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Articles by Stephen Dinan

A gaffe by Rep. W. Todd Akin of Missouri has imperiled the Republicans’ chances of claiming a Senate seat that was thought to be ripe for the taking. In Mr. Akin’s case, it would be a pickup for the GOP. (Associated Press)

Democrats’ odds of holding Senate improving

Far from losing control of the Senate, the latest polling suggests Democrats could actually expand their majority on Tuesday — a stunning turnaround for a party that entered this cycle playing defense across the board.

November 4, 2012
Milagros Rodriguez, from the Dominican Republic, works at her salon, Woodside Beauty Salon in Queens, N.Y. A study says two-thirds of job growth since 2009 has been among immigrants. (Associated Press)

Two-thirds of jobs go to immigrants during Obama’s four years

Two-thirds of those who have found employment under President Obama are immigrants, both legal and illegal, according to an analysis that suggests immigration has soaked up a large portion of what little job growth there has been over the past three years.

October 31, 2012
Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. waves to supporters while arriving at the Atlanta Aviation in Moon Township, Pa. on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Post-Gazette, Lake Fong)

GOP makes push in Pennsylvania

Both presidential campaigns and their super PAC allies are now running television ads in Pennsylvania, with Republicans making a late push to try to swing the state their way, and Democrats moving to block them.

October 30, 2012
Beachgoers venture out to the end of Minutemen Causeway in Cocoa Beach, Fla., around lunchtime to see the waves, getting sandblasted from the wind and sand, due to the effects of the outer bands of Hurricane Sandy, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Florida Today, Malcolm Denemark)

Hurricane Sandy hits the campaign trail

Hurricane Sandy is already changing plans for both presidential campaigns, who canceled events across the eastern seaboard ahead of the massive storm's landfall this weekend.

October 26, 2012
**FILE** President Obama speaks Sept. 12, 2012, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (Associated Press)

Audit: Green jobs stimulus program wastes cash

President Obama's green jobs training program, which was part of his stimulus, has failed on most key jobs measures, according to a new internal audit that found it was training workers who already had jobs that didn't need green energy skills, and was failing to place new enrollees in jobs once they finished the training.

October 26, 2012
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey participate in a joint news conference at the Pentagon, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. Panetta said the U.S. military did not intervene during the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya last month because it was over before the U.S. has sufficient information on which to act. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Panetta: Benghazi intelligence too sketchy to send troops

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Thursday that a U.S. commando team was mobilizing as the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya was unfolding last month, but the lethal assault was over by the time the team arrived.

October 25, 2012
**FILE** Libyans gather Sept. 12, 2012, at the gutted U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack the previous day that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. (Associated Press)

Boehner demands that Obama disclose more details on attack in Libya

House Speaker John A. Boehner on Thursday demanded that President Obama explain why his administration has struggled to handle the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in a move that could raise the political peril to the White House.

October 25, 2012
Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican vice presidential nominee, argued Wednesday that the social safety net is beleaguered by government rules and misplaced priorities. (Associated Press)

Ryan: Government rules crippling social safety net

Seeking to lay groundwork for a rewrite of the social safety net, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan said Wednesday the federal government must stop measuring its programs by dollars spent and instead grade them by how many people are lifted out of poverty.

October 24, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (right) and his running mate, Paul Ryan, greet supporters Oct. 23, 2012, before a rally in Las Vegas. (Associated Press)

Romney says Obama campaign ‘taking on water’

Mitt Romney said Tuesday the debates have "supercharged" his supporters and left President Obama's campaign "taking on water" as he traveled out west, seeking to shore up his support in several states before returning to the eastern battlegrounds.

October 23, 2012
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney answers a question during the third presidential debate at Lynn University. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Debates boost Romney favorables

Mitt Romney crossed a major threshold this week, moving above 50 percent in his favorability rating, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls — and for the first time in the campaign he leads President Obama on that measure.

October 23, 2012
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama react to moderator Bob Schieffer during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Obama, Romney tangle on al Qaeda, foreign policy in final presidential debate

Mitt Romney accused President Obama of failing to protect the military from budget cuts and squandering U.S. leadership in the Middle East, leaving America standing by as al Qaeda has surged to become active in a dozen countries, as the two men faced off Monday night in their final debate.

October 22, 2012
Going into Monday night’s third and final presidential debate, Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney and President Obama had not been asked about several issues that whoever wins the presidency will face. Advocates are concerned that climate change, gay rights and Supreme Court nominations have not been addressed. (Associated Press)

In debates, some issues more equal than others

President Obama says on the campaign trail that global warming "isn't a hoax," and it was one of his big three legislative priorities coming into office in 2009 along with passing a stimulus and his health care law — and the only one of those three he didn't get done.

October 22, 2012
Supporters attend President Obama’s campaign event at George Mason University in Fairfax on Friday. Mr. Obama was seen as the winner the second presidential debate. The final debate will be held Monday. (Craig Bisacre/The Washington Times)

Poll: Obama has edge; enthusiasm favors Romney before final debate

Mitt Romney's first debate bounce has evaporated and President Obama once again has taken a slim lead in The Washington Times/Zogby Poll released Sunday night — though the survey showed Mr. Romney's backers are far more energized about him than the president's backers are about their candidate.

October 21, 2012
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney shares a laugh with his vice presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., after greeting him at Daytona Beach International Airport for a joint campaign event on Friday, Oct. 19, 2012 in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Romney: Obama has ‘incredible shrinking campaign’

Mitt Romney charged Friday that Democrats have resorted to "silly word games" to try to win the election after President Obama on Friday accused him of "Romnesia" in changing his earlier stances.

October 19, 2012
Bruce Springsteen

Celebrities share stage with White House hopefuls

Pleading for voters to give President Obama another chance in office, rock star Bruce Springsteen hit the campaign trail in Ohio and Iowa on Thursday, hoping his star power could persuade undecided voters to give the Democratic incumbent a second chance.

October 18, 2012
**FILE** Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican

Welfare spending jumps 32% during Obama’s presidency

Federal welfare spending has grown by 32 percent over the past four years, fattened by President Obama's stimulus spending and swelled by a growing number of Americans whose recession-depleted incomes now qualify them for public assistance, according to numbers released Thursday.

October 18, 2012
**FILE** Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, at the second presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y. (Associated Press)

Not backing down, Romney clarifies debate remarks on illegals

Mitt Romney on Tuesday appeared to open a new avenue for illegal immigrants to get legal status, but his campaign quickly shut the door Wednesday, saying he still only supports a very narrow pathway that would require joining the U.S. military.

October 17, 2012
President Obama speaks at a campaign event at Cornell College, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012, in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Day after debate, Obama, Romney keep on punching

Fresh off his more animated debate performance, President Obama joked Wednesday that he is still trying to get the hang of the face-to-face showdowns with Mitt Romney, even as the Republican nominee said Mr. Obama appears to be "running on fumes" in the run-up to Nov. 6.

October 17, 2012
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks during the second presidential debate at Hofstra University. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Romney opens door on immigration

Amid the attacks and countercharges in Tuesday's debate, Mitt Romney appeared to make some news in saying he will seek to create ways to grant a path to citizenship to younger illegal immigrants brought here as children.

October 16, 2012