Politics

In a pair of campaigns that have gone from improbable to formidable, bellicose business tycoon Donald Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders both won their first state primary—New Hampshire—in their pursuit to become their respective party’s nominee. Both were expected to win with big leads over their opponents.  “The government of our great country belongs…

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has been out on the campaign trail for months, loudly telling voters about all the not-so-hot aspects of the current state of the U.S. economy—an economy that the Obama administration has touted as strong. Going against the administration’s many claims of an economic comeback, Sanders is calling the…

Baltimore: It’s that big-city mayor’s race on the East Coast we had forgotten about until Ferguson, Mo.-inspired protester extraordinaire and symbolic godfather of the Black Lives Matter movement Deray Mckesson dropped onto the political scene with an audacious, blogged announcement of his candidacy for mayor. He’s a native son of Baltimore, doing his hometown proud with…

Super Bowl Sunday can bring up a whole slew of emotions for people across the sports and nonsports spectrum. Decades of marketing have turned it into a de facto American holiday that everyone is supposed to care about. So even if you don’t care about football, you feel pressured to attend, like when you go…

In 1968 the Harvard Crimson ran the poignant headline “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29!” Yale and Harvard were undefeated going into their matchup that year, with Yale a heavy favorite. As expected, Yale got out to an early 22-point lead. But in the last few minutes, Harvard scored 16 unanswered points and bested (tied) the prohibitive…

If you listen very, very quietly, you can almost hear it buzzing just below the surface of the post-Iowa caucus coverage. It’s not quite the howling of a newborn calf or the chirping of a baby bird cracking out of its eggshell, but the sound of a new political narrative being born has a distinct…

Updated Tuesday, Feb. 2, 6:15 a.m. EST: Hillary Clinton’s campaign has released a statement declaring victory in the Iowa caucus. According to USA Today, her state campaign director, Matt Paul, issued a statement saying that, statistically, there’s no way for Sen. Bernie Sanders to overtake her. For his part, Sanders’ camp noted that there’s still one precinct left…

Editor’s note: All day Monday The Root will be publishing short dispatches from our politics editor, Jason Johnson, in Iowa, where he is following the action ahead of tonight’s caucus. Follow this story for updates. You can also follow his caucus reporting on Twitter. Des Moines, Iowa, Sun., Jan. 31: Different Faces, Different Views, Same Opponent…

Monday is the day. Finally, on Feb. 1, the 2016 presidential election cycle will truly begin—and bring an end (hopefully) to the foolery season of this election biennial.  Over the past six months, we’ve seen how crazy a presidential election could be, particularly in the Republican race (although both sides have had their moments). The…

Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, came into the U.S. Senate with a promise to his Tea Party backers to block President Barack Obama’s progressive agenda. He’s kept that promise, fighting with Democrats and even other Republicans over spending, the federal budget and the Affordable Care Act, over which he once kept up a 21-hour filibuster.…