wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Right now, we’re at the crucial phase in the general election season where both leading candidates for president are looking to define themselves and the presidential race before their opponent does it for them. So where do we stand on presidential campaign definitions? Molly Ball, staff writer for The Atlantic, and Ron Christie, Takeaway contributor and Republican strategist, break it down.

The NATO Summit spurs protests in Chicago all week, while European leaders continue talks that began at the G-8 conference over the weekend. The insider trading case against former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta begins this week in New York, as the Senate Banking Committee starts a round of Dodd-Frank hearings. Also, just a few weeks after President Obama declared his support for gay marriage, the NAACP followed suit. The impact on African-American voters remains to be seen. Molly Ball, staff writer covering politics for The Atlantic, and Charlie Herman, business and economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC, explain the stories of the week. 

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments for and against the constitutionality of SB 1070, Arizona's controversial immigration law. The case and the Court's decision are sure to play a roll in this year's elections. Mitt Romney has all but wrapped up the GOP nomination. But with five primaries in Romney-friendly territory in the Northeast, why is the presumptive nominee still campaigning so hard in primary states? And panic returns to the Eurozone, with renewed fear over Spain and Italy. This weekend's first round of presidential elections in France only further clouds the Eurozone's future. To talk about these issues and more, we're joined by Takeaway and WNYC Economics Editor Charlie Herman, and Molly Ball, Staff Writer for The Atlantic.

Latinos, non-college educated women, voters under 30. Molly Ball, national politics writer for The Atlantic and Jonathan Bernstein, political scientist who runs A Plain Blog About Politics, explain which demographic groups are being targeted as the general election race heats up.

While the GOP Presidential contenders prepare for primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, D.C., candidate Mitt Romney garners key endorsements from Senator Rob Johnson and Congressman Paul Ryan. Is the Republican Party finally coalescing around their presumptive nominee? Back in Washington, President Obama is set to sign the STOCK Act and the JOBS Act on Monday, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics prepares to release job numbers for March on Friday. What does this mean for the future of the economy? Charlie Herman, business and economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC and Molly Ball, staff writer covering national politics for The Atlantic, explore the stories for the week ahead.

More than halfway through the Republican primaries, there is still no clear frontrunner. It's a three-way race with four men running, and the guy that no one paid any attention to last year keeps walking away with primary victories. Our expert political panel examines last night’s Republican primary election results and discuss what Mississippi and Alabama's wins may mean for the GOP race ahead. 

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann acknowledged earlier this week that she suffers from chronic migraine attacks, a familiar problem for the 36 million other Americans that experience them. But some people are now speculating as to whether or not Bachmann's migraines might interfere with her ability to do her job. This kind of talk could amount to a minor setback for Bachmann's campaign, considering some polls show she's the front runner for the Republican bid for president.

Daniel Moulthrop, from WCPN Cleveland Public Radio's "Sound of Ideas" public affairs show, talks about the swing state of Ohio,

Then
Eduardo de Oliveira, reporter for the New England Ethnic Newswire at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and the Nashua Telegraph, as well as ...

Back in January, we looked at the state of Nevada before it held its caucuses. We get an update from Molly Ball, reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, on the major issues in the Silver State and why it’s a swing state to watch this year.

With all eyes on Nevada in the days before the state’s January 19 caucus, States of the Union looks into which issues matter to Silver State voters. Nevada is one of the fastest-growing states, and it has been hit hard by the mortgage crisis. We look at how ...