2012

WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama called for a constitutional amendment to overturn a Supreme Court ruling that made it easier for businesses to influence elections through large-scale donations.

Yahoo! fired its Washington bureau chief Wednesday after he was caught on a live mic at the Republican convention joking that Republicans were, "happy to have a party with black people drowning."

UPDATE: Join executive editor Megan Carpentier and Pandagon's Amanda Marcotte for a liveblog of the conventions at the bottom of this post for commentary, fact-checking and the occasional off-color joke.

Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson (R-NM) is now the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee, which is well-known for its support for marijuana policy reform -- and Johnson, like most politicians, admits to having smoked it himself. Raw Story asked him about the genesis of his positions, where he sees the country headed and what he thinks of his fellow political tokers' opposition to legalization.

President Barack Obama logged into the social media website Reddit on Wednesday to participate in an "I am... ask me anything" (IAmA) thread.

In an interview with Democracy Now, Raw Story's Executive Editor Megan Carpentier and former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson talked about the Republican Party's ever-shifting position to the right on women's issues, despite Ann Romney's "soft" appeal to women voters.

Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson (R-NM) is now the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee, but much of what mainstream press coverage he's managed to get has focused on his positions on marijuana policy or his outsider status. With the nominees of his current party focusing extensively on tax and entitlement reforms, Raw Story asked him where he stood on those issues, and what makes his positions different.

Fans of former president Ronald Reagan have been trying to revive him for years in the form of zombies, dreams and ghosts -- and on Thursday, they may finally get their wish, according to Fox News.

Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson (R-NM) is now the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee, but many of the Libertarian Party's constituency had their hearts first captured by one of Rep. Ron Paul's (R-TX) ultimately unsuccessful campaigns. With Paul throwing his weight behind the Romney-Ryan ticket, can his supporters and liberals disappointed in the president's record on civil rights find a new candidate-to-love in Johnson? And where does he stand on women's rights, as it becomes a top issue in the race?

A federal judge has said the he will permanently remove recently enacted voter registration restrictions in the state of Florida. According to Talking Points Memo, Judge Robert L. Hinkle has declared that he will grant a motion to permanently strike down the new rules once the state of Florida has dropped its case against the federal government in U.S. appeals court.

Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson (R-NM) threw his hat in the Republican ring during the primary season -- but, unlike candidates like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MO), former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and never-elected businessman Herman Cain, he got no support from his party, was excluded from the debates and found himself in the position of either quietly withdrawing or giving his own party's eventual candidate a run for his money. He chose the latter, and is now the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee. He talked to Raw Story about the primary, debate and presidential ballot process and how it's totally stacked against third party candidates.

The Democratic Party will play up what it sees as President Barack Obama's shining national security credentials at its party convention next week, aides to the president said Wednesday.

Remember "hockey mom" Sarah Palin in '08? On Wednesday it's the turn of youthful Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan to wow the Republican convention as he accepts the party's vice presidential nomination.