Steve Benen

In about an hour, NBC will host the latest in a seemingly-endless stream of debates for the four remaining Republican presidential candidates: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul. The event will be the 17th debate of the cycle — the third in the last seven days — and will take place at […]

Today’s edition of quick hits: * New sanctions on Iran: “The European Union agreed Monday to impose a phased ban on oil purchases from Iran that officials said was needed to help force a shift in policy and avert the risk of military strikes against Tehran, as the United States expanded its sanctions to include […]

After allowing the issue to raise some serious questions about his campaign, Mitt Romney told Fox News yesterday that he will release his 2010 tax return tomorrow, along with “an estimate” for 2011. The former governor seems to believe this should put the matter to rest. That strikes me as overly-optimistic. Such a limited amount […]

From a press release that landed in my inbox this afternoon: New polling from Americans Elect shows Americans evenly divided between voting for a Democrat, a Republican, and an independent-minded presidential candidate. This polling is consistent with other national polls that demonstrate the need for a new way to pick a president. According to the […]

The details of the accounts vary a bit, but it appears Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ran into a little trouble at a Nashville airport this morning. He went through security, and after a scan, TSA asked to do a full body pat-down. The senator refused, so he was denied access to the gate. (thanks to […]

The justices didn’t exactly agree on the rationale, but all nine ended up in the right place. The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that the police violated the Constitution when they placed a Global Positioning System tracking device on a suspect’s car and monitored its movements for 28 days. But the justices divided 5-to-4 […]

We can probably expect a pretty brutal campaign in Florida, with Mitt Romney needing a win to regain his footing, and Newt Gingrich needing a win to solidify his status as a realistic GOP presidential nominee. With this in mind, Romney apparently has a two-pronged message for Floridians, where the effects of economic crash and […]

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that won’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), a year after surviving an assassination attempt, has decided she’ll step down from Congress this week to focus on her ongoing recovery. Giffords will not seek re-election […]

It’s not too uncommon for states to launch initiatives intended to eliminate antiquated and unnecessary laws. Over the course of generations, officials and bureaucracies can approve all kinds of measures — most of which go ignored and unenforced by modern policymakers — that are no longer needed. So, when Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) created […]

Even a casual glance at Mitt Romney’s campaign pitch reveals a pretty straightforward message: he’s a conservative businessman, not a traditional politician, who’ll focus on jobs. As the race for the Republican presidential nomination heats up, and attention turns to next week’s Florida primary, AFSCME has a good idea on how to use this pitch […]