November 11, 2011  |   Texas Gov. Rick Perry spent Thursday working feverishly to turn the corner on his much maligned brain freeze in Wednesday night's debate. He did no fewer than seven nationally televised interviews, additional radio interviews and ended the day at...

November 10, 2011  |   GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry didn't do himself any favors during Wednesday night's debate. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images. You know you didn't have a good night as a presidential candidate if you need to get up early to...

November 9, 2011  |   Ohio voters repealed Senate Bill 5. Photo by wisaflcio via Flickr. Two high-profile ballot measures headlined this year's off-year elections, and both were resoundingly defeated Tuesday. In Ohio, voters overwhelmingly turned back Senate Bill 5, which sought to restrict...

November 8, 2011  |   A sign in favor of Initiative 26 is displayed near the capitol building in Jackson, Miss. Voters will decide Tuesday whether the state's constitution will recognize a fertilized human egg as a person. Photo by Esme E. Deprez/Bloomberg via...

November 7, 2011  |   A new poll shows GOP voters believe Mitt Romney is the candidate most likely to beat President Obama. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. Mitt Romney is clearly the man to beat for the GOP presidential nomination, and new ABC/Washington...

November 4, 2011  |   People wait in line for a job fair in New York City last month. Photo by Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg via Getty Images. President Obama's presence at the G20 in France and his work there with European partners to help bring...

November 3, 2011  |   Herman Cain is questioned by reporters Wednesday about sexual harassment allegations. Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call. Herman Cain has stopped talking about the sexual harassment allegations against him. It's a new strategy for the embattled GOP contender who...

November 2, 2011  |   Herman Cain addresses the accusations of sexual harassment against him at the National Press Club on Monday. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images. From the moment Politico broke the Herman Cain story on Sunday evening, it seemed inevitable that more...

November 1, 2011  |   "I have never sexually harassed anyone," Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain told Judy Woodruff on Monday's NewsHour. Heading into the second 24 hours of a candidacy consuming story, Herman Cain has several things going for him. Foremost, there have...

October 31, 2011  |   GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain will face tough questions this week. Photo by Toni Sandys/Pool/Bloomberg via Getty Images. This was supposed to be the week that Herman Cain took his anti-establishment, gravity-defying, front-running presidential campaign inside the Beltway to...

October 28, 2011  |   A man walks past tents near the U.S. Capitol on Thursday set up as part of the "occupy" movement. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. A day after Democrats on the bipartisan supercommittee leaked a proposal to "go big" and...

October 27, 2011  |   Presidential candidate Herman Cain. Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images. He is leading in the national polls. He is running a close second to Mitt Romney in the critical early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. His...

October 26, 2011  |   Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Photo by Richard Ellis/Getty Images. Mitt Romney stopped by an Ohio Republican Party phone bank on Tuesday to support a get-out-the-vote effort for an off-year, big ballot initiative in a couple of weeks. The support...

October 25, 2011  |   GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry. Photo by Scott Eells/Getty Images. Updated 1:44 p.m. Watch a video clip below from Perry's economic plan announcement: Texas Gov. Rick Perry is adding a bevy of senior advisers to his...

October 24, 2011  |   The Obama administration will try a new strategy in order to strengthen the economy. Photo by Jay Paul/Getty Images. President Obama heads West on Monday to scoop up millions of dollars in campaign cash at stops in Las Vegas,...

October 21, 2011  |   Fire fighters, police officers and teachers rallied at the Capitol this week for passage of the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. President Obama's plan to break his $447 billion jobs bill...

October 20, 2011  |   Mitt Romney and Rick Perry have continued to criticize each other after Tuesday's CNN debate in Las Vegas. Mitt Romney and Rick Perry won't need podiums 18 inches apart on a debate stage to continue the fireworks display they...

October 19, 2011  |   Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and other GOP presidential contenders sparred often at Tuesday night's debate. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images. Remember all those debates where Mitt Romney successfully stayed above the fray? Those days are long gone. Welcome to...

October 18, 2011  |   The 2012 Republican candidates will debate Tuesday night in Las Vegas. Photo by Melina Mara/Pool via Bloomberg/Getty Images. Two new polls out Monday help demonstrate why the 2012 battle for the Republican nomination has thus far felt like a...

October 17, 2011  |   President Obama is kicking off a bus tour Monday to try to sell his jobs plan. Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images. President Obama heads out on the road Monday to kick off his three-day "American Jobs Act" bus tour...

October 14, 2011  |   File photo of Texas Gov. Rick Perry by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, is set to begin his second act as a presidential contender Friday. After weeks of panned debate performances, plummeting poll numbers, and a...

October 13, 2011  |   Republican presidential contender Herman Cain at the Bloomberg/Washington Post debate at Dartmouth College on Oct. 11, 2011. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. Businessman Herman Cain has skyrocketed to the front of the GOP pack as former Massachusetts governor Mitt...

October 12, 2011  |   Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney reacts during the Republican presidential debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. on Oct. 11, 2011. Photo by Scott Eells/Bloomberg via Getty Images. HANOVER, N.H. - You can put another GOP debate, with what...

October 11, 2011  |   Updated 4:43 p.m. | LEBANON, N.H. | New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got right to work at his newest job Tuesday. Immediately upon completion of his endorsement and his ascension to star surrogate for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Christie...

October 11, 2011  |   One week after ruling out a potential presidential bid, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie planned Tuesday to endorse former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. The announcement was expected to come at a 3 p.m. event in Lebanon,...

October 11, 2011  |   Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney listens to Texas Gov. Rick Perry during the Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Sept. 7, 2011 in Simi Valley, Calif. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images. Hanover, N.H. -- Mitt Romney...

October 10, 2011  |   Republican presidential hopeful and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney addresses the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit in Washington on Oct. 8, 2011. Photo by Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images. Navigating spurts of massive media attention to his Mormon faith is...

October 7, 2011  |   Mitt Romney speaks to a group of veterans in Charleston, S.C., on Oct. 6. Photo by Richard Ellis/Getty Images Foreign policy, specifically the war in Iraq and U.S. anti-terrorism efforts, were front and center in both the Democratic and...

October 6, 2011  |   Perhaps the most astonishing part of Sarah Palin's decision not to seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination is how easily and completely it was overshadowed by the death of Steve Jobs. It was three years ago, on the eve...

October 5, 2011  |   File photo by Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. The good news for Rick Perry is that there is finally good news for Rick Perry. After weeks of playing defense on substance and style (three successively weak...

October 5, 2011  |   Photo of Earl Ray Tomblin via Facebook. All politics may not have been local in West Virginia on Tuesday, but it was local enough for Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. The Democrat, who took over as governor 11 months...

October 4, 2011  |   1:45 p.m. ET | Read more and see video of Christie's news conference: Christie: 'Now is Not My Time' 11:20 a.m. ET | New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has reportedly decided against running for president in 2012. Chris Christie not...

