We conclude our series by looking at how former Gov. Mitt Romney's experience with a fatal Big Dig accident shaped him. Some say Romney showcased his hands-on leadership style while others say his judgment was flawed.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has won Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul remain in a tight race for second, with former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum finishing last.
BOSTON — Democratic Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren’s campaign said of the more than $5.7 million she collected during the last three months of 2011, about 69 percent came from out of state.
BOSTON — Romney scores a convincing win in Florida. Next up: Nevada, Arizona and Michigan. We survey the campaign trail ahead with politics analysts Todd Domke and Dan Payne.
BOSTON — Just how rich is Mitt Romney? Add up the wealth of the last eight presidents, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. Then double that number. Now you’re in Romney territory.
BOSTON — The warfare over wealth: how personal fortunes have become a weapon as candidates do battle on the campaign trail.
While the barrage of negative ads is likely to be bad during the general election, the Republican primaries have seen a confluence of factors that have made for particularly fertile ground for negative ads: the introduction of superPACs collided with a war for control of the GOP between conservatives and hard conservatives.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White was accused of lying about his home address on voter registration forms in order to continue receiving a stipend for serving on his town's council.
(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
A centrist think tank finds that in several key states, both parties are losing voters relative to the number of newly declared independents. In Colorado, which holds its Republican caucuses Tuesday, declared independents are now about even with registered Republicans or registered Democrats.
The percentage of negative political TV ads has increased sharply in the run up to the 2012 election. Ronald Reagan — revered by the Republican candidates — didn't air a single negative advertisement in his 1980 campaign for the presidency. George W. Bush's campaign didn't air any negative ads in 2000 either, nor did Democratic candidate Al Gore. Audie Cornish talks with John Geer, who tracks political advertising out of Vanderbilt University, about why the landscape has changed so drastically.
While the barrage of negative ads is likely to be bad during the general election, the Republican primaries have seen a confluence of factors that have made for particularly fertile ground for negative ads: the introduction of superPACs collided with a war for control of the GOP between conservatives and hard conservatives.
(Ken Rudin's ScuttleButton 020612)
Still excited about Sunday's Super Bowl? The only thing that will calm your nerves is a nice ScuttleButton puzzle to solve.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White was accused of lying about his home address on voter registration forms in order to continue receiving a stipend for serving on his town's council.
(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
A centrist think tank finds that in several key states, both parties are losing voters relative to the number of newly declared independents. In Colorado, which holds its Republican caucuses Tuesday, declared independents are now about even with registered Republicans or registered Democrats.
Websites like Facebook and Twitter played an integral role in last year's Arab Spring uprisings. But they've also brought about change right here at home. Audie Cornish talks to Clay Shirky, a professor of New Media at New York University, about how social media has fueled policy changes from Bank of America to Verizon, and the most recent backlash with the breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
The percentage of negative political TV ads has increased sharply in the run up to the 2012 election. Ronald Reagan — revered by the Republican candidates — didn't air a single negative advertisement in his 1980 campaign for the presidency. George W. Bush's campaign didn't air any negative ads in 2000 either, nor did Democratic candidate Al Gore. Audie Cornish talks with John Geer, who tracks political advertising out of Vanderbilt University, about why the landscape has changed so drastically.
After the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, world leaders vowed that such mass atrocities could never be allowed to happen again. In 2005, the U.N. adopted the Responsibility to Protect, a set of principles to guide the response of the international community if a government fails to protect its population.
(Chrysler ad screenshot)
Clint Eastwood's ad made a more emotionally gripping argument for saving the auto industry than perhaps anything President Obama has said on the subject to date.
The latest Washington Post/ABC News survey gives the president a nine point lead over the former Massachusetts governor, who is ahead of his rivals in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
(Ken Rudin collection)
Mitt Romney's victory in Nevada on Saturday is only the start of what could be a big month for him. Many of the states holding caucuses and primaries in February are ones he carried in 2008.
In New Mexico, state lawmakers are figuring out what to do with a budget surplus. Republicans want to give some of the money to businesses, in the form of tax breaks. Democrats want to restore some of the cuts to services made over the last three years.
Minnesota holds its Republican caucuses on Tuesday. But in the race for the White House, these caucuses are just a nonbinding straw poll.
