Wire Presidential Election News

Republican Newt Gingrich on Monday dismissed calls to drop out of the presidential contest in order to set up a direct contest between rivals Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. The former House speaker insisted that his ideas and a new determination to stay positive would help him once again resuscitate his flagging candidacy.

Mitt Romney and his under-funded opponents are taking advantage of a weeklong lull in the Republican presidential nomination fight - no debate or primary is slated - to raise the money needed to carry out Super Tuesday strategies and compete in states beyond.

Despite criticism of Fannie Mae by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, his campaign accepted nearly $280,000 in donations raised by a registered lobbyist who once represented the government mortgage giant and whose clients now include a private equity firm and the drug company Pfizer.

President Barack Obama for the first time has opened a sizable lead over his most likely Republican opponents, thanks to growing support among independent voters, according to a new Pew Research Center poll.

President Barack Obama's new budget lays down the political themes he will pound as he campaigns for re-election - more spending on jobs and higher taxes for the wealthy. It sets him apart from the Republican contenders and gives Democrats a platform to run on.

Movie super spies James Bond and Jason Bourne use them. So do real-life presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who says he pays his taxes, and untold numbers of Americans who don't. Swiss banks and their secretive counterparts around the globe may sound like the exclusive province of the wealthy, the mysterious or the shady, but anybody can legally open an offshore account.

Mitt Romney takes a hard line against congressional earmarks, but the GOP presidential front-runner had a more favorable view of federal pork-barrel spending when he was governor of Massachusetts.

From the start, it's been a roller-coaster race for the Republican presidential nomination.

The dustup over contraception underscored President Barack Obama's political edge in working to attract independent voters without alienating his Democratic base. His Republican rivals are forced to keep emphasizing their conservative credentials to attract the right-leaning activists who dominate the nominating contests.

A day after Mitt Romney regained some momentum in the Republican presidential contest, his rival Rick Santorum went on the attack, calling the front-runner "desperate" while promising to compete aggressively to win the state where Romney grew up.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney got a much-needed boost Saturday, winning a key symbolic vote over former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania among some of the nation's most active Republican voters and besting the field in the Maine caucuses.

In a reprieve after his embarrassing losses last week in three states, Mitt Romney eked out a win Saturday in the symbolic straw poll tied to Maine's multiday caucuses, narrowly defeating Ron Paul, the only other candidate to actively campaign there.

At last year's Conservative Political Action Conference, activists were chasing the idea that some dreamboat Republican they could fall for - Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, perhaps, or maybe New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin or that dashing young Rep. Paul Ryan - would make quick work of President Barack Obama.

Sarah Palin argued Saturday that the Republican presidential nominee would only be strengthened by an extended primary battle, and she urged conservatives to unite behind whoever becomes the party's choice.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney got a much-needed boost Saturday, winning a key symbolic vote over former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania among some of the nation's most active Republican voters and besting the field in the Maine caucuses.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney got a much-needed boost Saturday, winning a key symbolic vote over former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania among some of the nation's most active Republican voters and besting the field in the Maine caucuses.

Reversing his embarrassing string of setbacks earlier this week when he lost Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri to Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney eked out a narrow win in the straw poll tied to Maine's multiday caucuses Saturday, defeating Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who was the only other candidate to actively campaign in Maine.

Mitt Romney is thanking Maine voters after the state party chairman declared him the winner of that state.

Mitt Romney added to his lead in the race for delegates Saturday with a narrow victory in the Maine Republican presidential caucuses.

Republican presidential contender Ron Paul says he wishes all the Maine caucuses would have met on Saturday.

Mitt Romney has won The Washington Times/CPAC Presidential Straw Poll of conservative activists.

A profile of Maine, site of the Republican caucus on Feb. 11:

In just the past few days, she's danced with cheering school kids, chatted with troops, swapped ideas with busy parents and engaged in a friendly cooking competition with stars from "Top Chef."

Mitt Romney faulted President Barack Obama's original push to require church-affiliated employers to pay for birth control as an "assault on religion," but as Massachusetts governor, Romney was largely silent about a state law that required virtually the same contraceptive coverage.

J.R. Childress is up before the sun, bustling about in the French colonial brick house he built. He helps pack his wife's lunch, downs some eggs or cereal for breakfast, pores over online and newspaper job listings and hopes - even prays - this will be the day when his fortunes turn around.

Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster says Mitt Romney has won the Maine caucuses by a slim margin, giving him a much needed boost following losses in three other contests in the past week.

Staggered by Rick Santorum's surge, Mitt Romney is trying to reset his presidential campaign by defining himself as a strict conservative.

The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Thursday, Feb. 9:

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi predicts that five large states will put Democrats in striking distance of gaining control of the House after the November elections.

President Barack Obama's political shifting over contraception coverage has united conservative Republicans in protest even as they split over which GOP presidential hopeful should face him in the general election.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum says he thinks it would be wrong to allow women to serve in combat.

