President Clinton is predicting Senator Obama will defeat Senator McCain this fall, but he is offering sparing praise for the man who overtook his wife in the Democratic presidential contest. “I think he should win, and I think he will win,” Mr. Clinton told ABC News in an interview taped during his trip in Africa. The former president lauded Mr. Obama’s skills as a politician and campaigner, but he deflected questions about whether the Illinois senator was ready to be the president or is qualified for the office. “You can argue nobody is ready to be president,” Mr. Clinton said. He also said “the Constitution sets qualifications for the president.” Mr. Clinton appeared to harbor some resentment for the way he and his wife were treated during the campaign, though he said he would have more to say about it after the November election. As he has before, he vigorously defended himself against charges from some black leaders that he sparked racial tension during the hard-fought primary campaign. “I am not a racist,” he said. “I’ve never made a racist comment and I’ve never attacked” Mr. Obama “personally.”

NOVAK RETIRES AFTER ‘DIRE’ BRAIN TUMOR PROGNOSIS

Political commentator Robert Novak announced his immediate retirement yesterday due to a diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor. Mr. Novak told the editor and publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times that he plans to focus on his treatment and recovery, a Sun-Times spokeswoman, Tammy Chase, said. Mr. Novak told the newspaper his prognosis is “dire,” the Sun-Times reported on its Web site. “The details are being worked out with the doctors this week, but the tentative plan is for radiation and chemotherapy,” Mr. Novak said. Ms. Chase confirmed yesterday that Mr. Novak’s tumor is malignant. He was discharged from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston on Saturday, a hospital spokesman, Kevin Myron, said. Mr. Novak announced that he had a brain tumor late last month, less than a week after he struck a pedestrian with his Corvette in downtown Washington and drove away. He received a $50 citation for the accident. Mr. Novak, editor of the Evans-Novak Political Report, has been a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for decades. He is perhaps best known as the co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire” between 1980 and 2005.