Politics

Bristling in the face of the calm scholar, Tavis Smiley was having none of the lesson that Randall Kennedy was teaching on Smiley’s TV show in early September. So the Harvard law professor contented himself with taking PBS viewers to school on the complex relationship between the first black U.S. president and his African-American constituency.…

Did you miss last week’s GOP debate? Well, tonight you have another chance to hear the Republican presidential hopefuls offer their solutions (and likely trade some barbs) at the CNN/Tea Party Express debate at 8 p.m. ET. Same as last time, The Root’s Washington reporter, Cynthia Gordy, will cover the proceedings on Twitter @TheRoot247 (hashtag…

The Associated Press is reporting that President Barack Obama visited three sites of loss on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that happened the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Ben Feller reports that President Obama honored the dead of Sept. 11 with his quiet presence Sunday at the three most tangible reminders of both…

The Dominique Strauss-Kahn story continues to rage here in Paris now that he has returned to a political landscape in transition, with the Socialist Party forced to turn to second-tier candidates for the 2012 elections. DSK’s nine-minute encounter with hotel housekeeper Nafissatou Diallo in suite 2806 of Manhattan’s Sofitel Hotel May 14 has probably cost…

Sept. 11, 2001, 8:46 a.m. You remember where you were. You remember what you felt. American life would never be the same again — how we boarded a plane, how we viewed our neighbors. The images of hijacked planes slamming into skyscrapers, streets covered in ash, a scorched field in Pennsylvania, people running — but…

The 2012 election season is now under way, and President Barack Obama’s strategy for winning a second term is emerging. Instead of reprising the messianic movement that swept him into the White House, he will reinvent himself as “Give ‘Em Hell” Barry, an impassioned leader railing against do-nothing Republicans if they oppose the $447 billion…

As President Obama’s chief trade adviser and negotiator, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk also has the tricky task of promoting free trade at a time when soaring unemployment has Americans anxious to protect U.S. markets. The challenge doesn’t rattle Kirk, who empathizes with public suspicion — even arguing that “people have reason to be angry”…

It’s that time again: Eight Republican presidential candidates take the stage tonight for the fourth GOP debate. MSNBC will broadcast the debate, co-hosted by Brian Williams of NBC News and Politico editor-in-chief John F. Harris, live from the Reagan Library at 8 p.m. ET. Join The Root’s Washington reporter, Cynthia Gordy, on Twitter @TheRoot247 (hashtag:…

David Espo of the Associated Press is reporting that President Barack Obama is expected to propose $300 billion in tax cuts and federal spending Thursday night to get Americans working again. Republicans offered Tuesday to compromise with him on jobs — but also assailed his plans in advance of his prime-time speech. The president will…