October 3, 2011  |   Republican presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks to local residents at the "We the People: A First in the Nation Freedom Forum" town hall event on Oct. 1, 2011 in Hampton, N.H. Photo by Kayana Szymczak/Getty Images. Talk...

September 30, 2011  |   Photos by Getty Images. As the political world awaits to compare the Romney and Perry 3rd quarter fundraising totals -- and to see Perry's promised better debate performance on October 11 -- the candidates themselves are doing anything but...

September 29, 2011  |   Texas Governor and Republican presidential contender Rick Perry speaks with the media after attending a private campaign event at the Riverside Hotel on September 21, 2011 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas,...

September 28, 2011  |   New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks with former first lady Nancy Reagan before Christie delivers remarks during the Perspectives on Leadership Forum at the Reagan Library on September 27, 2011. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images. Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J.,...

September 27, 2011  |   New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks at a Reform Agenda Town Hall meeting at the New Jersey Manufacturers Company facility March 29, 2011 in Hammonton, N.J. Photo by Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images. It's decision time for Chris Christie. If he...

September 26, 2011  |   President Barack Obama greets supporters after speaking at a campaign fundraiser September 25, 2011 at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, Wash. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images. President Obama began his three-day Western fundraising swing containing seven events with an...

September 23, 2011  |   A large monitor shows Texas Gov. Rick Perry at Thursday night's GOP Debate. Photo by Phelan M. Ebenhack/Pool/Getty Images. Here are your three Friday morning truisms about the race for the Republican nomination: 1 Debate performances will not determine...

September 22, 2011  |   Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are set to square off again at Thursday night's debate. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images. The two men in what has become a two-man race for the Republican presidential nomination each conducted national interviews...

September 21, 2011  |   President Obama arrives at a diplomatic event Tuesday in New York. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images. President Obama may have thought he was leaving domestic political squabbles behind when he headed up to New York for the U.N. General...

September 20, 2011  |   President Obama presents his deficit reduction plan Monday. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. The political reaction to President Obama's deficit reduction plan has pretty much gone according to script. Republicans are charging the president with "class warfare" in light...

September 19, 2011  |   President Obama will call for $1.5 trillion in new taxes as part of plan to find more than $3 trillion in savings. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. If you're one of our many readers who had hoped the toxicity...

September 16, 2011  |   President Obama, with Vice President Joe Biden, spoke about his jobs plan at the White House on Monday. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. President Obama closes out another very tough week Friday, one in which he faced a continued...

September 15, 2011  |   House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is set to present the House GOP's "Plan for America's Job Creators." File photo By Bill Clark/Roll Call. One week after President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio,...

September 14, 2011  |   In New York, Republican Bob Turner, above, defeated Democrat David Weprin in a House special election. Photo by azipaybarah via Flickr. Democrats went 0-2 Tuesday night in the House special elections in New York City and Nevada. The results,...

September 13, 2011  |   Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, left, and Rick Perry spar during Monday night's debate; photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images. It seems the old saying "Don't mess with Texas" doesn't apply to Republican presidential debates, as Texas Gov. Rick Perry...

September 12, 2011  |   Texas Gov. Rick Perry. File photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is clearly seeking to "fix" a political problem he created for himself in the last Republican presidential debate. The front-runner for the GOP nomination previews...

September 12, 2011  |   Tim Pawlenty. File photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images. Tim Pawlenty was once seen as potentially the biggest threat to Mitt Romney's quest for the Republican presidential nomination. Today, the former governor of Minnesota has become Romney's most high-profile endorser...

September 9, 2011  |   President Obama outlines the American Jobs Act to a joint session of Congress. Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson. On Friday, President Obama will pick up where he left off Thursday night after laying out his $447 billion...

September 8, 2011  |   Mitt Romney listens to Texas Gov. Rick Perry at Wednesday night's Republican debate. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images. It is far more often the case than not that hyped political events don't live up to expectations, but Wednesday night's...

September 7, 2011  |   Texas Gov. Rick Perry campaigns in Iowa last month. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. All eyes will be on Texas Gov. Rick Perry as he takes the stage to participate in his first debate of the presidential campaign season....

September 6, 2011  |   Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will unveil his proposal for fixing the country's economy problems. Photo by Stephen Morton/Getty Images. As a new round of national polling out Tuesday tells us, there is nothing more top of mind for...

August 23, 2011  |   Libyans gather in front of the White House Sunday night to celebrate the rebel advance on Tripoli. Photo by Stephane Jourdain/AFP/Getty Images. One of Mitt Romney's guiding principles for his 2012 run for the White House is to avoid...

August 22, 2011  |   Jon Huntsman. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has stepped up his search of an electorate. It's a bit of an unusual course. Most politicians craft a candidacy for office around the sweet spot of...

August 19, 2011  |   Jon Huntsman addresses a Republican town hall meeting in Charleston, S.C., earlier this month. Photo by Richard Ellis/Getty Images. Texas Gov. Rick Perry's first substantial New Hampshire campaign swing since stopping in the Granite State on his announcement tour...

August 18, 2011  |   President Obama greets people Wednesday after speaking at the Country Corner Farm Market in Alpha, Ill. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. President Obama's approval rating on his handling of the economy has sunk to a new, very low 26...

August 17, 2011  |   President Obama feeds the press as he walks out of Kernel Cody's Popcorn Shoppe in LeClaire, Iowa. Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images. In addition to flooding the airwaves and newspapers with images of President Obama in the heartland hearing...

August 16, 2011  |   Texas Gov. Rick Perry made a big splash Sunday night when he made his Iowa debut as a presidential candidate in Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's childhood hometown of Waterloo. The Black Hawk County Republican Party sold out the Electric Park...

August 16, 2011  |   President Obama speaks at a town hall meeting Monday at the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. In front of a picturesque red barn in Iowa on Monday, bathed in the early evening summer...

August 15, 2011  |   NewsHour Political Editor David Chalian is fresh off a reporting trip to Iowa for the GOP's Ames straw poll. Last week, we invited you to ask your questions about the 2012 election season and the shape of the GOP...

August 15, 2011  |   Texas Gov. Rick Perry addresses a Republican fundraiser dinner in Waterloo, Iowa. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. WATERLOO, Iowa | With Texas Gov. Rick Perry's entrance into the race, Tim Pawlenty's departure from it and Rep. Michele Bachmann's weekend...

August 14, 2011  |   Tim Pawlenty visited the Iowa State Fair on Friday, the day before a poor third place showing at the state's straw poll. Photo by David Chalian. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced Sunday he is ending his campaign for...

August 13, 2011  |   Rep. Michele Bachmann greets supporters after her victory in the Iowa Straw Poll; NewsHour photo by David Chalian AMES, Iowa | The race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination shifted into a new gear Saturday as nearly 17,000 Iowa...

