Washington (CNN) – Last week, President Obama stopped in Columbus, Ohio for a town-hall style meeting with a few dozen residents of Columbus. On Monday, Ohio residents will get another shot to see an Obama administration official. This time: Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden is scheduled to travel to both Indiana and Ohio on Monday. In Indiana, he will deliver remarks addressing the troop drawdown in Iraq at the 111th annual Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Indianapolis before continuing on to Toledo, Ohio where he will stop at a Chrysler plant.
In Ohio, Gov. Ted Strickland, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, all Democrats, will join Biden.
The Obama administration has paid special attention to Ohio, a crucial swing state, since the president took office. Last week's trip was Obama's ninth to Ohio since taking office.
Washington (CNN) – Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney made an endorsement Saturday in the race for the office once held by his father, throwing his weight behind Rick Snyder, the Michigan Republican gubernatorial nominee who bills himself as "one tough nerd."
“Rick Snyder is a successful businessman, manager, and job creator, which makes him uniquely qualified to lead Michigan through these challenging economic times. Rick will promote pro-growth policies that will put people back to work and get Michigan back on the right track,” Romney said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Snyder, a businessman and former Gateway CEO, defeated powerful Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, and Attorney General Mike Cox in what was a three-way battle for the GOP nomination.
In the general election, Snyder will face Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero who won the Democratic nomination over state Rep. Andy Dillon. Two-term Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm is term-limited.
Washington (CNN) – Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean said Sunday that President Obama's political advisers are suffering from an inside-the-beltway mentality, but that Democrats will retain majorities in the House and Senate.
"I think the people around the president have really misjudged what goes on elsewhere in the country other than Washington, D.C.," Dean, also the former governor of Vermont, said on CNN's State of the Union. "I don't think this is true of the president, but I do think his people, his political people ought to go out and spend some time outside Washington once in a while."
Dean has, at times, been a voice of dissent within the Democratic Party and has disagreed publicly with the Obama administration on key issues, including health care reform legislation, the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and, most recently, the construction of an Islamic center and mosque near ground zero.
But despite his criticism of Obama's political team, Dean told CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley that Democrats could retain control of the House and Senate.
Washington (CNN) - Sarah Palin's support for Republican Senate hopeful Joe Miller became a true family act on Friday, just days before the Alaska primary.
Palin, who endorsed Miller in June, posted another letter of support on her Facebook page Friday, and the former Alaska governor's husband Todd penned a fundraising letter that was mailed to Tea Party Express supporters.
Noting that he rarely sends fundraising letters, Todd said the effort is designed to raise $150,000 in the next 48 hours.
"A critical election for U.S. Senate is just 4 days away and constitutional conservatives across America need to rally together to support Conservative Republican Joe Miller for U.S. Senate in Alaska," Todd said. "Joe is up against the political establishment and special interests in Alaska, and I can tell you first hand that my own family has had to face such battles before."
Washington (CNN) – Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, moved one tiny step closer to declaring himself a 2012 candidate on Wednesday, saying he feels as if he is "being pulled along" into the race.
"I sort of feel in some respects I'm being pulled along in this," Santorum told the Des Moines Register on Wednesday. "I'm still seriously going through this process. And at this point I'm very encouraged by everything that's happening."
In July, Santorum met privately with several of his former Capitol Hill staffers to pitch the idea of a presidential bid in 2012, something the Republican is now talking openly about.
"There seems to be support on the ground at least to consider this," Santorum told the Des Moines Register. "The response has been surprisingly positive."
(CNN) – Organizing for America, President Obama's political organization that is now run out of the Democratic National Committee, sent a fundraising email to supporters Thursday that highlights a $1 million donation from News Corp. to the Republican Governors Association.
News Corp. is the parent company of Fox News, an organization the White House has sparred with in the past. In October, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn said, "The reality of it is that Fox often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party."
That sentiment was echoed in Thursday's fundraising email.
"News Corp. - the parent company of Fox News - just donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association, an official organization campaigning against Democrats all over the country this fall," Organizing for America director Mitch Stewart said in the e-mail. "It's one thing to echo Republican talking points and hire Sarah Palin for political 'analysis.' It's another thing to cut those Republicans a seven-figure check to fund their attack ads and robo-calls."
Washington (CNN) - Legendary Hollywood actor/director Robert Redford is the latest big gun being trotted out by the campaign of Sen. Barbara Boxer as part of her reelection effort. Supporters of the California Democrat received an email from Redford on Wednesday, complete with a fundraising plea.
Focused on the environment, the letter praises Boxer's work on the issue. Boxer has "been there with us all along, long before cameras were rolling in the Gulf," Redford wrote, referencing the Gulf coast oil spill.
"From day one, Barbara has been a champion for environmental protection in the U.S. Senate. Without her there to lead the fight, I fear that instead of learning the lessons of this moment and moving forward, we could find ourselves slipping backward," Redford says.
Redford's letter heaps praise on Boxer while criticizing her Republican challenger Carly Fiorina over the same set of issues.
The CNN Washington Bureau’s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world.
WASHINGTON/POLITICAL
For the latest political news: www.CNNPolitics.com
CNN: Republicans seek political gain from Obama's mosque comments
Republicans tried mightily Sunday to make a political flash point out of President Barack Obama's defense of plans to build an Islamic center and mosque near ground zero in New York.
(CNN) - Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, was released from University of Chicago Medical Center Friday night after undergoing surgery to have a small tumor removed from his stomach.
"At approximately 7pm last night, Sen. Dick Durbin was discharged from University of Chicago Medical Center where he was recovering after having a small tumor removed." Durbin spokesman Joe Shoemaker said in statement to CNN. "Durbin expects to resume a light schedule in a few days and a full schedule next week."
The senior Illinois Senator underwent surgery Thursday to have a small gastro-intestinal stromal tumor (GIST) removed from his stomach.
According to Durbin's doctors, there was no evidence that the tumor had spread beyond the site from which it was removed.
(CNN) - The major powerbrokers of Kentucky politics gathered Saturday for the annual Fancy Farm Picnic, a rough and tumble political event in which candidates serve up their best stemwinder and hope it's not drowned out by the raucous audience.
At this year's event, Senate hopefuls Rand Paul and Jack Conway were joined onstage by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and much to the delight of the crowd, the three heavyweights each took their turn slinging one-liners.
If a candidate overruns their allotted speaking time at Fancy Farm, they are shooed offstage by a band, just like the Academy Awards. And the gathering is probably the only political event in the country that features an opening prayer that includes the line: "Lord, may our words be gracious and tender today, for tomorrow we might have to eat them."
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