Recent News

Insiders: Rubio has upside in early states

As he prepares to launch his presidential campaign on Monday, Marco Rubio is seen as significantly more electable by early state insiders of both parties than Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, his GOP Senate colleagues who are already in the race.

Lindsey Graham’s strategy: Take down Rand Paul

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham may still be weighing whether to run for president, but he already has a strategy — distancing himself from fellow senator Rand Paul.

In TV appearances, on the campaign trail, and even in private fundraisers, Graham, an Air Force reservist and one of his party’s most prominent defense hawks, has gone after Paul repeatedly and by name, casting him as weak-kneed and unwilling to protect the country from aggressors.

In 2008, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the critical Iowa Republican caucuses by rallying the support of evangelical conservatives. The former pastor-turned-politician was out-financed by establishment candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney, but he nevertheless made a strong second-place showing in 2008, thanks to his standing among social conservatives.

If Huckabee makes a second bid for the presidency, as he has hinted he might, he’ll benefit from the base of support he built in Iowa eight years earlier. He can’t, however, take their support for granted.

All in for Warren, liberals lack a Plan B

The “Run Warren Run” campaign’s devotion to Sen. Elizabeth Warren could prevent its growing network of liberal grass-roots activists from rallying behind another Democratic presidential candidate if the Massachusetts freshman senator sticks to her refusal to run, the group’s leaders said Wednesday.

Marco Rubio gets a super PAC

Add Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to the list of Republican presidential hopefuls set to benefit from a super PAC.

Conservative Solutions PAC is launching on Thursday and will be led by J. Warren Tompkins, a longtime Republican operative. It will be staffed with a slate of veterans from major campaigns.

Scott Walker says he can follow Reagan’s lead on foreign policy

White House hopeful Scott Walker said he won’t stray from his much-questioned approach of avoiding sharp, substantive talk on foreign affairs during his tours of Western Europe next week and Israel next month.

The question has percolated in GOP circles since the new year began, with presidential primary state activists wondering why the New Jersey governor isn’t doing a better job keeping in touch and rival GOP campaigns happily pointing to Christie’s diminished stature in the polls.