Obama quizzed on the hot topics

Barack Obama opened a Wednesday news conference in Chicago with his staple remarks on economic and energy issues but ended up taking issue with a new Supreme Court ruling on capital punishment, defending his rejection of public campaign financing and dodging reporters' efforts to ferret out hints on his vice presidential choice.

The Democratic nominee, who earlier Wednesday met with Chicago CEOs on the private sector's role in the economy, told reporters that he disagrees with Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling barring execution in cases of child rape.

Obama, father of 9- and 7-year-old daughters and a leader in efforts to reform capital punishment law and procedures here in Illinois, told reporters: "I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime and if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances the death penalty is at least potentially applicable, that does not violate our Constitution."

Facing persistent questions on his decision to opt out of public financing for the general election campaign -- reversing a position he staked out as he launched his primary campaign -- Obama insisted that he has not changed positions. Instead, he continued to characterize the public-financing system as "broken" because it does not inhibit the flow of money into campaigns both from national party committees and from numerous outside sources.

Obama, who has out-raised Republican opponent John McCain by roughly three to one, said his unprecedented success in raising large sums from millions of small donors has already established his status as a candidate independent of big-money interests. He has drawn criticism in recent days, though, for meeting with some of those big-cash donors to Hillary Clinton's primary campaign.

Asked how important it was to select a running mate with national security experience, Obama demurred, saying his top criterion is that "I want somebody who could be a good president in case something should happen to me."

He went on to say he will seek a running mate who will give him candid counsel on domestic as well as national security matters.

Scheduled to make his first joint campaign appearance with primary foe Hillary Clinton on Friday, Obama said he looks forward to Clinton campaigning on his behalf as much as possible.

"She inspired millions of people," Obama said. "I want her out there talking about health care. We want her out there talking about her passion for education and the importance of early childhood education. I hope she'll campaign as much as her schedule allows."

Some of Wednesday's questioning in an event staged at the Westin on Michigan Avenue bore a distinctly local flavor. Asked whether he worries about being pegged and portrayed as a corrupt Chicago-style politician, Obama said the label doesn't fit him.

Addressing local reporters specifically, Obama said: "You guys have a sense of where I come from and who I am. You will recall that for my entire political career here I was not the endorsed candidate of any political organization. I didn't go around wielding a bunch of clout. My reputation in Springfield was the reputation of somebody who would try to work with everybody. It's true that I have friends come out of the more traditional school of Chicago politics. But that's not what I ever depended on to get elected."

Obama said that emerging from Chicago politics would not be altogether negative in any event.

"One thing about Chicago politics is that people try to get stuff done for their constituents," he said, "and one of the things I'm going to try to get done as president is to help Americans who are struggling with the high gas prices and the lack of health care."

Another local question focused on how he, as president, would try to stem a recent tide of street violence that has claimed a growing string of young lives in Chicago. Obama admitted that there is no quick solution. He said he would restore the federal Cops program launched by former President Bill Clinton to put more police officers on urban streets.

He also said he would pursue more effective means of tracing guns used in violent crimes and penalizing the source of those weapons. Obama also repeated his call for parental involvement.

"Fathers have to be home and be part of their child's life and to provide guidance."

Before taking questions, Obama repeated his recent economic themes: that closing loopholes for oil speculators, a second round of economic-stimulus checks from Washington and middle-class tax cuts would provide minor short-term relief for Americans dealing with rising energy prices. He said longer-term solutions lie in heavy federal investment into research and development of alternative and renewable energy sources.