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul rarely even acknowledge each other in the Republican presidential race, focusing their attention and attacks on rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum instead. That curious detente is being tested in Maine's caucuses this week, where Romney's reputation as a political shape shifter is going head-to-head with Paul's consistent libertarian views.

President Barack Obama is raising money for his re-election campaign from a small group of wealthy donors who each paid $35,800 to meet with him at a hotel near the White House.

Mitt Romney says he has a "severely conservative" record as he looks to win over voters who favored his rivals in recent contests.

Rick Santorum stirs his ever-growing crowds when he promises to right a country awash in "immoral debt" and to replace an administration he argues has "callousness toward life and family and faith."

Rick Santorum is telling conservatives he's the only Republican presidential candidate who shares their values and implicitly attacking rival Mitt Romney as a moderate.

Senior campaign aides to Republican Mitt Romney will begin appearing at fundraising events for an independent political group supporting his White House run, officials said Friday. The decision comes days after President Barack Obama gave his campaign the OK to do the same.

Money pouring into the presidential election from super political action committees and nonprofit campaign groups appears so far to be strictly American in origin, donated by U.S. companies, unions and millionaires. But it's easier than ever to conceal the source of money and the identities of contributors, making conditions ripe for illegal donations from foreigners, overseas companies or governments attempting to help a favored candidate for the White House.

Money pouring into the presidential election from super political action committees appears so far to be strictly American, donated by U.S. companies, unions and millionaires. But U.S. officials and tax law experts warn the growth of super PACs has made conditions ripe for illegal foreign donations.

All of a sudden, abortion, contraception and gay marriage are at the center of American political discourse, with the struggling - though improving - economy pushed to the background.

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Thursday, Feb. 9:

Under fierce election-year fire, President Barack Obama on Friday abruptly abandoned his stand that religious organizations must pay for free birth control for workers, scrambling to end a furor raging from the Catholic Church to Congress to his re-election foes. He demanded that insurance companies step in to provide the coverage instead.

GOP presidential rivals made contrasting appeals to conservatives Friday, with Mitt Romney saying he proved his mettle as Massachusetts governor and Rick Santorum saying Romney is so moderate that electing him would be a "hollow victory."

A federal judge who was vilified by Republican presidential hopefuls for banning prayer at a Texas high school graduation delivered a scathing and unusually personal response Thursday, saying those who used the case to further political goals "should be ashamed."

Mitt Romney is in danger of losing his fourth straight state in Saturday's caucuses in Maine, where he and his allies have been all but absent from TV.

Rick Santorum is telling conservatives he's the only Republican presidential candidate who shares their values and implicitly attacking rival Mitt Romney as a moderate.

The Georgia presidential primary may not be a slam dunk for Republican hopeful Newt Gingrich, a congressman from the state for two decades. Rival Mitt Romney is signaling that the biggest prize on Super Tuesday could be up for grabs.

Newt Gingrich, suddenly in danger of losing his perch as Mitt Romney's strongest GOP challenger, is fine-tuning his presidential campaign to place more emphasis on raising money, guarding his home turf and trying to avoid nasty quarrels with the front-runner.

The college student accused of "glitter bombing" Mitt Romney after the Colorado caucuses has been fired from his unpaid internship with state Senate Democrats.

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum filed Wednesday to get on Indiana's primary ballot even though he has not been certified by local election officials.

A political tip sheet for the rest of us outside the Washington Beltway, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012:

Five Democratic "super" political action committees are reaching out to party mega-donors seeking $1 million to $10 million contributions, now that President Barack Obama has blessed the outside spending group working to get him re-elected.

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum is filing to get on Indiana's ballot even though he has not been certified by local election officials.

Mitt Romney's carefully plotted path to the Republican presidential nomination is now a long, unpredictable journey that could last months.

A national group of Latino public officeholders is projecting that 12.2 million Hispanics will vote in the general election this November.

Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are the undisputed favorites in Maine, the next state weighing in on the Republican presidential race. They're the only candidates who have made much of an effort here.

One day after Rick Santorum's startling breakthrough in the presidential race, his few aides decamped to distant states to start building campaign organizations from scratch. It was evidence of his challenge in converting sudden momentum into victories in the rush of contests ahead.

Mitt Romney still can't seem to win over the bulk of the conservatives who make up the bedrock of the Republican Party.

The White House is taking on GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney over his criticism of President Barack Obama's birth control coverage mandate.

Newt Gingrich kept a stiff upper lip Wednesday after his poor showing in GOP presidential caucuses the night before, but issued dire warnings about Iran's potential nuclear capabilities.

Mitt Romney says he's a better tea party candidate than his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.

Colorado Republicans rewarded an insurgent religious conservative in presidential caucuses that showed the importance Christian activists hold in the state GOP.