August 12, 2011  |   Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann square off at the Iowa GOP/Fox News Debate. Photo by Charlie Neibergall/Pool-Getty Images. DES MOINES, Iowa | The Iowa GOP Straw Poll has a terrible track record at predicting the winner of the caucuses...

August 12, 2011  |   Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman take the stage for a debate Thursday in Ames, Iowa. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images AMES, Iowa | There were eight candidates on the debate stage Thursday...

August 11, 2011  |   Michele Bachmann steps off her campaign bus in Humboldt, Iowa, ahead of Thursday night's debate. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. There will be eight candidates seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination on the debate stage Thursday night in Ames,...

August 10, 2011  |   Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. File photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. Democrats in Wisconsin came up one seat short of ousting Republicans from control of the state Senate in Tuesday's recall elections. While two of the Republican state senators up...

August 9, 2011  |   Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at the Republican Leadership Conference in June. Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. As soon as advisers to Texas Gov. Rick Perry confirmed to POLITICO that he would make his presidential intentions clear this...

August 8, 2011  |   A ticker in Times Square gives the news Friday evening about S&P downgrading the U.S. credit rating. Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images. The intensity and scale of the Obama administration pushback against Standard & Poor's downgrading of America's credit-worthiness...

August 5, 2011  |   President Obama will speak about the economy Friday. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. There's only one story worth watching in American politics today and it's the story that will likely determine the outcome of the 2012 presidential election. Coming...

August 4, 2011  |   A bicyclist rides through the plaza on the east side of the Capitol. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. The moment President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act of 2011, congressional leaders were immediately presented with a new...

August 3, 2011  |   President Obama signs the Budget Control Act of 2011 on Tuesday. Photo by Pete Souza/The White House. President Obama took to the Rose Garden on Tuesday afternoon to publicly put the debt and deficit deal behind him and point...

August 2, 2011  |   Rep. John Boehner is surrounded by reporters at the Capitol after the House voted to raise the debt ceiling. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images. House Speaker John Boehner got his votes. He passed a debt limit increase tied to...

August 1, 2011  |   It's a new morning in Washington as Congress prepares to vote on extending the debt limit while cutting spending. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images. If members of Congress from both parties and in both chambers follow their leaders, the...

July 29, 2011  |   House Speaker John Boehner arrives at the Capitol on Friday morning. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. Thursday night's decision by Republican leaders to scrap a vote to raise the debt ceiling dealt House Speaker John Boehner a stunning --...

July 28, 2011  |   House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is questioned by reporters in the Capitol on Wednesday. Photo By Tom Williams/Roll Call. When the House of Representatives votes on Speaker John Boehner's plan to cut the deficit by $917 billion over 10...

July 27, 2011  |   A vote on Speaker John Boehner's debt plan was delayed after the CBO said it would save less than advertised. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. House Speaker John Boehner was already having trouble with his right flank in selling...

July 22, 2011  |   A deal focusing on cuts, with increased revenues in the future, is not sitting well with Democrats. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images. All the reporting Friday morning suggests that President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner may be close...

July 21, 2011  |   President Obama would only accept a stop-gap measure of "a few days." White House photo. With negotiators running out of time to raise the country's borrowing limit, President Obama signaled Wednesday he would be willing to accept a short-term...

July 20, 2011  |   President Obama called the "Gang of Six" proposal "a very significant step" on resolving the debt ceiling issue. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images. Compromise has been in short supply in Washington the past few weeks as President Obama and...

July 19, 2011  |   Several conservative groups oppose the debt ceiling plan proposed by Sens. Harry Reid, left, and Mitch McConnell. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. Just as the McConnell-Reid backup plan on the debt ceiling is gaining steam in the Senate as...

July 18, 2011  |   House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, listens to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., during a news conference at the Capitol last week. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. The United States Congress will once again become a Kabuki theater troupe...

July 15, 2011  |   President Obama wants Congress to decide on plan to raise the debt ceiling. Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images. The weeklong series of White House meetings with President Obama and bipartisan congressional leaders has apparently produced one concrete result: There...

July 14, 2011  |   Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell, left, Lamar Alexander and Jon Kyl board an elevator en route to a news conference in the Capitol about debt ceiling talks . Photo By Tom Williams/Roll Call. If the threat of a credit rating...

July 13, 2011  |   President Obama has raised quite a bit of money over the last three months. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images. He may have to fight sky high unemployment, persistent economic pessimism and an energized political opposition to win re-election, but...

July 12, 2011  |   White House Chief of Staff William Daley, Press Secretary Jay Carney, adviser David Plouffe and Communications Director Daniel Pfeiffer listen to President Obama during Monday's news conference at the White House. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. Television networks have...

July 11, 2011  |   President Obama walks from a Marine One helicopter back to the White House on Sunday. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images. The debt and deficit negotiations are now aimed at accomplishing two goals. The first goal for all sides sitting...

July 8, 2011  |   On Friday morning, President Obama will speak about the jobless rate, which rose to 9.2 percent. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images. A jobs report does not an election make, but the Obama economy is in a rut and the...

July 7, 2011  |   On Thursday, House and Senate leaders will meet with President Obama at the White House. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images. At his news conference last week, President Obama called on members of Congress to "do something big" when it...

July 6, 2011  |   The White House, @whitehouse, will host its first Twitter town hall. Wednesday, the medium is the message. Sure, President Obama may use his 2 p.m. ET Twitter event to move the ball rhetorically on the deficit talks, but his...

July 5, 2011  |   Fireworks light up the sky behind the U.S. Capitol building on July 4. Photo by Eva HambachAFP/Getty Images. The debt/deficit problem facing the country didn't go away over the Fourth of July holiday. As Aaron Sorkin's fictional President Bartlet...

May 27, 2011  |   An announcement from Mitt Romney about his candidacy is expected next week. Photo by J.D. Pooley/Getty Images. On the eve of Mitt Romney's first trip to Iowa, home of the first-in-the-nation caucuses, the Union Leader reports that he plans...

May 26, 2011  |   Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., leave a news conference at the Capitol addressing the Republican budget proposal. Photo By Tom Williams/Roll Call. One day after seeing an electoral rebuke to the House GOP...

May 25, 2011  |   Democrat Kathy Hochul won Tuesday's special election in New York. Photo by Alan Bedenko/Buffalo Pundit via Flickr. In a decisive victory Tuesday, Democrat Kathy Hochul defeated Republican Assemblywoman Jane Corwin, 47 percent to 43 percent, in a heavily GOP...

May 24, 2011  |   Republican Jane Corwin, left, Democrat Kathy Hochul and Tea Party candidate Jack Davis are running for a New York House seat. It's only been a little over six months since Republicans won control of the House by picking up...

May 23, 2011  |   Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty plans to announce his bid for the White House in Iowa. Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, gets his moment in the spotlight Monday when he officially declares...

May 20, 2011  |   Jon Huntsman is a former U.S. ambassador to China and governor of Utah. Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images. Here's guessing Newt Gingrich wishes he had a rollout TV interview more along the lines of what Jon Huntsman conducted Friday morning...

