Paige Winfield Cunningham
Articles by Paige Winfield Cunningham
Akin gets some good news as super PAC mulls funding
Missouri Republican Rep. W. Todd Akin is still flying mostly solo in his race for U.S. Senate, but some bright spots have appeared on his horizon as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich campaigned with him Monday and a conservative major super PAC confirmed it's seriously considering helping him out. Published September 24, 2012
Romney backers try to push aside campaign ‘distractions’
After a week of mopping up damage from Mitt Romney's remarks about the "47 percent," Republicans tried Sunday to push aside that issue and other controversies that have dogged their presidential candidate's campaign, insisting that "distractions" will not decide the election. Published September 23, 2012
Akin, McCaskill trade barbs in first debate
Besides attacking each other over Medicare, school lunches and the Iraq war, Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill and GOP challenger Rep. Todd Akin spent their first debate Friday blaming each other for the gridlock in Congress that has stalled crucial pieces of legislation over the last two years. Published September 21, 2012
Brown, Warren drop gloves in Mass. debate
Republican Sen. Scott P. Brown and his Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Warren, verbally pummeled each other for an hour in a debate Thursday evening, each trying to seize the title of middle-class hero and gain an advantage in their tight struggle for the Senate seat from Massachusetts. Published September 20, 2012
Bill OK’d to put statue of Douglass in Capitol
For the District of Columbia, deprived of a vote in Congress, the U.S. Capitol remains a bitter place — but city residents finally are getting representation, of a sort. Published September 20, 2012
CBO raises estimate of those hit by Obama health care tax
Congress' official scorekeeper said Wednesday that 30 million people will be uninsured when President Obama's health care law goes fully into effect, including six million Americans who are expected to pay a tax penalty — about two million more than originally forecast when the law was passed in 2010. Published September 19, 2012
Akin has seven days to make call on campaign
Rep. W. Todd Akin has one week left to decide whether he's staying in the Missouri U.S. Senate race, and the Tuesday deadline holds fear and hope for the congressman who would face a barrage of new attacks from Democrats by staying but might win support of some conservative groups that have been sitting on the sideline. Published September 18, 2012
Akin, the ‘legitimate rape’ candidate, gets back on campaign trail
Beleaguered Republican W. Todd Akin hit the campaign trail last week for the first time since the infamous interview that put him at odds with his party's leaders and initially appeared to doom his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in Missouri. Published September 16, 2012
Poverty rate doesn’t rise in 2012
The U.S. Census Bureau reported some positive figures for the economy Wednesday, saying the poverty rate remained steady for the first time in three years and that the pool of Americans without health insurance diminished slightly, but the news was tempered with a decline in median household income and increases in income disparity since last year. Published September 12, 2012
Pro-Obama speech ruled Hatch Act violation; Sebelius repays travel costs
The White House stood by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius after federal investigators reported Wednesday that she unlawfully stumped for President Obama while delivering a speech earlier this year. Published September 12, 2012
Selling health care law tricky on campaign trail
President Obama's health care law has helped millions of Americans obtain insurance coverage, prescription-drug discounts and premium rebates — but with only part of the overhaul in place and widespread confusion about what it does, the administration is still struggling to sell it to voters. Published September 11, 2012
Illegals not in health plan
Getting healthy young people to buy health insurance is key to making President Obama's health care overhaul work, but his administration is excluding roughly one million illegal immigrant youth allowed to remain in the country from the law's mandates and benefits. Published September 9, 2012
Some red-state Democrats leave Charlotte off itinerary
While their colleagues are in Charlotte, N.C., this week for the party's national convention, many red-state Democrats are staying put to sweat it out on the campaign trail — and create some distance between them and their more liberal counterparts. Published September 5, 2012
Pro-lifers were pro-choice on would-be nominee
He wasn't their first, second or even third choice for president, but as pro-life leaders flocked to Tampa, Fla., this week for Mitt Romney's official Republican nomination, they insisted they had had a successful election year. Published August 30, 2012
Massachusetts Republicans find Brown is their cup of tea
He won election as the tea party's first successful candidate two years ago, but Sen. Scott P. Brown is now running for re-election as a political centrist — and his fellow Massachusetts Republicans say that's just fine with them. Published August 29, 2012
GOP also-rans say they are ‘on the team’ now
The GOP convention is a wistful time for the Republicans who failed to gain their party's presidential nomination earlier this year. