U.S. Presidential candidates honor Martin Luther King Jr.s memory

Later Friday, Democrat's Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama traveled to North Dakota to woo voters on the opening day of the states convention.

On a solemn day in which Americans took stock of the changes in their country in the decades since the civil rights protests of the 1960s, Clinton, Obama, and Republican John McCain reflected on Kings cause, while nudging forward their White House bids as a new government report showed unemployment hit 5.1 percent in March.

The two Democrats seized on the report, linking McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, with what they see as President George W. Bushs failed economic policies.

"Perhaps this jobs report will also help John McCain recognize that doing nothing is not an economic strategy in times of urgent need," said Clinton, who is vying to become the U.S.s first woman president. She proposed a second economic stimulus of at least $30 billion (19 billion) to help states combat the foreclosures that have ravaged some communities.

Obama, the Democratic front-runner who would be the U.S's first black president, accused Bush of hurting people with an economic policy "in which basically the answer to every problem is tax cuts for the wealthy."

He also linked King's work to the present, saying economic justice is "still out of reach for too many Americans." The focus on the economy - a fixture in the campaigns - reflects the importance the issue has taken in the election. Economic concerns have topped the Iraq war among voter worries.

McCain, who has been portrayed by the Democrats as weak on the economy, said in a statement that Obama and Clinton's proposals would hamper economic growth.

Speaking in Memphis in front of the balcony where King was shot in 1968, McCain said the civil rights leader "seems a bigger man" than he did on the day of his death. "The quality of his character is only more apparent," he said, telling a black audience that he had been wrong to vote against legislation making King's birthday a holiday.

McCain's decision to speak at ceremonies held by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which King had headed, was intended to demonstrate an eagerness to appeal to black voters who have long shunned Republicans. A few boos were heard as McCain spoke, but others offered up calls of "Amen" throughout his speech.

Clinton spoke at the church where King delivered his final sermon a day before his death. The former first lady recalled her distress at learning of his death while she was a college student. She added that "because of him, after 219 years and 43 presidents who have all been white men, this generation will grow up taking for granted that a woman or an African-American could be president of the United States."

Obama was the only one of the three to not appear in Memphis. Addressing a rally in Indiana, he said King's pleas have yet to be answered fully.

"You know, Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. ... But here's the thing - it does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us in our own ways put our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice," Obama said.

Clinton has struggled to gain black votes in her competition with Obama, despite the support her husband, Bill Clinton, garnered from the black community during his presidency.

Obama delivered a major speech last month as he sought to move past questions over his candidacy stemming from controversial comments by his former pastor.

A Gallup poll showed Obama with a a slight lead nationally over Clinton in the Democratic presidential race, at 49 percent to 44 percent. The survey conducted April 1-3 had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Obama leads in the delegate count, 1,635-1,501, according to The Associated Press. Because of the way Democrats apportion delegates, Clinton is not likely to catch Obama even if she has a strong showing in the remaining 10 contests, including the 158 at stake in Pennsylvania on April 22.

That leaves the race largely in the hands of the 800 so-called superdelegates - party leaders, lawmakers and officials who are not bound by state results when casting their vote.

Obama and Clinton also spoke to North Dakota Democrats for the opening day of the states convention, where Democrats will decide which people are sent as delegates to the partys national meeting. The Obama and Clinton campaigns saw it as a chance to pick up an extra delegate or two. Clinton recently argued that pledged delegates arent truly required by party rules to vote for a particular candidate.

"We cant afford to give John McCain the chance to carry on George Bushs cant-do, wont-do, wont-even-try style of politics," Obama said. "We are a better country than that."

Clinton pledged to stand up for middle- and working-class voters. "Tonight, somewhere in North Dakota and across America, janitors are cleaning up, waitresses are pouring coffee, police officers are standing guard. They need a president who will stand with them," she said.

The state backed Obama overwhelmingly in its Feb. 5 caucuses, and the North Dakota delegates are split 8-5 for Obama. In addition, six of the states seven unpledged superdelegates are backing the Illinois senator.

Also, Clinton on Friday released her tax records for the past eight years, under pressure from Obama's campaign and others to detail her finances. Clinton and her husband reported $20.4 million (13 million) in income for 2007 and more than $109 million (69 million) since 2000. Almost half the former first couples money came from Bill Clinton's speeches.