A few weeks ago, President Obama’s most likely scenario for re-election was facing a moderate Republican who had made few controversial remarks in his years in public life and could easily cast himself as a business-focused technocrat. But that potential opponent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is no longer the heavy favorite to win the…

This summer, Republicans in South Carolina backed an African-American businessman named Tim Scott over former Sen. Strom Thurmond’s son to fill a House seat. In picking a U.S. Senate candidate, Florida Republicans bypassed their veteran governor for the conservative Marco Rubio, who is Cuban American. Black Democrats in Alabama voted for their policy preferences (health-care…

If Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., wins the Senate race in Florida, where the two conservative candidates have dominated the headlines, it won’t just be a historic win for a black politician. He would offer a glimpse of success for a group struggling for victories: the children of prominent black political figures. At the same time…