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Elizabeth Warren, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Massachusetts -and recent head of the federal consumer protection agency - is in the middle of a nasty controversy that underscores the nefarious nature of racial politics in this country.

Which president said - “U.S. assistance is essential to express and achieve our national goals in the international community — a world order of peace and justice"? Richard Nixon. 

How about this scenario? The whole thing was a carefully orchestrated drama that rolled out and ended just as it was intended to do. Everyone hit their marks in the studio state and played their role to perfection.

The founding fathers designed the filibuster as a last resort to be used rarely to block legislation seen as likely to pass but deemed dangerous by one member of the Senate.

Looking at these numbers gives us a sense of the "Big Picture” of unemployment, and cements the idea that jobs will continue to be a crucial factor in U.S. elections for many years to come.

On this historic trip, Obama executed a brilliant judo move that simultaneously took down two effective GOP criticisms of his presidency.

The Obama reelection strategy is to "narrowcast" themes to very specific constituencies - women voters, Hispanic/Latinos, and young, college-educated or those just entering and in college.

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.

In the competitive primaries and caucuses Romney almost never got 50 percent of the vote. It’s also alarming to some that Santorum has not endorsed him and that in addition to Ron Paul, former Speaker Newt Gingrich is also still in the race although he represents a dying star. I ...

Everyone acknowledges that our nation's politics are as polarized as any time in recent memory. But some observers worry that polarization is carrying over into areas outside the public sphere. Steffen Schmidt, contributor to It's a Free Country, thinks the politicization of everyday life is a terrible development and is concerned about its implications for the country's future. Tom Edsall is a professor at the Columbia Journalism School and author of "The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics."

This level of compartmentalization of business and services into the political realm marks a new polarization in our political discourse, and it's a bad thing.

The suspension of Santorum’s campaign has been correctly declared to be the start of the national election campaign pitting Mitt Romney against Barack Obama. But, there will be a strong sideshow inside the Republican Party as the various characters and factions especially Rick Santorum try to position themselves for the next seven months.

The American political process has become a “permanent election.” After we hold an election, all the candidates have to begin raising money for the next election years down the road, and there is no longer any respite from the endless advertisements, snarkiness and hot air emanating from the punsters.

GOP candidate Rick Santorum was quoted in saying that if the territory wanted U.S. statehood, they'd have to make English their only official language. Smart move.

Republican leaders are defending the primary calendar and the decision to have so many contests divide delegates proportionately. I’m not so sure. A quick early victory would have spared the contenders the endless scrutiny of their positions on issues and their frequent slips of tongue.

Why is so much money going to loose cannon groups instead of the political parties who would be held responsible for inaccurate and excessively brutal political advertising?

It's a catastrophic disaster for the GOP that the results of Super Tuesday were so completely indecisive.

The proportional allocation of delegates diminishes the impact of Super Tuesday this year.

Ultimately the Republicans have probably lost Michigan with their anti-government and anti-auto industry bailout rants, which is particularly meaningful as Michigan has been tracking Republican.

In a state critical to the President's re-election chances, a new poll finds Ron Paul is the only Republican beating both Obama and the margin of error.