Posts by Jonathan E. Kaplan

Ray LaHood, the Illinois Republican congressman slated to become Transportation Secretary, won’t make traffic jams disappear, eliminate lines at airport security or fix that one pothole you always seem to hit on the commute home.
But commuters are not Ray LaHood’s political base. Reporters are, and fortunately for us, he’s sticking around. LaHood, sometimes at risk to his [...]

President-elect Barack Obama has said he will take a different approach to health, environment and energy agencies.

Betsy Markey beat a Republican incumbent in a conservative Colorado district, and she’s already campaigning for reelection. Jared Polis easily won in a Democratic-leaning district, and he’s vying to become a mover and shaker in the House.

Pittsburgh, Pa. — For hundreds of college students across this city, voting is an exercise in multitasking.
Students read, work on crossword and Sudoku puzzles, text-message and email on hand-held devices and listen to music as they wait up to an hour to cast their first votes in a presidential election.

Erie, Pa. — Two of Sen. Barack Obama’s top surrogates, Bill and Hillary Clinton, barnstormed through western Pennsylvania Monday appealing for support in the only “blue” state that remains competitive.
Sen. John McCain also made an appearance in the state. Republicans strategists believe that capturing Pennsylvania’s 21 electoral votes is McCain’s only path to the White [...]

As Republican charges of “fraud” and Democratic claims of “voter suppression” have escalated in the home stretch of the presidential election campaign, liberal activists have started blasting Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential team’s “voter protection” effort for not doing enough to ensure that all Democratic votes are going to be counted on Election Day.

Democrat challenger Tom Allen and Republican Sen. Susan Collins are bickering again over their respective attendance records in Maine’s Senate race.
Allen called on Collins earlier this week during a debate to stop airing an advertisement, not posted online, that raises questions about his commitment to Maine and the number of bills he has voted on [...]

Minnesota Republican congresswoman Michelle Bachmann stirred up a media storm Friday when she told MSNBC’s “Hardball With Chris Mathews” that “the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look — I wish they would — take a great look at the views of people in Congress and find out [if] they [are] [...]

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) introduced legislation today to bar political parties from challenging the eligibility of voters whose homes have been foreclosed.
Kucinich, who ran losing presidential bids in 2004 and 2008 and faced a stiff primary challenge earlier this year, drafted the legislation following a report in the Michigan Messenger that a Macomb County Republican [...]