COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — His cash advantage threatened, President Barack Obama and his party are redoubling their fundraising efforts after robust hauls by Republican rival Mitt Romney and a slew of GOP-leaning super PACs that are raking in cash from the party faithful highly motivated to topple the Democrat. Obama still has a significant edge, but … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney is aggressively defending his work at the private equity firm he co-founded and insists it makes him qualified to be president. Romney told Time magazine on Wednesday that “someone who spent their career in the economy” is better qualified to fix the economy than someone who spent their life in politics and as … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell declined Tuesday to renew the presidential endorsement he gave Barack Obama four years ago, saying he wasn’t ready “to throw my weight behind someone” at this time. The former chairman of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Cabinet member under President George W. Bush demurred when … Continue reading →

Without a book contract to bolster his income last year, Gov. Bobby Jindal relied on his salary and investment income to pay the bills in 2011. Jindal is required, as a public official, to file a personal financial disclosure statement each year with the state Board of Ethics. His top aides also must file reports. The … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign is keeping up its effort to paint Mitt Romney as a job-destroying corporate raider at Bain Capital. In a video being released Monday, Obama’s campaign zeroes in on a Marion, Ind., company, American Pad & Paper, also known as Ampad. The ad charges that Ampad bought and closed the … Continue reading →

CHICAGO — President Barack Obama and NATO allies declared Sunday that the end of the long and unpopular Afghanistan war is in sight even as they struggled to hold their fighting force together in the face of dwindling patience and shaky unity. From his hometown and the city where his re-election operation hums, Obama spoke … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney and his party raised a sizable $40 million last month from donors who want him to replace President Barack Obama. But even as Romney solidifies his position as the eventual GOP nominee, many supporters who backed his primary election challengers have not yet come to his aid. An Associated … Continue reading →

House Speaker Chuck Kleckley said Thursday that the state’s financial problems are affecting his family. Kleckley, R-Lake Charles, said funding cutbacks to public colleges are prolonging his youngest daughter’s education. He said his daughter will have to stay at McNeese State University an extra year to … Continue reading →

ABC’S “THIS WEEK”: Reps. John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. NBC’S “MEET THE PRESS”: Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. CBS’ “FACE THE NATION”: Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Mark Warner, D-Va., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Continue reading →

(AP) — Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer’s foundering bid to run for president as an independent candidate has taken another significant hit. Roemer had hoped to get the nomination of Americans Elect, a nonpartisan group pushing for a third-party candidate. But Americans Elect shut down its efforts Thursday, saying no candidate met the benchmarks for its nomination … Continue reading →

Gov. Bobby Jindal called a special Nov. 6 election Wednesday for the 5th District seat covering Baton Rouge on the Louisiana Supreme Court being vacated by Chief Justice Kitty Kimball. If no candidate wins outright, the runoff election would be held Dec. 1. Candidate qualifying will run Aug. 15-17. Kimball, of Ventress, announced earlier that she … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Nebraska Republicans on Tuesday were choosing a candidate to square off against Democrat Bob Kerrey, a former senator seeking another turn on Capitol Hill in one of the year’s most hotly contested Senate races. The GOP primary fight illustrates a years-old split between the two wings of the GOP. State Attorney General Jon … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama tried Monday to tarnish Mitt Romney as a corporate titan who got rich by cutting rather than creating jobs, opening a new effort to undercut the Republican’s claims that his background of business success is just what America needs in a time of deep economic uncertainty. At the center … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Ron Paul, the congressman from Texas and a favorite of tea partyers, effectively ended his presidential campaign Monday but urged his fervent supporters to continue working at the state party level to cause havoc for presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. In an email to supporters, Paul urged his libertarian-leaning backers to remain … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ron Paul says he is done spending money on his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Paul on Monday issued a statement that insisted he would continue the fight for delegates, taking the battle to the GOP convention in Tampa. But the favorite of libertarians and tea partyers says he would no longer spend … Continue reading →

