Associated Press - page 614

Republican strength in this year’s House and Senate races could, strangely enough, hurt the party’s presidential chances by stalling the changes in style and policy advocated after Mitt Romney’s defeat in the 2012 presidential campaign. GOP officials and strategists say it’s hard to persuade party leaders to adjust the political recipe when they feel increasingly upbeat about adding Senate control to their solid House majority this fall. This optimism, numerous GOP strategists say, makes looking past the party’s loss of…

Keep Reading

Republicans, including the vanquished majority leader himself, on Sunday considered Rep. Eric Cantor’s primary loss last week to a little-known tea party challenger and what it means for the GOP heading forward. The monumental rejection of House Republicans’ No. 2 lawmaker left many in Washington stunned and searching for a way to prevent another upset. Following his defeat, Cantor, R-Va., announced he would soon step down from his GOP leadership post but serve the remainder of his term. “I don’t…

Keep Reading

It’s perhaps appropriate that President Barack Obama is vacationing this weekend in California, where the state flag features a roaming grizzly. The restless president, who has compared himself to a caged animal on recent wanderings by declaring the “bear is loose,” took a long Father’s Day weekend away with his wife and older daughter. The visit to the desert resort area of Palm Springs is one of the ways Obama has been trying to escape during his sixth year cloistered…

Keep Reading

Home-schooling mom Jenni White gave some of the loudest cheers when Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed legislation to repeal the Common Core education standards. White, president of Restore Oklahoma Public Education, helped organize rallies, robo calls and letters to legislators encouraging the repeal. “You name it. We had to do it,” White said. “We just had to do it out of a shoestring budget out of our own accounts.” In Oklahoma and elsewhere, home-schooling parents, often with their kids, are…

Keep Reading

President Barack Obama is spending a long Father’s Day weekend in the California desert oasis of Rancho Mirage. The president and first lady arrived at the Palm Springs airport Friday night after visiting an Indian reservation earlier in the day. They are staying with White House decorator Michael Smith and his partner, U.S. Ambassador to Spain James Costos, at their vacation home. Obama plans to take a short flight to Orange County on Saturday to raise money for the Democratic…

Keep Reading

Air strikes and other intervention should be considered to combat a violent insurgency in Iraq, Sen. Marco Rubio said Friday, cautioning the country could become a safe haven for terrorists capable of another 9/11. The Florida Republican said he didn’t think ground troops were the best response to a “completely predictable” situation, but that U.S. security is directly paired with instability there. “We have to have every option at our disposal and that includes both missile strikes and air strikes,”…

Keep Reading

Hillary Rodham Clinton says she hasn’t decided if she’ll run again for president. But she’s giving more reasons to run than not. Clinton’s on a frenetic tour promoting her new book, “Hard Choices.” She’s been making case after case for launching a new presidential campaign in 2016. The former secretary of state pushes back against Republicans investigating the deadly raid on the American compound in Benghazi. Clinton says she wants to keeps faith with the women and girls who look…

Keep Reading