Related Content: Charles Babington
SPIN METER: Lawmakers' Talk of Cuts is Just TalkEssential Reads If there's one thing Republicans and Democrats in Washington say they agree on, it's the need to reduce federal spending. And it's something they almost never do, as recent events have proved again. Last week the U.S. Postal Service asked the Senate for permission to proceed with a multibillion-dollar savings package that included closing thousands of money-losing post offices. The Senate refused, voting instead to give the Postal Service another $11 billion amid speeches hailing the historic role of post offices in small towns. |
In Kabul, Obama Highlights Foreign Policy RecordEssential Reads President Barack Obama answered political taunts with presidential muscle Tuesday, addressing the nation from Kabul as Republicans said he's overdoing the celebration of Osama bin Laden's death one year ago. The president's secret flight to Afghanistan — where he signed off on details for withdrawing U.S. troops from the decade-long war there — was the type of campaign counterpunch that may play out many times in his re-election battle against Republican Mitt Romney. |
PROMISES, PROMISES: Romney Pledges Raise QuestionsEssential Reads Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is making campaign promises that could produce an economic miracle -- or a more predictable list of broken vows. Romney says he wants to put the nation on a path to a balanced budget while also cutting an array of taxes, building up the Navy and Air Force and adding 100,000 active-duty military personnel. He says he would slash domestic spending and reduce tax loopholes but has offered few details. |
Supreme Court moves to center of presidential raceEssential Reads The Supreme Court, suddenly at the heart of presidential politics, is preparing what could be blockbuster rulings on health care and immigration shortly before the fall election. The court, sometimes an afterthought in presidential elections, is throwing a new element of uncertainty into the campaign taking shape between President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
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Romney Rebuts Claims that He, GOP are Anti-WomenOn The Radar Presidential candidate Mitt Romney intensified his efforts Wednesday to rebut claims that he and fellow Republicans are insufficiently supportive of women, or even hostile to them. For the second straight day, the presumptive GOP nominee campaigned at a female-owned work site, and denounced Democrats for saying his party is waging "a war on women." |
Obama-Romney Showdown Starts with a Harsh ToneOn The Radar The 2012 presidential general election has begun. It won't be pretty. Tuesday marked Day One, in essence, of the contest between the two virtually certain nominees, Republican Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. Rick Santorum's departure removed the last meaningful bump from Romney's path to the GOP nomination. Romney and Obama wasted no time in portraying the voters' choice in dire, sometimes starkly personal terms. |
Jobs Report Leaves Obama, Romney Campaigns WaryOn The Radar The nation's steady-but-modest job growth presents political challenges for both of November's all-but-certain presidential rivals. Republican Mitt Romney needs an ailing economy to fully exploit his image as a "Mr. Fix-It" who can restore the nation's financial health, as he turned around the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics. President Barack Obama needs job-creation momentum to convince voters that things are moving in the right direction, even if millions of people remain unemployed. |
Obama Postpones Many Issues Until ElectionsOn The Radar Missile defense isn't the only area in which President Barack Obama will have "more flexibility" if he's re-elected. Immigration, the Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline, gay marriage, tax policy and other issues could invite bold initiatives by a president who knows he will never run for office again, especially if his party gains ground in congressional elections. |
Health Ruling Looms Small in Obama RaceOn The Radar The Supreme Court's much-anticipated ruling on health care, expected in late June, may have one surprising outcome: a modest impact on President Barack Obama's re-election bid, even though he is intimately associated with the challenged law. That wouldn't be the case if anyone other than Mitt Romney was Obama's likeliest Republican challenger this fall. Romney, however, is singularly ill-positioned to capitalize on the issue because he championed a similar health care law as Massachusetts governor in 2006. |
March 2, 2012Weekly Show As we head into Super Tuesday, which GOP candidate has momentum and how will Tuesday’s primaries change the race? Meanwhile, President Obama makes campaign-like speeches in Michigan and New York. Also, Senator Olympia Snow resigns, saying there is no longer bipartisanship in Congress. Joining Gwen: John Dickerson, Slate/CBS News; Gloria Borger, CNN; Charles Babington, Associated Press.
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