Seth McLaughlin

Democrats try to stir enthusiasm among black voters

Democrats are turning to black voters for help in next week's midterm elections, hoping they can be the jolt of energy needed to stem projected losses by winning key competitive congressional and gubernatorial races.

October 26, 2010

Voters search for real solutions, but hopefuls offer ‘nothing new’

Voters are craving new ideas and an end to business as usual in Washington, but in the waning days of the congressional campaigns, candidates from both parties have dusted off their old party playbooks.

October 20, 2010

Senate race a litmus test for Pennsylvania

Two weeks out from Election Day, Republican Pat Toomey appears poised to lead a Republican surge in Pennsylvania in a Senate race that will test just how deeply the state's "blue" roots run.

October 18, 2010

Candidates aim to tar rivals over the outsourcing of jobs

With unemployment stuck above 9 percent, Democrats have increasingly seized on outsourcing of U.S. jobs as a campaign issue, arguing the GOP's policies have encouraged companies to shift work overseas.

October 14, 2010

Mixed martial arts promoters flex Hill muscle

As the sport of mixed martial arts has fought for the respect and market share enjoyed by the nation's more established professional pastimes, the industry's biggest player has found that money talks in the halls of Congress and in statehouses across the country.

October 11, 2010

Minority hopefuls add color to monochrome GOP

Republicans are poised to add a splash of color to the ranks of its officeholders in November's elections, challenging the notion that the party is a de facto white guys' club.

October 5, 2010

Retreating lawmakers leave long ‘to do’ list

Congressional Democrats decamped from Washington this week for the campaign trail, saying they've checked off most of the boxes on their legislative wish list: health care, the stimulus package and new rules of the road for Wall Street.

September 30, 2010

U.S. ends contracts to foreign-owned firms

Stung by criticism that American taxpayers are footing the bill for China-owned companies to expand their influence overseas, a government development agency has said it will no longer award contracts to businesses owned by foreign governments.

September 29, 2010

Big ‘08 win boomerangs on Democrats

In Washington, where short-term political gain often morphs into long-term political pain, the breakthrough victories of President Obama and the Democrats in 2008 are coming back to haunt them in 2010.

September 29, 2010

Hoyer, GOP spar over history of tax cuts

A top House Democrat is pushing to rebrand the looming expiration of tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush as a "Republican tax increase," arguing that the GOP deserves the blame because the tax cuts were originally written to run out at the end of the 2010.

September 28, 2010

House Democrats OK small-business bill

House Democrats on Thursday pushed through a plan to ease credit and cut taxes for struggling small businesses, in what was likely their last best bet to improve the jobs picture before the November midterm elections.

September 23, 2010

GOP cash fills coffers of ‘tea party’ hopefuls

Eager to present a unified front before the midterm elections, the GOP's congressional campaign committees say they are rallying their financial and political muscle behind "tea party" candidates who knocked off some of their hand-picked Republicans in the primaries.

September 22, 2010

Obama: Skepticism of government ‘healthy’

Democratic leaders have repeatedly tried to cast "tea party" candidates as extremists, but President Obama on Monday said the movement exhibits some of the "healthy skepticism about government" that led to the American Revolution and that is now part of "our DNA."

September 20, 2010

Bill would lift military abortion ban

The National Defense Authorization bill includes an amendment from Sen. Roland Burris that would strike language that bans nearly all abortions in military hospitals.

September 19, 2010

McCain rips defense bill amendments

The Arizona Republican on Thursday sharply criticized Democratic leaders for trying to piggyback policies regarding gays in the military and illegal immigrants onto a defense bill that authorizes spending for national security programs.

September 16, 2010

Reid citizenship plan called an election ploy

Republicans were quick to dismiss the Senate majority leader's plan to grant citizenship to some illegal immigrants who came to the United States when they were children as a political ploy aimed at wooing voters and pro-illegal-immigrant groups before the November election.

September 15, 2010

Hoyer, other Dems hint of willingness to extend all tax cuts

President Obama on Wednesday clobbered Republicans for holding "hostage" tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans just hours after a top House Democrat, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, signaled a willingness to compromise on an issue that has become the ultimate political football ahead of November's elections.

September 15, 2010

Senate OKs small-business aid

The Democrat-led Senate on Tuesday overcame months of Republican resistance to push President Obama's small-business assistance bill toward passage, but it failed in a bid to reduce a costly tax-reporting provision on businesses in the new health care law.

September 14, 2010

GOP leader nixes talk of taxing

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday vowed to block income tax hikes on any American next year, daring Democrats and the White House to raise taxes on wealthier taxpayers as the economy limps along.

September 13, 2010

N.Y. imam regrets furor over mosque plan

The imam behind the proposed Muslim mosque and community center near ground zero said Sunday that he would have drawn up different plans if he had known the level of Islamophobia generated by the proposal.

September 12, 2010