May 19, 2011  |   President Obama speaks at a DNC fund-raiser in Boston on Wednesday. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images. As is the case with any major presidential address, there are always multiple audiences. When President Obama steps to the microphone at the...

May 18, 2011  |   Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is a member of the so-called "Gang of Six." Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. The quest for a bipartisan solution to the country's short- and long-term deficit problems got a lot tougher Tuesday when Sen....

May 17, 2011  |   Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets volunteers at his National Call Day fund-raiser in Las Vegas. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images. For any presidential candidate to raise $10.25 million in one concentrated day of fund-raising is an impressive feat....

May 16, 2011  |   Former House speaker Newt Gingrich spoke to NBC's David Gregory on Sunday's "Meet the Press." Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images. The battle for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination was all over the weekend television airwaves as the field of...

May 13, 2011  |   Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is making another run for the White House. Photo by Steve Pope/Getty Images. Rep. Ron Paul made it official Friday, becoming the second full-fledged presidential candidate in the GOP's 2012 field, coming on the heels...

May 12, 2011  |   Likely 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney is set to make a speech about health care. Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a tough assignment Thursday when he takes the stage at the University...

May 11, 2011  |   Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is set to announce that he will run for president. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. He may have left public office in the '90s, but Newt Gingrich will announce Wednesday that he's running for...

May 10, 2011  |   Thousands marched in Los Angeles last week for immigration and labor reform. Photo by Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images. When President Obama takes to the stage at 3:30 p.m. EDT in El Paso, Texas, and launches the next phase of his...

May 9, 2011  |   President Obama returns to the White House last week after trips to Indianapolis and Fort Campbell. Photo by Olivier Douliery/Getty Images. Is there any doubt that President Obama woke up Monday morning and thought, "Hey, let's do last week...

May 6, 2011  |   Texas Rep. Ron Paul, businessman Herman Cain, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson debated Thursday night in South Carolina. Photo by Fox News. The lack of attendance by...

May 5, 2011  |   President Obama will participate in a wreath laying ceremony at the site of the World Trade Center in New York. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images. The split screen Thursday could not be starker. In Greenville, S.C., five Republican presidential...

May 4, 2011  |   President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on Sunday's mission against Osama bin Laden. Note: A classified document seen in this photograph has been obscured. White House photo...

May 3, 2011  |   There are, of course, huge military, intelligence and national security implications caused by the death of Osama bin Laden, but political reverberations are also at play. We are starting to get our first glimpse of President Obama's "Bin Laden...

May 3, 2011  |   President Obama delivers remarks as House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., look on during Monday's dinner with congressional leaders. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. At Monday's previously scheduled White House dinner with congressional leaders,...

May 2, 2011  |   In an address from the White House, President Obama said that Osama bin Laden has been killed. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Bloomberg. It will take days, if not a few weeks, for the full political impact of President Obama's announcement...

April 22, 2011  |   Sen. John Ensign is being investigated for his handling of an affair with a former political aide. File photo by Getty Images. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is resigning from his seat in order to avoid further investigation and action...

April 21, 2011  |   President Obama speaks at a Democratic fund-raiser in San Francisco Wednesday. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images. It was just a little more than three weeks ago that President Obama delivered his nationally televised address explaining to the country why...

April 20, 2011  |   According to polls, the public supports efforts to fix spending but disagrees on how. Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images. The storyline after November's midterm elections was that voters had sent a clear message to lawmakers in Washington...

April 15, 2011  |   House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., holds a copy of his budget proposal "The Path to Prosperity." Photo by Bill Clark/Roll Call. If you weren't paying close attention this week, you may have missed it. But make no mistake...

April 14, 2011  |   House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, predicted passage of the budget compromise deal. Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Remember that much heralded 11th-hour deal to cut $38.5 billion from this year's federal spending in order to avert a...

April 13, 2011  |   President Obama is set to give a major speech on his plan to address the nation's deficits and debt. Photo by Shawn Thew/Pool via Bloomberg. When President Obama takes the stage at George Washington University at 1:35 p.m. EDT...

April 12, 2011  |   Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is forming a presidential exploratory committee. Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. The moment Mitt Romney officially tossed his hat into the 2012 presidential ring, the press coverage immediately turned to describe why the...

April 11, 2011  |   The perceived front-runner for the Republican nomination for president in 2012 officially threw his hat into the ring Monday afternoon. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 64, opened a campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission and announced his intention to...

April 11, 2011  |   President Obama shakes the hands of tourists visiting the Lincoln Memorial during a surprise visit a day after negotiations with Congress prevented a government shutdown. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool-Getty Images. Political leaders in Washington were able to avoid...

April 8, 2011  |   Federal employees protest a potential government shutdown outside the Metcalfe Federal Building in Chicago. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images. The stakes at this point are crystal clear. When the clock strikes midnight Friday the federal government will run out...

April 7, 2011  |   Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, left, and House Speaker John Boehner speak to reporters outside the White House following a meeting with the president. Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Congressional leaders have taken budget negotiations to the...

April 6, 2011  |   President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid emerged from a late night White House meeting Wednesday with no deal in place to avert a government shutdown. However, all three men said progress was made in...

April 6, 2011  |   Two days. That's all congressional leaders have to agree on billions in cuts to a trillion-plus dollar budget in order to avert a government shutdown at midnight Friday. While significant sticking points remain -- including the amount of cuts...

April 5, 2011  |   Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairs the House Budget Committee. Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. As Congress wrangles over relatively minuscule reductions in non-defense discretionary spending for the remainder of the fiscal year , Rep. Paul...

April 4, 2011  |   President Obama jogs to the podium to address UPS employees at a facility in Maryland on Friday. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool photo via Bloomberg. "It Begins With Us" is the name of the video that the Obama 2012...

April 1, 2011  |   A woman walks by a help wanted sign in San Francisco last week. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. The economy added 216,000 jobs to the payroll in March, and the unemployment rate ticked down a notch to 8.8 percent,...

March 31, 2011  |   House Speaker John Boehner speaks to reporters after Wednesday's House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol. Photo by Bill Clark/Roll Call. Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner's spokesman are in agreement on one key thing: Nothing...

March 30, 2011  |   Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., gave his first national TV interview Tuesday night. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Sen. Marco Rubio, the rising Republican star from the Sunshine state, has decided to step more directly into the national spotlight that...

March 29, 2011  |   The president told the nation Monday evening that the United States has "a responsibility to act" in Libya. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images. President Obama spent much of his speech Monday night defending his decision to use military force...

March 28, 2011  |   A man waves a Libyan flag during an anti-war demonstration in front of the White House on Saturday. Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images. President Obama probably feels pretty good about making his big speech on Libya on a day...

March 26, 2011  |   Geraldine Ferraro, the first female vice presidential candidate for a major party and former Democratic congresswoman, died Saturday at the age of 75, according to a statement from her family. Ferraro died Saturday morning at...

