(The Root) — Still reeling from its losses in the 2012 election, the Republican Party has begun doing some serious soul-searching. Increasingly that search has led party leaders on a quest to re-evaluate what the party stands for, who it speaks for and, lately, whether or not it needs a little more soul in it.…

A fundraiser hosted by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie generated headlines and speculation that the billionaire could ultimately bankroll the Republican’s rumored presidential campaign. But one of Christie’s peers and rivals got a major boost to his own rumored presidential hopes this week: Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Veteran New Jersey…

(The Root) — If you missed the State of the Union address, not to worry. We pulled out the most important moments from the 6,443-word speech. Below are the highlights.  1. His Call to Action on Climate Change Though the president has referenced climate change sparingly in the past, in his most recent State of…

(The Root) — It’s the never-ending debate that many minorities have privately with each other, but dread having with anyone else: How much does the bad behavior of someone from our community reflect on the rest of us? Never before has the discomfort of this dichotomy been on display more than when an African-American fugitive…

(The Root) — First lady Michelle Obama has already started off her husband’s first term with a bang — literally. Her husband even joked that her new hairstyle, featuring freshly cut bangs, upstaged him during inauguration week. But now that the president has begun to lay out his agenda for his new term, the question many…

(The Root) — If you were to ask just about anyone in Washington to name the most important event taking place in America this week, he or she would likely say the State of the Union — the president’s address, the GOP’s official response and all of the pundit chatter about it before and after.…

(The Root) — William “Mo” Cowan has been appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to replace newly confirmed Secretary of State Sen. John Kerry in the U.S. Senate. Cowan will fill the role in an interim capacity until his successor is chosen in a special election in June. The selection of Cowan, Patrick’s former chief…

(The Root) — The same day that President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made headlines for their first joint interview, on 60 Minutes, NAACP President Ben Jealous delighted conservatives with his headline-making interview on another Sunday news program. Appearing on Meet the Press, Jealous said, “Right now when you look at joblessness in…

(The Root) — For the last few days, America has been obsessed with a political scandal that seems likely to eclipse Watergate as one of the most covered and dissected controversies of our time: Beyoncégate. News reports that pop diva Beyoncé Knowles lip-synched her way through the national anthem during President Obama’s inauguration have been…