The state’s financial picture got murkier Thursday. Legislators learned that the shortfall for the current fiscal year that ends June 30 has grown from $211 million to $220 million, partly because not enough money was budgeted for TOPS scholarships. Legislators have yet to decide … Continue reading →

RENO, Nev. — The presidential candidates tried to put aside politically risky talk of gay rights Friday and return to Americans’ top worry, the economy, in two states critical to the hopes of President Barack Obama and his rival Mitt Romney. Obama discussed how to help homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure in hard-hit Nevada, while … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Six-term Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar was routed by the right flank of his own Republican Party on Tuesday, and North Carolina voters decided overwhelmingly to strengthen their state’s gay marriage ban. It was a double-barreled show of conservative enthusiasm and strength six months before the nation chooses between Democratic President Barack Obama and … Continue reading →

Louisiana has little choice but to adopt a $50 billion plan to pay for projects that would protect and restore the state’s coastline, the second-highest-ranking member of the Louisiana House of Representatives said Monday. “Failure is not an option for us,” state Rep. Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans, told the Press Club of Baton Rouge. Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s election-year vagueness on gay marriage is coming under fresh scrutiny. Education Secretary Arne Duncan broke ranks with the White House on Monday, stating his unequivocal support for same-sex marriage one day after Vice President Joe Biden suggested that he supported gay marriage as well. Obama aides worked to manage … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Republican party leaders are starting to rally around Mitt Romney, but it’s not exactly a stampede of support for the expected GOP presidential nominee. With Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich out of the race, Romney is his party’s pick to take on President Barack Obama this fall, barring a … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — He’s a smug, Harvard-trained elitist who doesn’t get how regular Americans are struggling these days. More extreme than he lets on, he’s keeping his true agenda hidden until after Election Day. He’s clueless about fixing the economy, over his head on foreign policy. Who is he? Your answer will help … Continue reading →

Speaking to the American Federation of Children on Thursday in New Jersey, Gov. Bobby Jindal singled out a wealthy Michigan couple as worthy of praise for their support of his education package. Jindal characterized Dick and Betsy DeVos as steadfast supporters of expanding school-choice programs in states all … Continue reading →

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Newt Gingrich, the colorful former House speaker and fiery partisan, formally exited the Republican presidential contest Wednesday and vowed to help Mitt Romney’s bid to defeat President Barack Obama. Ending a campaign that seesawed between implosion and frontrunner and back again, Gingrich threw his support to his one-time rival as expected and promised … Continue reading →

NEW YORK — Republican Mitt Romney on Tuesday accused President Barack Obama of politicizing the death of Osama bin Laden a year ago but said it was “totally appropriate” for him to claim credit for ordering the U.S. military raid that ended with the terrorist leader’s death in a hideout in Pakistan. Obama’s re-election … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — In a classic political case of better late than never, South Carolina Republicans who earlier spurned Mitt Romney are belatedly embracing him as he closes in on their party’s presidential nomination. But in South Carolina, one of the hotbeds of the nation’s tea party movement and where Republican activists spent long months … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Once a tense rivalry, the relationship between President Barack Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton has evolved into a genuine political and policy partnership. Both sides have a strong incentive in making the alliance work, especially in an election year. For Obama, Bill Clinton is a fundraising juggernaut, a powerful reminder to voters … Continue reading →

Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne will be master of ceremonies at a joint session of the Louisiana Legislature on Monday celebrating Louisiana’s Bicentennial. The joint session will be held in the House Chamber of the State Capitol at 1:30 p.m. Special celebrity guests will participate in Louisiana’s … Continue reading →

WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Mitt Romney’s Etch A Sketch moment is at hand. Now that he’s the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Romney is shifting away from the “red-meat” issues of abortion and immigration and instead holding more events highlighting his appeal as a regular guy. The transformation played out Friday when Romney met with … Continue reading →