Mitt Romney was the big winner in Saturday's Nevada caucus, leaving runner-up Newt Gingrich in the dust. Organizers said tens of thousands of people participated in the West's first presidential contest of the year, and some of them were still taking part late into the night. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports.
In the midst of a primary season where every state is trying to outdo the rest, Maine is content to do caucuses its own way. The state's many small towns have long held individual caucuses any time between January and March, and the state Republican Party's efforts to reel them into a single week has had mixed success. Host Rachel Martin speaks with political writer Al Diamon.
(Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images)
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won the Nevada caucus Saturday by a wide margin, with Newt Gingrich in a distant second. Romney soared ahead in part because of the state's large Mormon population, but he was dominant across a broad swath of demographics.
(Ted S. Warren / AP)
Some highly improbable events lately have embarrassed the host states in the presidential nominating process, including Nevada, which held its caucus Saturday night.
(Gerald Herbert / AP)
All caucus sites have now closed in Nevada, and based on actual vote returns NPR says Mitt Romney is the winner, followed by Newt Gingrich in second place followed by Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. This is Romney's second straight triumph over a field of rivals suddenly struggling to keep pace.
Nevada holds its Republican caucuses today it is the first Western state to weigh in on the nominating contest. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports that Mitt Romney is widely favored to win and has the latest from Nevada.
As the primary season pushes westward, voters in big Western states share what they like and want, plus why they feel they're a different kind of electorate.
BOSTON — Sen. John Kerry joined WBUR to discuss the continued instability across the Middle East — most notably in Syria and Egypt, and with Iran’s nuclear weapons threat.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has won Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul remain in a tight race for second, with former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum finishing last.
BOSTON — Democratic Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren’s campaign said of the more than $5.7 million she collected during the last three months of 2011, about 69 percent came from out of state.
THE STATE HOUSE — This week on Beacon Hill, a bid to crack down on the abuse of legal drugs coupled with a run at shorter sentences for drug offenders.
BOSTON — State lawmakers are working on a compromise to the so-called “three strikes” bill that would deny parole to some repeat criminal offenders.
NEW YORK — After three days of controversy, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity says it is reversing its decision to cut breast-screening grants to Planned Parenthood.
BOSTON — The bill, unanimously approved by the Senate, would require all doctors who prescribe potentially addictive drugs to sign up for a state program that monitors and tracks the drugs.
Hundreds have packed St. Cecilia Church in Boston’s Back Bay for the funeral of the late former Mayor Kevin White.
BOSTON — Romney scores a convincing win in Florida. Next up: Nevada, Arizona and Michigan. We survey the campaign trail ahead with politics analysts Todd Domke and Dan Payne.
BOSTON — Mayor Kevin White launched the political career of 16-term Rep. Barney Frank. Frank will be delivering one of the eulogies at the funeral Mass for White later on Wednesday.
BOSTON — Mourners crowd a wake on Beacon Hill to pay their respects to the late former longtime Boston Mayor Kevin White.
BOSTON — Massachusetts Senate leaders are hoping to toughen a state law that calls for monitoring of dangerous prescription drugs.
BOSTON — A long line of mourners moved through Boston’s Parkman House Tuesday afternoon for the wake of former Mayor Kevin White.
BOSTON — As Boston holds a wake for the late Mayor Kevin White Tuesday, we talk about his significance to Boston and compare him with another four-term mayor, James Michael Curley.
BOSTON — The first black president of the Boston City Council discusses former Mayor Kevin White’s complicated legacy of race relations.
BOSTON — As Kevin White strode across Boston’s political stage, serving from 1968 until 1984, perhaps the most prominent journalist covering him was longtime Boston Globe Metro columnist Mike Barnicle.
BOSTON — The City of Boston has set two days of mourning this week to honor the late Boston Mayor Kevin White. On Sunday, we headed downtown with former Boston City Councilor Larry DiCara to visit a spot a lot of Bostonians have been coming to in the last couple of days.
In one of the most conservative parts of the state, many of those interviewed said they see their political philosophy more in line with Gingrich, but many also said they’re considering voting for Mitt Romney.
BOSTON — Former Boston Mayor Kevin White, who died Friday, was the political version of the Bruins’ legendary Bobby Orr, writes WBUR’s David Boeri.