March 25, 2011  |   Republican Congressman Steve King says Iowa conservatives might be looking for "a fresh face, a new candidate" in 2012 -- similar to how "Barack Obama stepped into that role for the Democrats here" in 2008. "I think Republicans are...

March 24, 2011  |   President Obama returns from a trip to Central and South America with daughters Sasha, left, Malia and the first lady. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. President Obama's schedule on his first day back at the office since launching U.S....

March 23, 2011  |   President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. A lot has happened in the year since President Obama signed health reform into law. Republicans won big in last...

March 22, 2011  |   Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty speaks at the Tea Party Patriots American Policy Summit last month. Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. With yet another highly produced Hollywood-style video, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has taken the plunge as...

March 21, 2011  |   President Obama is briefed on the situation in Libya with Chief of Staff Bill Daley, left, and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon while in Brazil Sunday. Photo by Pete Souza/White House via Getty Images. Both in his statement of...

March 18, 2011  |   President Obama greets guests during a St. Patrick's Day reception at the White House. Photo by Olivier Douliery/Pool-Getty Images. As President Obama makes his first presidential foray into Latin America, he does so with a pair of international crises...

March 17, 2011  |   Public broadcasting supporters gather in the Hart Senate Office Building this week to protest cuts to PBS and NPR. Photo by Bill Clark/Roll Call. House Republicans are putting funding for NPR back on the chopping block Thursday. The effort...

March 16, 2011  |   Circle April 8 on your calendars. With Republicans and Democrats acknowledging the short-term funding bill passed Tuesday by the House and now making its way through the Senate will be the last, April 8 looms as the real deadline...

March 15, 2011  |   A man walks by the U.S. Capitol, where lawmakers are debating a stopgap funding bill. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images. The most important vote tally to watch Tuesday will be the one that indicates how many Republicans in the...

March 14, 2011  |   President Obama will take on education reform Monday. Photo by Pete Souza/White House.gov. President Obama plans to take the stage Monday morning at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Va., and say: "We need to make sure we're graduating students...

March 11, 2011  |   President Obama will take questions from the press Friday. Getty Images. When President Obama takes the podium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at 12:30 pm ET to take questions from the press, he does so with a great...

March 10, 2011  |   Thursday's House Homeland Security hearing on "the extent of radicalization in the American Muslim community" has sparked a national debate about more than just the threat of homegrown terrorism. When the meeting gets underway at 9:30 a.m. ET in...

March 9, 2011  |   Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker speaks at a press conference earlier this week. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. As Democrats in the Wisconsin state Senate reached the end of their third week hiding out in Illinois, there was a possible...

March 8, 2011  |   Democratic Sens. Harry Reid, Richard Durbin and Charles Schumer hold a press conference last week. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have a pretty good idea about how far apart they are when it...

March 7, 2011  |   The 'Presidential Table' at the Hamburg Inn No. 2 is a well-known stop for hopefuls campaigning in Iowa. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. The first big Hawkeye State cattle call in the battle for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination...

March 2, 2011  |   Newt Gingrich has indicated that he'll soon clarify his intentions for a presidential run. Photo by Bill Clark/Roll Call. Not much is known about what Newt Gingrich plans to say after his meeting with Gov. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., Thursday...

March 1, 2011  |   Thousands rally outside Wisonsin's capitol building protesting the proposed budget repair bill. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker plans to give a budget address detailing his priorities for the next fiscal year at 5 p.m. ET,...

February 28, 2011  |   Iowa Republicans may be souring somewhat on Sarah Palin. According to a Des Moines Register poll out Monday morning, Palin's favorable numbers have slipped from 71 percent to 65 percent in the last 15 months, while the segment of Iowa...

February 28, 2011  |   A girl visiting from of Allentown, Pa., poses in front of the U.S. Capitol last week. Photo by Tom Williams/Roll Call. It looks like a government shutdown has been averted -- for now. Senate Democrats have signaled they can...

February 25, 2011  |   President Obama waves to guests as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House earlier this week. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. Most of the nation's governors will travel to Washington this weekend for their annual winter...

February 24, 2011  |   President Obama celebrates signing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 in December. Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images. The news out of President Obama's Justice Department that the administration will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage...

February 23, 2011  |   Rahm Emanuel celebrates with supporters after winning the Chicago mayoral race. Photo by John Gress/Getty Images. From helping to run the country to running Chicago, Rahm Emanuel has had quite a year. The results best tell the story. The...

February 22, 2011  |   Protesters react to an appearance Monday by Wis. Gov. Scott Walker at a news conference in the state capitol. Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images. Even in the age of Twitter and Facebook, the traditional, televised fireside chat still has...

February 18, 2011  |   Marine One with President Obama on board takes off Thursday from the South Lawn of the White House. Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images. The House will meet at 9 a.m. Friday for what's expected to be the fourth and...

February 17, 2011  |   Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, arrives for a news conference at RNC headquarters earlier this week. Photo By Bill Clark/Roll Call. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, may have lost an intra-party skirmish on funding for an alternative...

February 16, 2011  |   Reps. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., left, and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., during Tuesday's House Budget hearing on President Obama's proposed fiscal 2012 budget. Photo by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images. Now that President Obama has unveiled his budget proposal and...

February 15, 2011  |   Republicans, led by House Speaker John Boehner, pledged to cut $100 billion from the budget. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. The battle over President Obama's proposed budget for the next fiscal year was so yesterday. Though, he'll have the...

February 14, 2011  |   Updated 11 a.m. ET See video of the president's remarks: Jack Lew, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, explains President Obama's 2012 budget on the White House website. President Obama's message of "Winning the Future" in his State...

February 11, 2011  |   Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., addresses CPAC on Thursday. Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. The largest annual gathering of conservatives got underway Thursday as more than 11,000 activists flocked to Washington to size up their potential choices for the...

February 9, 2011  |   Creative Commons photo courtesy Flickr user cliff1066 Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., the former Navy secretary who rode the 2006 Democratic wave to a United States Senate seat from Virginia, announced his plan to retire Wednesday, which also happens to...

February 9, 2011  |   The White House. Photo by dasjabbadas via Flickr. President Obama will welcome the top three Republicans in the House of Representatives for lunch Wednesday at the White House, part of his renewed outreach to GOP lawmakers since the "shellacking"...

February 8, 2011  |   "At its heart, it is a revenge memoir," writes NewsHour senior correspondent Gwen Ifill in her Washington Post review of former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld's new book, "Known and Unknown." The book certainly includes its fair share of...

February 7, 2011  |   Updated 1:30 p.m. ET Originally posted 9 a.m. ET The U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Photo by Public Citizen via Flickr. It will be a very short trip across Lafayette Park Monday morning as President Obama makes his way to speak...

February 4, 2011  |   People demonstrate against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the White House last week. Photo by Collin David Anderson via Flickr. When President Obama takes the stage at 3:10 p.m. ET with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he will...

