Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) – As Hurricane Irene strikes and spooks large parts of the U.S., Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is not yet ready to praise President Barack Obama's handling of the storm.

The Texas governor appeared at a county GOP picnic in Des Moines on Saturday. During an exchange with reporters, Perry was asked if the president has been an effective leader during a week that saw two menacing natural disasters: an earthquake and currently the hurricane.
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NAPA, California (CNN) - Just beyond the cabernet and merlot halls at the Napa Expo, wine country chatter such as "I want something smooth and fruity" gave way to political debate Saturday.

The Tea Party Express, one of the nation’s largest tea party groups, launched its 29-city bus tour this weekend in California.
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Nashua, New Hampshire (CNN) – Working-class anger bubbled over at a town hall hosted by Rep. Charlie Bass Saturday, when dozens of organized activists berated the Republican congressman for not helping the job market in his home state.

"During the ’90s we could afford to hire members of the community, but now we're barely able to pay ourselves," said Greg Goldberg, a furniture store manager who wore an Obama 2012 cap. "How much longer are we going to be able to do even that if companies continue to get tax breaks while continuing to send our jobs overseas?"
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(CNN) - As Hurricane Irene barrels along the U.S. East Coast, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas said the nation would be much better off without the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"I live on the Gulf Coast. We put up with hurricanes all the time," the GOP presidential candidate told CNN after a New Hampshire campaign event Friday. "There's no magic about FEMA. More and more people are starting to recognize that."
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(CNN) – South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson was released from the hospital Saturday after being treated five days for an extended fever and "chronic viral-type infection," according to information released by his staff.

Last week, when Wilson's office announced that a series of appearances in his district would be rescheduled, they initially attributed his illness "to his recent possible contraction of Lyme disease."
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(CNN) – Early voting began Saturday for the special election in Nevada’s 2nd congressional district, with the final voting date set for September 13.

Then-Rep. Dean Heller left the seat in May when Gov. Brian Sandoval appointed him to replace former Republican Sen. John Ensign, who resigned amid an ethics scandal.
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(CNN) - President Barack Obama toured FEMA headquarters in Washington Saturday as Hurricane Irene continued up the east coast of the U.S.

On a conference call with emergency officials, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and FEMA administrator Craig Fugate, while at the command center, Obama warned of the worsening conditions, saying “it’s going to be a long 72 hours.”

(CNN) - Martin Luther King Jr. was remembered Saturday as an irrepressible civil rights leader who many times triumphed over a "mountain of despair."

"Everywhere he went, the mountain of despair was thrust upon him by the evils" of the world, said former United Nations ambassador Andrew Young during a national prayer service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

(CNN) - In the GOP weekly address, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller blasted President Barack Obama for his economic policies and said the country is still waiting for an effective job-creation plan.

“It is clear that the approach of this administration and its supporters have taken for economic recovery has failed miserably,” Heller said Saturday.
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TOPICS: Martin Luther King, Jr.

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