Tuesday’s New Hampshire Republican primary went as expected, with Mitt Romney emerging as the winner with a commanding double-digit lead (despite the specter of his recent unfortunate “I like being able to fire people” comment).  After winning Iowa last week, his triumph marks the first time that a Republican presidential candidate since 1976 has won…

Following the departure of Melody Barnes, who stepped down last month as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council to spend more time with her family, on Tuesday the White House announced that another woman of color will take the helm: Cecilia Munoz. Munoz has served as deputy assistant to President Obama and director…

One day before the New Hampshire primary, the Republican presidential candidates are trying their best to leave lasting impressions with the state’s voters. Here’s a look at their latest efforts and the state of the race now: 1. There probably won’t be a New Hampshire surprise — Mitt Romney’s way ahead. Despite a shakeup in…

Ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, the remaining Republican contenders in the presidential race (bye, Bachmann) debated in a weekend doubleheader. In two debates, a mere 12 hours apart on Saturday night and Sunday morning, the candidates fought for their political lives in the election’s first primary. ABC News and WMUR broadcast Saturday’s debate at…

President Obama visited the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday, giving a pep talk on the work that lies ahead. “Every one of you here has a critical role to play in making sure that everybody plays by the same rules,” Obama said of the agency, created under 2010’s financial regulatory reform bill to hold…

Another factor making 2012 politically historic? It marks the first presidential election with super PACs. Given free rein by a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision, super PACs are independent committees allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support, or skewer, a political candidate. They’re already shaping the election. After a pro-Romney super…

On Thursday President Obama unveiled a new military strategy that will scale back Pentagon spending. In light of the killing of Osama bin Laden, the end of the war in Iraq and efforts to wind down the war in Afghanistan, the president posited that some changes are in order. Speaking from the Pentagon, however, he…

Last fall, when President Obama unveiled the American Jobs Act, one of his goals was to lay the groundwork for a 2012 youth summer-jobs program. The bill included state funding to support summer employment for low-income youths between the ages of 16 and 24, a provision modeled after similar funding from the Recovery Act. According…

Sorry, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul fans. Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday night. Countering speculation over the past few days (Will Santorum rise up to take the whole thing? Will Paul’s dedicated base of supporters shut it down?), the candidate long perceived to be “the most electable” and “the inevitable nominee” came…

After 13 presidential debates, who-knows-how-many polls and seven major Republican candidates left in the game … the 2012 presidential election officially begins today. As the GOP contenders face off in the Iowa caucuses, here’s campaign news to know. 1. Seemingly out of nowhere, Rick Santorum rocketed to second place in Iowa. Despite placing dead last…