February 3, 2011  |   Last week, President Obama visited Wisconsin to highlight efforts to rebuild the economy. He heads to Pennsylvania next. Photo by Brian Kersey/Pool-Getty Images. The crisis in Egypt has largely sidelined President Obama's plan to sell his "Winning the Future"...

February 2, 2011  |   People demonstrate against the health care reform bill last year in Washington. Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images. As most of official Washington keeps its eyes on the streets of Cairo, the Senate on Wednesday will continue its ongoing debate...

February 1, 2011  |   A man protests the health care reform law at a rally in Washington, D.C., last year. Photo by Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images. In the most sweeping denouncement of the law to date, a federal judge in Florida ruled Monday...

January 28, 2011  |   Vice President Biden says running with Barack Obama in 2008 was "the best decision I've made." Photo by Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images. At the end of Jim Lehrer's interview Thursday with the vice president, he asked Mr. Biden to...

January 27, 2011  |   President Obama delivers his State of the Union address. Photo by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images. Most national polls show former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney at or near the top of any potential Republican field in 2012, and Wednesday...

January 26, 2011  |   President Obama is greeted following his State of the Union address Tuesday night. Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images. President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night was far closer to the launch of a re-election campaign than to...

January 25, 2011  |   President Obama is set to deliver his second State of the Union address Tuesday night. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett took to the morning shows Tuesday to preview President Obama's State of the...

January 24, 2011  |   Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor are readying the GOP's response to President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night. Photo by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images. Senate Minority...

January 20, 2011  |   A new poll shows a positive approval rating for President Obama. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. In the aftermath of the tragic shootings in Tucson and following a lame-duck congressional session full of positive headlines for the White House,...

January 19, 2011  |   Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., was first elected to the Senate in 1988. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images. Updated at 1 p.m. ET | Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., confirmed Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2012 and will...

January 18, 2011  |   The U.S. Capitol. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images. The House of Representatives returns to work Tuesday after putting legislative business on hold for a week to reflect on the Jan. 8 shootings in Tucson, Ariz., that left six people...

January 14, 2011  |   Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. Roll Call/Getty Images It took seven rounds of balloting, but when all the votes were finally tallied Friday the early frontrunner to replace Michael Steele as chairman of the Republican National Committee secured...

January 14, 2011  |   Michael Steele emerges from closed door meeting with supporters and heads to ballroom at Gaylord Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. Photo by David Chalian Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has ended his candidacy for a second term....

January 14, 2011  |   Reince Priebus, left, and Republican National Committee chief Michael Steele participate at the chairmanship debate earlier this month. Photo by Bill Clark/Roll Call. It's Election Day for the 168 members of the Republican National Committee. They will head into...

January 13, 2011  |   President Obama speaks during a memorial service in Tucson, Ariz., for the six people who were killed and 14 wounded in the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images. The Morning Line starts off this...

January 12, 2011  |   President Obama traveled to Tucson Wednesday to help memorialize those who died in Saturday's shooting rampage, and to honor those who are still struggling with their wounds. He clearly chose to stay above the fray of the partisan commentary...

January 12, 2011  |   People light candles at a makeshift memorial in front of University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz. where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords remains in a critical condition. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images. President Obama is set to deliver remarks about Saturday's...

January 11, 2011  |   Theresa Como Smith, left, and her children Blanche, Isaac and Silas, of Malone, N.Y., sign books of condolences in the Cannon House Office Building Rotunda for the victims of Saturday's shooting in Tucson, Ariz. Photo By Tom Williams/Roll Call....

January 10, 2011  |   The flag flies at half-staff outside the Capitol in memory of the victims of Saturday's shooting in Arizona that killed six people, including a federal judge, and gravely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Photo by Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images. A...

January 7, 2011  |   President Obama is set to tap Gene Sperling, left, as his top economic adviser. File photo by Jay Mallin/Bloomberg via Getty Images. With a new day comes yet another staff announcement by the White House. President Obama is set...

January 6, 2011  |   Representatives convene Wednesday for the first day of the 112th Congress. Photo by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images. A civics lesson will transpire before C-SPAN cameras at 10:30 a.m. Thursday as Republicans have scheduled a reading of the U.S....

January 5, 2011  |   Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, will be sworn in Wednesday as House Speaker. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images. After 20 years in Congress and a midterm election that saw his party net 63 seats, Ohio Republican John Boehner will become...

January 4, 2011  |   President and Mrs. Obama wave before boarding Air Force One as they depart from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where they spent an 11-day family vacation. Photo by Cory Lum/Pool-Getty Images. After nearly two weeks out of town,...

January 3, 2011  |   Michael Steele's tenure as chairman of the Republican National Committee appears to be coming to an end. File photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images. Before speaker-to-be John Boehner receives the gavel from outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and delivers a...

December 30, 2010  |   It is pretty clear that the most consequential political moment of 2010 came on Nov. 2 when Republicans picked up 63 House seats and majority status in the House for the upcoming 112th Congress. But aside from the climactic electoral...

December 17, 2010  |   House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer speaks to reporters Thursday at the Capitol. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images. At 11:59 p.m. EST Thursday, moments before the House's consideration of President Obama's $858 billion tax cut package was about to slip...

December 16, 2010  |   A U.S. Marine walks down the main market in Musa Qala in Helmand province. Photo by Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images. A little more than a year after President Obama announced his decision to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to...

December 15, 2010  |   From left: Republican Sens. John Barrasso, Mitch McConnell and Lamar Alexander prepare to speak to the media Tuesday at the Capitol. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. As the Senate prepared Wednesday to give final approval to the $858 billion...

December 14, 2010  |   RNC Chairman Michael Steele. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. To the surprise of members of the Republican National Committee and many outside Republican observers, party chairman Michael Steele announced plans to seek a second two-year term at the helm...

December 13, 2010  |   RNC Chairman Michael Steele is set to announce his plans. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has invited committee members to a 7:30 p.m. EST conference call Monday evening in which he plans to...

December 10, 2010  |   President Obama at the White House this week. Photo by Dennis Brack-Pool/Getty Images. If you think the greatest challenge currently facing President Obama is getting the $858 billion tax cut deal through Congress, think again. The Senate appears to...

December 9, 2010  |   Supporters of the DREAM Act recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the Capitol on Wednesday. The bill would allow a path to citizenship for children who entered the country illegally. Photo by Bill Clark/Roll Call. The Senate will consider...

December 8, 2010  |   Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks to reporters Tuesday on Capitol Hill. Sanders has threatened to filibuster the deal on extending Bush-era tax cuts. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images. The tax cut deal reached by President Obama and congressional Republicans...

December 7, 2010  |   President Barack Obama announces the deal to extend expiring tax cuts for two years. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/Pool-Getty Images. Vice President Joe Biden has the unenviable task Tuesday of going before his former Democratic colleagues in the Senate...

