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President Bush today cast an early ballot for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, the Associated Press reports.

The president and first lady have traveled to Texas to vote in past elections. The pair plans to be at the White House on election night this year, according to AP.

An interesting side note: In an effort to draw attention to the vote, the campaign of Barack Obama, which has repeatedly tied McCain to the unpopular Mr. Bush, emailed the AP report about the vote around to campaign reporters.

President George W. Bush has no plans to participate in Republican fundraisers or political appearances between now and the presidential election, CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller reports.

Spokesman Scott Stanzel tied the scheduling decision to the financial crisis.

"The President remains focused on addressing the needs of our economy and we don't expect to schedule any more fund-raisers and don't anticipate political rallies over the next 18 days," Stanzel said in response to questions from CBS News.

So far this year, Knoller reports, Mr. Bush has done 45 money events for the GOP or its candidates, raising more than $75 million dollars. All but four of the fund-raisers have been closed to press coverage.

He has not appeared at any campaign rallies this year.

The trailer for Oliver Stone's biopic of President George W. Bush, "W," is now online. The film is expected to be released October 17th, less than three weeks before voters go to the polls to choose Mr. Bush's successor.

The movie appears to portray the young Mr. Bush as a beer-drinking, hard-partying screw up who looks chastened during a lecture from his father, George H.W. Bush.

"If I remember correctly, you didn't like the sporting goods job," the elder Bush says in the trailer. "Working in the investment firm wasn't for you either, or the oil rig job. You didn't exactly finish up with flying colors in the Air National Guard, junior."

Josh Brolin, who starred in "No Country For Old Men," portrays President Bush in the film, which also features portrayals of Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, Tony Blair, Colin Powell, Karl Rove, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney.

It is impossible to know what, if any, impact the film might have on the presidential election. Democrat Barack Obama and other Democrats have tried to cast rival John McCain as representing a continuation of Bush administration policies, and a negative portrayal of that administration and Mr. Bush himself could feed into that narrative.

Watch the trailer below.

President George W. Bush is offering his congratulations to Barack Obama on clinching the Democratic nomination, reports CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller.

Press Secretary Dana Perino said this morning that Mr. Bush knows from experience how grueling a primary campaign can be.

"Senator Obama came a long way in becoming his party's nominee," she said. "And his historic achievement reflects the fact that our country has come along way, too."

She also said Mr. Bush wants to congratulate Hillary Clinton on her spirited campaign, one that made history as well.

Bush did not place a call to either Clinton or Obama, and Perino said she did not think he would. She suggesting such a call would be unusual, adding that she didn't believe then-president Bill Clinton called Mr. Bush when the latter won the GOP nomination in 2000.

The Associated Press reports that Secretary of State Condolezza Rice also congratulated Obama.

"The United States of America is an extraordinary country," she said. "It is a country that has overcome many, many, now years, decades, actually a couple of centuries of trying to make good on its principles. And I think what we are seeing is an extraordinary expression of the fact that 'We the people' is beginning to mean all of us."

On Sunday, Barack Obama said this: "You have a real choice in this election. Either Democrat would be better than John McCain. And all three of us would be better than George Bush."

Rival Democrat Hillary Clinton quickly seized on the comment to criticize the Illinois senator.

"We need a nominee who will take on John McCain, not cheer on John McCain," she said.

Now Obama is elaborating on his earlier comments, arguing that just because he believes McCain is an improvement over Bush doesn't mean he doesn't have troubling similarities to the president.

"To say that John McCain and some of his instincts may be better than George Bush's, that's a low bar," Obama said, according to the Associated Press.

McCain offers "warmed over versions of Bush foreign policy and economic policy," Obama added.

"So, there's no contradiction there," he said.

A Republican source tells CBS News that former President George H.W. Bush will endorse John McCain on Monday morning in Houston, Texas.

Mr. Bush is the latest high-profile Republican to throw his support behind McCain, who is now trying to consolidate Republican support in the face of some conservative opposition. Former bitter rival Mitt Romney endorsed McCain yesterday.

Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who has shown particular strength with Southern voters, remains in the race despite mounting pressure to pull out to ease McCain's transition to a general election fight.

As the Associated Press notes, the current president has not formally endorsed McCain, but he suggested in an interview on Sunday that the presumptive nominee had his backing. President Bush called McCain a "true conservative" but said the Arizona senator had "some convincing to do" to win over critics like Rush Limbaugh.