Recent News

Three swing states are not exactly swinging in the right direction for former Florida governor Jeb Bush.

Bush had dropped eight points in little more than a month in his home state of Florida, a new Quinnipiac University poll finds. While the presumptive GOP frontrunner leads the new poll with 24 percent support from the 428 registered Republicans surveyed, putting him out front of his Republican rivals in the Sunshine State, that’s down from 32 percent of Florida voters who said they supported him for president on Feb. 4.

New poll underscores steep climb ahead for O’Malley

For former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll serves as a sobering reminder of the tough slog ahead if he is going to emerge as a serious challenger to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

O’Malley draws the support of 1 percent of the public nationally — a figure that hasn’t budged in recent months as he has stepped up travel to early nominating states and seeks to position himself as a more liberal, forward-looking alternative to the former secretary of state.

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s signature legislative achievement, Act 10, was one of the most polarizing and galvanizing pieces of state legislation in recent memory. The law, which severely weakens public-union powers and mandates public-pension sanity, is providing a blueprint for other Republicans around the country. Walker’s public-pension stewardship also demonstrates why he is on the short list of serious presidential contenders.

Marco Rubio wants his identity back

“Someone stole my credit card,” Marco Rubio said when I entered his office last week. He was standing behind his desk, resting an iPad on one hand and peering at the screen intently, as if it might at any moment reveal the origin of Stonehenge. He glanced up and apologized for keeping me waiting.

“I got a fraud alert, and I keep hitting this button, but it’s not going through,” he said. He squinted a little harder at the screen. “What is that?” He sounded out a name that sounded like “Mahjong,” or at least that’s how I remembered it later. “Is that a store?”

Writers are always searching for apt metaphors, but in Rubio’s case you could do a lot worse than to start the discussion with a case of stolen identity.

2016 Hopeful Carly Fiorina Impresses at Conservative Meeting

Republican presidential hopefuls are looking over their shoulders after the Monday meeting of the conservative Committee to Unleash American Prosperity in New York, wondering if an unexpected dark horse is starting to pick up speed and sprint for the finish line.

Ben Carson: I Will Announce 2016 Decision First Week of May

Potential presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson further refined his timetable for deciding whether he will toss his hat in the ring for the 2016 GOP nomination, informing a national audience Tuesday night that he now expects to announce a decision in “the first week in May.”

Bobby Jindal builds an Iowa team

Republican Bobby Jindal is putting together an Iowa team, digging in for a possible presidential bid even as other GOP stars sail past him in the polls.

Jindal, a Christian conservative, is one of the last Republican 2016 contenders to hire strategists who would orchestrate a campaign here if they decide to run.