New Orleans state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson ousted Claude “Buddy” Leach to become the first female chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party on Saturday. The changing of the guard comes as the party prepares for a major voter push this fall when President Barack Obama is up for re-election and congressional seats are also on the … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — The killing of Osama bin Laden, first presented as a moment of national unity by President Barack Obama, has become something else: a political weapon. Obama’s re-election campaign is portraying his risky decision to go after America’s top enemy as a defining difference with his Republican presidential opponent, suggesting Mitt Romney … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two advisers to Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich say he will formally end is campaign next Tuesday and will likely to endorse Mitt Romney. Gingrich had pinned his hopes on a surprise showing in Delaware but fell short. He had been hinting in recent days that his campaign was nearing an end. His … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney laid claim to the fiercely contested Republican presidential nomination Tuesday night with a fistful of primary triumphs and urged all who struggle in a shaky U.S. economy to “hold on a little longer; a better America begins tonight.” Connecticut and Rhode Island fell quickly into Romney’s column on the first primary … Continue reading →

Weeks after successfully pushing to send more public school students to private schools, Gov. Bobby Jindal will speak to a national education group. Jindal is scheduled to make a speech at the American Federation for Children’s national policy summit next month in Jersey City, N.J. The American Federation for Children and its partner, Alliance for School … Continue reading →

An online news organization suggested that Gov. Bobby Jindal bored his audience Thursday by delivering a 45-minute speech at the New York Republican State Committee Annual Dinner. “As the speech wore on, Jindal’s applause lines drew less and less of a response, and tables broke out … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s re-election effort enjoyed a 10-to-1 financial edge over Republican rival Mitt Romney last month, outraising the former Massachusetts governor by millions as Obama stuffed more than $104 million into his campaign war chest. A nasty primary battle between Romney and his GOP rivals took a financial toll on his … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — The White House expressed renewed confidence Thursday in the director of the Secret Service in the midst of a prostitution scandal that has threatened to become a serious political distraction in an election year. A key lawmaker who oversees the Secret Service predicted more firings there soon. President Barack Obama’s chief spokesman, … Continue reading →

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Their battle joined, challenger Mitt Romney savaged President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy on Wednesday while the commander-in-chief commiserated up close with victims of the recession and warned that Republicans would only make matters worse. “Obama is over his head and swimming in the wrong direction” when it comes to … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON (AP) — The two top Republicans in Congress explicitly endorsed Mitt Romney on Tuesday to be their party’s presidential nominee, as party leaders continued consolidating around their all-but-inevitable candidate in hopes of quickly focusing attention on ousting President Barack Obama in this fall’s election. The public embraces offered by House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority … Continue reading →

BOSTON (AP) — Mitt Romney has tapped a longtime adviser to begin his search for a vice presidential candidate. Romney said Monday that Beth Myers is in charge of “selection and vetting and analysis.” “I have selected someone who has been a counselor of mine for a number of years, Beth Myers. She was my chief … Continue reading →

Gov. Bobby Jindal will be in New York this week to give the keynote address at a Republican dinner. Jindal is one of the headliners Thursday for the New York Republican Party fundraiser. Tickets start at $1,000. … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has called on Republican Mitt Romney to release his past tax returns, saying that candidates for office need to be “as transparent as possible.” Obama told Univision in an interview conducted at the Summit of the Americas in Colombia that candidates need to disclose their tax records as a … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — Freshman Republican Rep. Joe Heck sees no reason to back down after voting for a Republican budget plan that combines deep spending cuts in safety-net programs for the poor with a dramatic overhaul of Medicare and steep drops in tax rates. The blueprint “is not perfect, but it’s something that is on … Continue reading →

ST. LOUIS — The presidential campaign briefly veered from the emotional Mommy Wars on Friday to the back-burner issue of gun rights, with Mitt Romney telling the National Rifle Association that President Barack Obama is not protecting gun owners — even though the topic has rarely arisen during his time in office. … Continue reading →

Officials with JPMorgan Chase Bank appeared before legislators Tuesday to answer criticism surrounding the switch to debit cards to issue refunds on state tax returns. Continue reading →