blogging the beltway

Tuesday’s slate of off-year elections around the country may have been about local issues, but they also gave us a peek at the national mood as we draw closer to 2012. From controversial ballot measures to which way swing states are swerving, here are the (game-changing?) results from some of the key races and matters. …

News outlets have been sounding the alarm for months about the potential for new voting laws, passed by Republican state legislatures, to disenfranchise voters. From rules to restrict early voting to bills requiring specific photo ID at the polls, debate has waged about whether they will suppress poor, elderly and young voters alike. On both…

On Tuesday President Obama called on his authority under the rarely evoked Antiquities Act, which lets presidents restrict the use of federally owned land, by designating America’s newest national monument. Adding to the list of places that enjoy this protection, such as the Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon, Obama selected Fort Monroe —…

Last month the White House launched “We the People,” an official online petitioning feature. Based at WhiteHouse.gov, the tool lets Americans directly petition the government (a right guaranteed in the Constitution) with the promise that, if an idea gains enough support, the Obama administration will issue an official response. As a result of one particularly…

One of the core goals of first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign has been improving access to healthy, affordable food. Arguing that the poor diets of many low-income Americans are actually the result of “food deserts” — neighborhoods where fast-food joints and convenience stores serving junk food vastly outnumber grocery stores selling fresh produce…

On the 2008 campaign trail, then-Sen. Barack Obama differentiated himself from the competition by claiming that he never would have voted to go to war in Iraq, opposed that war from the beginning — and vowed to end it if elected president. On Friday, President Obama fulfilled his campaign promise with the announcement that he…

About 20 minutes before he gave remarks at the long-awaited dedication ceremony for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial today, President Barack Obama received a private tour of the monument. Walking hand in hand with daughters Sasha and Malia, he scaled the length of the memorial’s curved inscription wall, reading quotes from some…

After a historic buildup to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial dedication last August — a week of poignant events, and numerous reflections on the 15 years of work that went into it — the plan was scrapped in the wake of Hurricane Irene. Rescheduled for the morning of Oct. 16, the new dedication day…

This month Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) was the first member of Congress to visit the Occupy Wall Street protest — but contrary to some reports, he says that he was not booed out of the place. The jeers from the crowd, Rangel told The Root, were directed instead at a lone heckler who interrupted his…