WASHINGTON - Rick Santorum seized an important opportunity Tuesday to become the chief conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, as he won Republican presidential contests in Missouri and Minnesota and delivered a strong showing in Colorado.

Republican long shot Rick Santorum poked holes in Mitt Romney's aura of inevitability Tuesday night with a trio of upset victories that shifted the dynamic of the 2012 presidential contest.

WASHINGTON - Rick Santorum seized an important opportunity Tuesday to become the chief conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, as he made a clean sweep of three Republican presidential nomination contests in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota.

Republican long-shot Rick Santorum poked holes in Mitt Romney's aura of inevitability Tuesday night with upset victories that shifted the dynamic of the 2012 presidential contest.

Notable moments from Colorado and Minnesota caucuses and Missouri's non-binding primary:

Rick Santorum seized an important opportunity Tuesday to become the chief conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, as he won Republican presidential contests in Missouri and Minnesota and appeared headed for a strong showing in Colorado.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum has surged into second place in the race for delegates with wins in Republican presidential caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota.

Rick Santorum seized an important opportunity Tuesday to become the chief conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, as he won Republican presidential contests in Missouri and Minnesota and appeared headed for a strong showing in Colorado.

Rick Santorum dealt Mitt Romney a setback Tuesday night, winning the presidential primary in Missouri as Republicans in three states voted on a day that could produce a shift in the momentum of the 2012 race.

Rick Santorum faced an important opportunity Tuesday to become the chief conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, as he was projected to win Missouri's Republican presidential primary and appeared headed for strong showings in Minnesota and Colorado caucuses.

Rick Santorum has won the Missouri Republican primary, a nonbinding election that carries bragging rights but does not award any delegates in the race for the presidential nomination.

Resurgent Rick Santorum said his sweep of three GOP contests earned his shoestring campaign $250,000 overnight, cash he needs to take his upstart bid for the Republican presidential nomination to Mitt Romney's turf.

A resurgent Rick Santorum has been declared the winner in three states, raising questions about Mitt Romney's appeal with conservatives at the core of the Republican Party.

Republicans in three states cast ballots Tuesday in contests that held the potential to produce a shift in the momentum of the 2012 presidential race.

Rick Santorum faced an important opportunity Tuesday to become the chief conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, as he was poised for possibly strong showings in Republican presidential contests in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado.

Hammered by Republicans and the Catholic Church, the White House hinted at compromise Tuesday as it struggled to calm an election-year uproar caused by its rule requiring religious schools and hospitals to provide employees with access to free birth control.

Last-ditch negotiations to save the April 3 Texas primary appeared dead Tuesday, throwing the state's messy redistricting battle back to a federal court that must now sort through a widely panned partial deal and pick a new primary date.

Of all the investments made by the super-wealthy partners at the private equity firm Bain Capital, perhaps none has a greater potential return than the one they've made in Mitt Romney.

Republicans vowed Wednesday to reverse President Barack Obama's new policy on birth control, lambasting the requirement that religious schools and hospitals provide employees with free contraceptives as an "unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country."

Newt Gingrich walked away from South Carolina with a big victory. Now a Republican group stands accused of walking away from a tony Charleston hotel after last month's primaries - and leaving a big unpaid tab.

Cable television has become the top source of news about the presidential campaign, while fewer Americans turn to their local TV stations and the networks, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Civil rights, labor and immigration activists say they are returning to Selma, Ala. next month to protest state laws they say will largely prevent black and Latino voters, the poor, students and the elderly from voting.

In this campaign season, the social networks have nothing on the news networks.

Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum made a calculated decision a few weeks ago.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shifted his focus from the economy to abortion, religious freedom and gay marriage in recent days, part of an intensified effort to win over social conservatives in states voting Tuesday.

Ron Paul is emphasizing his ability to collect GOP delegates as the presidential nominating contest continues.

GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich did his best to ignore his poor showing in three states Tuesday, spending the day campaigning in Ohio and staying out of sight when primary results rolled in from Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri.

Texas is all but certain to have an even later say in choosing the Republican presidential nominee after what at first looked like a breakthrough deal in a bitter dispute over redistricting maps ended with wide rejection of the proposal.

A profile of Colorado, site of a Republican caucus Tuesday:

A profile of Minnesota, site of a Republican presidential caucus on Tuesday:

In presidential politics, Minnesota is as close to a Democratic fortress as states come.

After back-to-back fiascos in Nevada and Iowa, the term "caucus" may be on its way to becoming a bad word in the GOP lexicon.

President Barack Obama's campaign is returning about $200,000 in contributions collected by family members of a Mexican casino owner who fled the U.S. after facing drug and fraud charges.

The Republican presidential race has taken on a white-hot intensity here as Minnesotans prepare to caucus Tuesday night, with major candidates scurrying across the state hoping to gain an edge that could reshape the contest.