December 6, 2010  |   From left, Senate Democrats Jack Reed, Mark Begich, Ben Cardin, Sherrod Brown, Charles Schumer, Frank Lautenberg and Al Franken hold a news conference Saturday at the Capitol. Photo by Bill Clark/Roll Call. Almost as soon as President George W....

December 3, 2010  |   If you didn't get your fill of the tax-cut version of "Masterpiece Theater" yesterday in the House, fear not. You will have a chance to tune in to C-SPAN2 this weekend and catch Democratic senators trying to win a...

December 1, 2010  |   Wednesday was supposed to be the day that the members of President Obama's fiscal commission released its plan to rein in the country's debt and deficits and voted on it. The first part will still happen Wednesday, according to...

November 30, 2010  |   Once it became clear that the schedules had not been properly worked out for a meeting between President Obama and bipartisan congressional leaders in the immediate aftermath of the midterm elections, the inevitable drumbeat in advance of the meeting...

November 29, 2010  |   As the tryptophan wears off and before the reality of divided government takes hold in January, President Obama enters a week chock full of opportunities to demonstrate how the post-shellacking Obama presidency will present itself. In the four weeks...

November 10, 2010  |   RNC Chairman Michael Steele. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images. That didn't take long. A week after Republicans were swept to power in the House of Representatives and in statehouses across the country, party insiders are beginning to fret publicly...

November 9, 2010  |   Former President George W. Bush's memoir "Decision Points." Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images. Tuesday marks the official release of former President George W. Bush's memoir, "Decision Points," in which he reflects on the most significant decisions he made as...

November 8, 2010  |   New leadership positions are coming for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Whip James Clyburn. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced her intention to...

November 5, 2010  |   Eric Likness: I know Blanche Lincoln lost, but how many other Blue Dog Dems lost seats in addition to her? How much of a difference will that make in the Senate, where the Dems still have a majority? David...

November 5, 2010  |   A billboard welcomes President Obama in Mumbai. Photo by Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images. After losing between 60 to 64 seats in the House of Representatives and six seats in the Senate, holding the obligatory postmortem press conference and extending an...

November 3, 2010  |   Rep. John Boehner. Photo by Tom Williams/Getty Images It was swift and it was certain. The Republican wave that swept over the House of Representatives last night will not only shuffle the balance of power in Congress, but will...

November 2, 2010  |   Rally in Philadelphia. Photo by Jeff Fusco/Getty Images The Morning Line loves Top 10 lists as much as the next political blog post, so we're giving you a list of the 10 states to keep an eye on Tuesday...

November 1, 2010  |   House Minority Leader John Boehner attends a campaign rally in his home state of Ohio over the weekend. Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images. Every politician loves to say that the only poll that matters is the one on Election...

October 29, 2010  |   President Obama speaks at a Democratic rally at Ohio State University earlier this month. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images. Before embarking on a final midterm campaign swing that will see him make five stops in three days, President Obama...

October 28, 2010  |   President Obama appears on Wednesday's "Daily Show with Jon Stewart." Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images. For the White House, the closing days of the midterm campaign is all about turning out key blocks of the Democratic base. Looking to...

October 27, 2010  |   Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks as gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown, right, look on during a discussion moderated by "Today" show host Matt Lauer. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images. The cheers that welcomed Meg Whitman at an event...

October 26, 2010  |   For Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., ice cream might be inexpensive, but he and other candidates are on pace to exceed $2 billion in campaign spending this election. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images. A lot of attention has been paid...

October 25, 2010  |   For all the talk this election season about tea parties and the enthusiasm gap among partisans, Republicans are poised to make big gains in next week's elections thanks in large part to support from independent voters who have grown...

October 22, 2010  |   Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama attend a rally in Philadelphia earlier this month. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images. President Obama, currently in the midst of a Western campaign swing, will spend the final weekend of the...

October 21, 2010  |   Supporters of Pennsylvania Senate candidates Republican Pat Toomey and Democrat Joe Sestak waves signs before Wednesday's debate. Photo by Bill Clark/Roll Call via Getty Images. More often than not there's a natural tightening in competitive political races toward the...

October 20, 2010  |   Supporters of California gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. After Tuesday, California gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman shouldn't wait by the phone for an endorsement from the man they are trying...

October 18, 2010  |   Republican supporters attend the Republican National Committee "Victory Rally with Sarah Palin" in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday. Photo by Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images. If money usually follows momentum in politics, then Republicans are the ones with the wind at their...

October 15, 2010  |   The one and only debate in the marquee Senate race of they 2010 cycle won't likely prove to be a game changer in the contest. But it did have a little bit of everything for Nevada voters. "Man up,...

October 14, 2010  |   Candidates, political parties and outside interest groups have spent an estimated $198 million on advertising for U.S. House and Senate races in the past five weeks, according to a study released Wednesday by the Wesleyan Media Project. The total...

October 13, 2010  |   First Lady Michelle Obama is headed to Wisconsin and Illinois Wednesday in what is the beginning of an eight state, two-week campaign tour on behalf of embattled Democrats. As is often the case with first ladies, Mrs. Obama is...

October 12, 2010  |   It appears former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle is poised to be the big jackpot winner of the money race for third quarter donations. The tea party backed Republican candidate for Senate in Nevada announced Tuesday that she took in a...

October 12, 2010  |   When President Obama takes to the Internet Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. ET to conduct a town hall from George Washington University, it will be the first of two events on his schedule this week primarily focused on reconnecting...

October 11, 2010  |   President Obama may have softened his line of attack against the Chamber of Commerce and its intake of foreign money once the facts didn't appear to be on his side. But the Democratic National Committee is still keeping the...

October 8, 2010  |   Job seekers line up at a job fair last week in New York City. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images. Friday's monthly jobs report was the last before November's midterm elections and it likely did little to alter voters' discontent...

October 7, 2010  |   Senate candidates Marco Rubio, Gov. Charlie Crist and Rep. Kendrick Meek shake hands before their debate. Photo by Joe Burbank-Pool/Getty Images. If you weren't sure who the front-runner is in the Florida Senate race, Wednesday night's televised debate cleared...

October 6, 2010  |   A member of Westboro Baptist Church protests at a veterans' hospital in Virginia. File photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images. The PBS NewsHour's Mike Melia previews Wednesday's high-profile First Amendment case before the Supreme Court: On the steps of the...

October 5, 2010  |   "I'm not a witch." That's not your usual opening sentence in a political campaign ad. But Christine O'Donnell's candidacy in Delaware has proven to be anything but usual. The Tea Party-backed Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate is looking...

October 4, 2010  |   President Obama greets supporters in Chicago during a Democratic Party fundraiser. Photo by Jeff Haynes/Getty Images. The Democratic National Committee announced Monday morning that it raised a record setting $16 million in September, by far the party's best monthly...

October 1, 2010  |   President Obama and senior adviser Pete Rouse bump fists at the White House in April 2009. Photo by Pete Souza/White House via Getty Images. When President Obama takes to the East Room of the White House at 11:05 am...

