in his bid for U.S. president, pledging money and star power after lending early support to his one-time rival Hillary clinton.

About half of voters said the best age for a president was the 50s, writes Kathy Frankovic. 20 percent said the 40s (Obama's decade) was ideal. And only 2 percent thought McCain's decade (70s) was best.

Democrat Barack obama announced Thursday that he'll opt out of public financing to fund his campaign. This makes him the first candidate to do so since that system's creation in 1976. The executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics discusses what that means for this year's presidential race.

Despite overwhelming support for Barack obama among African-Americans, the McCain campaign isn't giving up on that voter bloc. Alex Cohen speaks with black conservative Ron Christie about how john mccain should reach out to voters of color.

The obama campaign faces pitfalls as it moves into the general election and seeks to maintain control of the White House hopeful's image by tightly managing his public appearances.

Wife of john mccain says her husband is about 'making America stronger.'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack obama said on Thursday he has decided to forgo public financing of his election campaign against republican john mccain.

Barack obama told supporters today he won't accept public financing for his presidential campaign. The decision means the presumptive Democratic nominee will forgo more than $80 million in public funds. obama repeatedly broke campaign fundraising records during the Democratic primary season.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack obama says he'll bypass the federal public financing system in the general election, abandoning an earlier commitment to take the money if his republican rival did as well.