wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

The freshman senator took direct aim at the parts of the Republican Party that eschew foreign interventions or global coalitions.

The faceoff between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney has already entered the ugly and negative phase, so it may be hard to believe that Romney is just set to accrue the required delegates to secure the nomination with the results in Texas today.

Race has played a major factor in these predominately white rural counties. Since the 2008 election, political scientists have been working to measure how racial attitudes are linked to voting, and when it comes to Obama, the data spikes.

After President Obama announced his personal support for legalizing gay marriage earlier this month, much of the attention has focused on how this has moved the opinions of minorities his way. A poll this week shows Republican support for gay marriage has also moved since, but it has gone the other way.   

The U.S. Supreme Court is not expected to announce its ruling on the Obama administration's health care law until next month, but already, Americans across the political spectrum are feeling less supportive of the decisionmakers on the nation's highest court. 

Historian David McCullough is known for his biographies of monumental American figures: John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman. But McCullough second book, published in 1972, explored American history not through the eyes of a Founding Father or a President, but through one of the most important public works projects of all time: the Brooklyn Bridge.

“Don’t you think this is a wonderful thing to walk across this bridge!”  

Historian David McCullough has had a lot of honors in his career – two Pulitzers, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and just this week a gold medal for biography from the American Academy of Arts and Letters – but he still gets that thrill crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.

President Barack Obama's relationship with Israel is garnering a warm assessment from an unlikely source: William Kristol, the editor of the conservative Weekly Standard who just two years ago started a group called the Emergency Committee for Israel.

Coming just a few days after President Obama embraced gay marriage, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's commencement speech at Liberty University emphasized the strength and power that comes from religious faithfulness. “Moral certainty, clear standards, and a commitment to spiritual ideals will set you apart in a world that searches for meaning,” Romney told the Liberty graduating class.

When Romney addressed the 2010 graduating class at Groton School, the elite private boarding school in Massachusetts, it was a different message. He implored graduates to find the courage to question social and political orthodoxy and left references to religion and Christianity largely out.

President Obama's supporters in New York's gay community are already registering their appreciation for his new stance on gay marriage. Campaign officials are telling supporters privately they've already noticed an uptick in giving and offers to host new fundraising events.

President Barack Obama has changed his position and now unequivocally supports the legalization of same-sex marriage. 

It's a Free Country reporter Anna Sale talks about how races around the country seek funding in New York. Then Noah Bierman who covers government and politics for The Boston Globe talks about the Massachusetts Senate race between Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown. 

New York, home of the country’s money and media establishment, generally likes incumbents. But they also turn out in force in hotly contested Congressional races when there are big names in play.

Presidential campaigns routinely make the rounds in New York during presidential campaigns. So do Republicans and Democrats who come to New York to make their case for donations and control in Congress. Here are the big winners of New York money in Congressional elections in 2012 and 2008. 

Newt Gingrich is losing his Secret Service protection a few days shy of his announcement officially ending his campaign, NBC News reported Thursday night. That comes a week after the conservative Taxpayers Protection Alliance called for Gingrich to surrender Secret Service protection last week, saying his campaign didn't warrant the cost.

President Obama’s Jimmy Fallon appearance provided a rare political opportunity: managing to look hip and accessible while maintaining total message discipline. But how much will slow jamming his talking points help Obama reinvigorate young supporters?

That’s unclear for now, but he’s got some momentum in his favor, according to a poll of Millennials out this week from Harvard’s Institute of Politics.

Five Republican primaries, no real surprises: Mitt Romney sweeps the night and is now looking ahead to the general election. Anna Sale, reporter for our co-producer WNYC's politics website It's A Free Country, takes a step back to discusses Newt Gingrich and the continuation of this seemingly finished race. Steffen Schmidt, It's A Free Country contributor and professor of political science at Iowa State University, looks forwards and considers Romney's fight for the hearts and minds of the GOP base.

The media has largely ignored Newt Gingrinch's presidential campaign this month, unless you count headlines generated when a penguin bit his finger at a St. Louis zoo stop.

But Gingrich is still campaigning for president, even though he is out of money and lagging far back in the polls. He made stops in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York ahead of primaries there today.  

Republicans in New York go to the polls Tuesday to nominate a presidential candidate. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Congressman Ron Paul have both made campaign stops in New York, but it's not expected to shake Romney's commanding lead. Even before Rick Santorum left the race earlier this month, Romney led the field by more than 30 points among registered Republicans in the Empire State.

It's a Free Country reporter Anna Sale discusses the state of the local Republican party ahead of next week's New York primary election.