September 30, 2010  |   If in 33 days American voters put Republicans back in power on Capitol Hill, the head of the Senate Republican campaign arm predicts his party will "pretty quickly" introduce bills to repeal two of President Obama's major legislative accomplishments...

September 29, 2010  |   Each of the three major candidates running for the Senate from Florida seeks to group his two opponents into a single category. Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, the Republican, says he is running against opportunistic politicians who simply see...

September 29, 2010  |   California attorney general and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown speaks during a debate against Republican candidate Meg Whitman on Tuesday. Photo by Jose Luis Villegas-Pool/Getty Images. The 2010 midterm election narrative for members of Congress trying to keep their...

September 28, 2010  |   White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images. Just hours after President Obama said on NBC's "Today" show that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel would soon make a decision about whether to run...

September 27, 2010  |   As President Obama prepares for his latest campaign swing that includes a big public rally in Madison, Wis., Gwen Ifill discusses how the White House is employing the president's celebrity status with young voters as a way to enliven the...

September 27, 2010  |   President Obama speaks about health care reform last week in a backyard in Fall Church, Va. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images. Vice President Joe Biden is expected to hit a backyard in New Hampshire on Monday to raise some...

September 24, 2010  |   Updated Sept. 27 with Video MIAMI | You could call it the one-two punch. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, the former Republican running for the U.S. Senate as an independent, has taken to the airwaves to attack both his Republican and...

September 20, 2010  |   President Obama attempted to both empathize with the tea party movement and challenge its supporters in his most extensive comments to date about some of his most energized opposition. "I think America has a noble tradition of being healthily skeptical...

September 20, 2010  |   The first family walks to St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington for Sunday service. Photo by Dennis Brack-Pool/Getty Images. President Obama kicks off his week with a live, one-hour town hall on CNBC focused on jobs and the economy....

September 16, 2010  |   President Obama heads back out on the campaign trail Thursday. Photo by Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images. In a sign that no seat is truly safe this election year, President Obama heads back out on the campaign trail Thursday to raise...

September 15, 2010  |   Christine O'Donnell speaks to supporters after winning Delaware's Republican primary for Senate against Rep. Mike Castle. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images. Christine O'Donnell's strong, six-point victory over the more moderate Rep. Mike Castle in...

September 14, 2010  |   Political signs line Hine Junior High School in Washington, D.C. Photo by Tom Williams/Roll Call via Getty Images. Tuesday is the last major primary day of the year, with voters in seven states and the District of Columbia headed...

September 13, 2010  |   The NewsHour's Gwen Ifill and Political Editor David Chalian take a look at the stories making headlines in Washington and beyond on this week's Political Checklist, including the recent back-and-forth between House Minority Leader John Boehner and the White House...

August 30, 2010  |   In this week's edition of the Political Checklist, Judy Woodruff discusses the week ahead in politics, including President Obama's primetime speech on Iraq plus what the White House may have in store to address Americans' ongoing economic and unemployment concerns....

August 27, 2010  |   Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, who has been spending most of his time trying to harness the Tea Party energy into electoral gains for conservatives, said the "Restoring Honor" rally that Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck...

August 24, 2010  |   In one of the final high profile primary nights of the 2010 pre-season, voters sent some conflicting messages. The outsider millionaire in the governor's race secured the GOP nomination, while the Democratic establishment insider in the Senate race easily rebuffed...

August 20, 2010  |   Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine tells the New York Times that there's "gloom and doom" among his fellow Democrats who are facing the prospect of devastating losses in November's midterm elections. Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to address...

August 19, 2010  |   It's quite easy to imagine President Obama itching to get up to Martha's Vineyard with his family Thursday afternoon and kick back for 10 days. He's got a relentless unemployment rate to battle, an upcoming fall campaign season in which...

August 18, 2010  |   For as much as Barack Obama changed the electoral map in 2008, the two states he visits Wednesday will be as critical to his re-election effort in 2012 as they were for George W. Bush in his campaigns for the...

August 17, 2010  |   So much for Obama's campaign tour handing the Democratic message tons of free media coverage heading into the post-Labor Day frenzy. As the president wings his way from Los Angeles to Seattle to cheerlead for vulnerable incumbent Sen. Patty Murray...

August 16, 2010  |   In a weekly segment now dubbed "The Political Checklist," senior correspondents Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifill tick through this week's list by weighing in on President Obama's three-day, five-state campaign swing and what clues his stops provide in figuring out...

August 16, 2010  |   President Obama will be in non-stop campaign mode for the next three days -- more so than at any time since his 2008 victory. His name isn't on the ballot, but more than any political pundit or practitioner, President Obama...

August 13, 2010  |   We still may be in the dog days of summer and many voters are trying to squeeze in one more trip to the beach rather than worry about the upcoming midterm elections. But that isn't stopping several campaigns from full...

August 11, 2010  |   Senior Correspondent Gwen Ifill spoke with me Wednesday about the bigger themes coming out of Tuesday night's primary results in Colorado and Connecticut. Also in the NewsHour's look at the week ahead in politics a segment for which we are...

August 6, 2010  |   One day after the Senate voted to confirm his pick for the Supreme Court, President Obama took to the East Room of the White House with the soon-to-be Justice Elena Kagan for a bit of a victory lap. The 63...

July 26, 2010  |   Fresh from an overseas trip to Afghanistan and Iraq, Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty weighed in on many of the policy and political issues of the moment at a breakfast meeting with reporters Monday in Washington, D.C., but it may...

July 23, 2010  |   Remember way back when Democrats were feeling excited about being 6 points up in the generic congressional ballot and were hopeful the week would be dominated by Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, calling for a return to the exact...

July 22, 2010  |   Keep your eyes on the flurry of activity set to occur at the Sandra Day O'Connor Courthouse today in Phoenix. Two of the seven federal lawsuits seeking an injunction to prevent the Arizona immigration law from going into effect next...

July 21, 2010  |   Three months after his first major bill signing of the year with health care legislation, President Obama will drum up the fanfare again as he puts pen to paper to sign Wall Street reform into law. (Presumably, Vice President Biden...

July 20, 2010  |   The British are coming. British Prime Minister David Cameron makes his first official visit to Washington on Tuesday and has a packed schedule, including breakfast with Vice President Joe Biden, an Oval Office chat with President Obama and a 2...

July 19, 2010  |   -- President Obama takes to the Rose Garden at 10:30 a.m. ET to continue his push for an extension of unemployment benefits for approximately 2 million long-term unemployed Americans. Just as he hammered away at Republicans in the Senate in...

July 13, 2010  |   The White House usually publicly refrains from getting too caught up in the poll obsessed chatter that dominates the Washington political world when a new survey makes a front page splash. But with the midterm elections less than four months...

July 8, 2010  |   Just as President Obama attempted to do on the campaign trail in Missouri on Thursday, his chief of staff appears intent upon making sure George W. Bush and his administration's policies are on the ballot this November. That will, of...