The Republicans have made it clear where their focus is this week with their convention slogan, "Country First." With the abundance of flags, chants of "USA, USA" and tributes to those in the military, they have been laying it on thick, which is traditional at GOP conventions. Sen. John McCain often has talked about the need for...

WASHINGTON — In the contest for president, Barack Obama is a magnetic candidate supported by a disciplined, well-organized campaign. John McCain seems wooden, with a campaign that appears to be in shambles. Yet Obama's lead in the polls over McCain is fragile because he so far has not won the support of a majority of American voters. An effec...

"I was struck when I got to Iowa and New Hampshire in January," said Joan Walsh, editor-in-chief of the liberal Web site Salon.com, "by how our media colleagues were just swooning over Barack Obama. That is not too strong a word. They were swooning. … The downside, though, is that they hate — hate Hillary Clinton, most o...

As the Clinton campaign finally begins to read the writing on the wall — "Get Out" — and the race for president turns to vice presidential picks, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama should try to avoid selecting running mates who might alienate Hispanic voters. In the race to determine which states will be blue or red, those th...

Did you catch the great showdown this past week? No, not Super Tuesday but the late-night television comedian battle over who discovered and "made" GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. While Republicans and Democrats were slugging it out at the polls, three kingpins of comedy were in chortle combat for the right to be called the crea...

SAN DIEGO — Greetings from the state that gave Camelot a Bronx salute and the Clintons enough chutzpah to claim Hillary the presumptive nominee. Notice her gold power suits. The wide stance. Notice how Hillary's voice has gone up several irritating decibels as she shrieks, "I hear you," to supporters. Sen. Clinton strategically proj...

Assuming John McCain gets the GOP nomination, it will show how whimsical history can be. It would be the first time in living memory that a Republican presidential nomination went to a candidate who was not merely opposed by a majority of the party but was actively despised by about half its rank-and-file voters across the country — and by ma...