National Politics

Hispanic boom may not shift Texas face in Congress

One is a black real estate agent and the other a white millionaire. For two new districts created to reflect Texas' soaring Hispanic population, they might be the representatives elected to Congress.

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GOP ties Obama to NH student debt, ignores origins

New Hampshire isn't just first in the nation when it comes to hosting presidential primaries. It also ranks first in student-loan debt, and now the winner of the state's Republican presidential primary is seizing on that fact to argue that President Barack Obama has let down students.

Congressional Black Caucus rallies preachers to tackle voter-ID laws

The Rev. Dr. Franklyn Richardson longs for the old days, when all it took was Sunday sermons by African-American ministers to fire up their flocks to get registered and vote in local, state and federal elections.

'Golfer-in-chief' Obama nears 100th round of his presidency

Theodore Roosevelt warned future presidents of the grave risks: "Fatal," he said. Harry Truman shunned it - "a political noose," in the words of one writer. John Kennedy strived to keep it as secret, or almost as secret, as some of his other diversions.

A state-by-state look at the road to 270

An analysis of the state-by-state race to 270 electoral votes, the total needed to win the presidency, and where Democratic President Barack Obama and probable Republican nominee Mitt Romney stand now. The numbers reflect electoral votes:

Warning signs for Obama on path to electoral votes

President Barack Obama faces new warning signs in a once-promising Southern state and typically Democratic-voting Midwestern states roughly five months before the election even as he benefits nationally from encouraging economic news.

Campaigns dig through online data to target voters

Voters who click on President Barack Obama's campaign website are likely to start seeing display ads promoting his re-election bid on their Facebook pages and other sites they visit. Voters searching Google for information about Mitt Romney may notice a 15-second ad promoting the Republican presidential hopeful the next time they watch a video online.

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Obama honors fallen troops at Arlington Cemetery

President Barack Obama paid tribute Monday to the men and women who have died defending America, saying the country must strive "to be a nation worthy of your sacrifice."

http://www.twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

Congressional Black Caucus rallies preachers to tackle voter-ID laws

The Congressional Black Caucus is asking African-American ministers to help educate voters about complying with new state voting laws, which they see as designed to suppress the black vote in November's elections.

Obama, Romney campaigns target young Hispanics with cellphones

Mitt Romney slams Obama, teachers unions

Romney launches sunny ad in swing states

Labor board member accused of leaks resigns

A member of the National Labor Relations Board accused of leaking inside information has resigned, the agency announced Sunday.

McCain: Don't count on Russia to force out Assad

The U.S. can't count on Russia - a major arms supplier to Syria - to force President Bashar Assad from power, Sen. John McCain said Sunday, blaming President Barack Obama for embracing a "feckless" foreign policy and punting tough decisions until after the fall election.

Father of prisoner of war speaks at annual rally

The father of a U.S. soldier who was taken prisoner in Afghanistan thanked the motorcycle riders of Rolling Thunder on Sunday for raising awareness of missing-in-action troops and prisoners of war.

Justices' summer plans point to late June finish

One never knows when the Supreme Court will hand down its last, often biggest, opinions of the term. But the justices' summer travel schedules make it a pretty safe bet that blockbuster health care and immigration cases will be decided by the end of June.

http://www.supremecourt.gov

Panetta: US on 'right track' in Afghanistan

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Sunday defended the Obama administration's plans to wind down the more than decade-long war in Afghanistan, saying the U.S. is on "the right track."

Panetta: US on 'right track' in Afghanistan

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is defending the Obama administration's plans to wind down the more than decade-long war in Afghanistan.

Polls on gay marriage not yet reflected in votes

Poll after poll shows public support for same-sex marriage steadily increasing, to the point where it's now a majority viewpoint. Yet in all 32 states where gay marriage has been on the ballot, voters have rejected it.

http://twitter.com/CraryAP

Obama, Romney campaigns target young Hispanics with cellphones

Hispanic voters are a crucial constituency in the presidential election, but reaching young Hispanics will require new tactics - and some experts say mobile-phone outreach will be key.

McCain: Don't count on Russia to force out Assad

The U.S. can't count on Russia - a major arms supplier to Syria - to force President Bashar al-Assad from power, Sen. John McCain said Sunday, blaming President Barack Obama for embracing a "feckless" foreign policy and punting tough decisions until after the fall election.

Obama on the defensive on spending, debt

Government spending and debt are emerging as a campaign tug-of-war, with Mitt Romney blaming President Barack Obama for a "prairie fire of debt" and Obama calling the charge a "cowpie of distortion." House Speaker John Boehner is talking about a debt ceiling that is still more than eight months away.

CIA remembers those lost in covert war on terror

The CIA is remembering those lost in the hidden, often dangerous world of espionage, adding a new star to the intelligence agency's memorial wall and more than a dozen names to its hallowed Book of Honor.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/additional-publications/cia-memorial-wall-publication/index.html

http://www.ciamemorialfoundation.org/

Biden says end to wars gives US new flexibility

Vice President Joe Biden said Saturday that the United States can now focus on new global challenges after a long decade of war in an election-year commencement address to jubilant graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.