Barack Obama cruised past a fading Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Wisconsin primary Tuesday night, gaining the upper hand in a Democratic presidential race for the ages. ...more

February 20, 2008

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton smothered Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain with kindness on Friday, then declared her rivals wrong on the issues. ...more

February 16, 2008

If Sen. Barack Obama becomes the Democratic nominee, he faces a financial dilemma: Use his vaunted fundraising operation for the general election or limit himself by accepting public funds. ...more

February 15, 2008

What goes around, comes around. Sen. McCain's long-time allegiance to President Bush has finally paid off. His position on the Iraqi war, amnesty bill, Free Trade bills, prescriptive drug bill, pension exemption for corporations bill, the China negotiation process, you name it, Sen. McCain was behind Bush all the way. What with all the talk about change, even by McCain, guess who endorses McCain? The establishment! Sen. McCain, war hero, beloved by all Americans, now vaulted to the front in the Republican race. How fitting. He was brutally trashed by those supporters of Bush in South Carolina in 2000, but said nothing (perhaps because of what happened to him in Vietnam). He did not blame President Bush. In fact, he supported just about all of Bush's policies, especially Iraq. All well and good, except for one key factor. He has reversed himself on almost all of them in the last two months, except one, the Iraqi war. He now proclaims his Straight Talk Express, which appears to have lost a wheel. He is promising just about everything, even getting Osama bin Ladin, because "he knows how." If so, why not now? He is pandering to every segment of the population, even the conservatives. He is counting on the military for support; yet, the government has exploited them from day one of the war. ...more

February 15, 2008

As Sens. John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton accused Sen. Barack Obama of using rhetoric that lacks specifics or fails to yield results, Obama countered on Wednesday by offering a detailed plan to spend $210 billion to create jobs in construction and environmentally friendly fields. ...more

February 14, 2008

Sen. Barack Obama swept the Louisiana primary and caucuses in Nebraska and Washington state Saturday night, slicing into Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's slender delegate lead in their historic race for the Democratic presidential nomination. ...more

February 10, 2008

An 80-year-old former advertising and publishing executive, Thomas S. Monson, was named on Monday to be the 16th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one week after the death of the previous president, Gordon B. Hinckley. ...more

February 5, 2008

"The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country," by Laton McCartney (Random House, $27) ...more

February 3, 2008

AVON PARK — Ann Romney doesn't like to talk about politics, but she did tell a crowd of about 125 that her husband, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is the kind of man who loves his family. "His children and grandchildren are what makes his life rich and fulfilled," his wife said. They've known each other since elementary school, said Ann Romney, 58, an attractive, slender blonde in a black pantsuit and silver pearls. She appeared at Iris & Butterflies, 207 Circle Park Drive, on Wednesday morning, and spent an hour talking to the crowd that gathered in the back room. ...more

January 24, 2008

The Florida Legislature's decision last spring to move the state's presidential primary to Jan. 29 has been wildly successful, in the opinions of almost everybody. ...more

January 20, 2008