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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.

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.

Exploring the news for the week ahead are Callie Crossley, host of The Callie Crossley Show on WGBH, and Marcus Mabry, editor at large at The International Herald Tribune, the international edition of our partner, The New York Times.

It seems that, whatever we say about the attractiveness of a business background, it hasn't been what we've been voting for — at least, not for the top job.

As the race for the presidency heats up, President Obama's reelection team continues to attack Mitt Romney's career at Bain Capital, while questioning private equity's role in the American economy. Edward Conard, former managing director at Bain Capital and author of "Unintended Consequences," worked with Mitt Romney throughout the Republican candidate's years in private equity. Conard explains why he believes Romney's experience in private equity will prove essential should the Republican candidate take the White House this fall.

Whether you love or hate politics, it’s hard to deny that when it comes to identity and culture, this year’s presidential election is truly historic. The incumbent is, of course, half black and thus, a racial minority. The challenger is Mormon, and thus, a religious minority. What if you’re one of the one million Americans who is both black and Mormon? How does identity factor in? Two African-American Mormons join us today to share their thoughts.

A former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, whose campaign was perceived to be negatively affected by the fact he served in the Obama administration, said he had no regrets about crossing party lines.

A June auction of over 38 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for drilling may look nice on the President's energy résumé, but leaves oil companies and Republicans wanting more.

President Obama has come out swinging on Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital. As the NATO Summit came to a close on Monday, President Obama defined the presidential election in terms of his economic vision for the country compared to Mitt Romney’s. Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich joins us to answer: Where does the campaign go from here?

The president’s marriage equality stance seems to have energized immigration activists, especially young Latino voters who have built an alliance with gay activists on pushing for immigration reform.

Richard Tisei is running to represent Massachusetts' 6th congressional district, against Democratic incumbent, John Tierney. If he's successful, Tisai will be the first gay Republican to be elected to the House of Representatives and to have come before an election.

Like with so many other things, the Democrats like to pretend like they have some kind of higher ground because they see the Republicans as worse, when really all they are is bought and paid for by different special interests who's pockets aren't quite as deep.

President Obama's campaign attacked Mitt Romney's record on Bain Capital with an add that paints a picture of Romney as a job killer. In response, Romney team has put out its own ad, hailing Romney as a job creator who can save struggling American cities. Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich reviews the competing ads and assess whether which character description of Romney is more likely to stick with voters.

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.

Mitt Romney's Mormon faith has shaped his life, but he barely mentioned it as he spoke to graduates at an evangelical Christian university Saturday.

Republicans have chosen a man whose behavior, demeanor and record makes us believe he could be the bully his old friends described.

The charlatans in office, Obama and the Romney campaign included, are going out of their ways to make the economic futures of their kids significantly worse.

In 1987, Wall Street came to be personified by the Oliver Stone film of the same name, by Michael Douglas’s Gordon Gekko. "The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good," Gekko famously preached. Today, the Occupy Wall Street Movement seems to be fighting against this same idea. How, exactly, does the one percent feel about that? Edward Conard, former managing director of Bain Capital, offers his opinion.

It used to be that liberalism pushed for an equality between the sexes. Now, any motion to treat women as equal to men is used as political ammo.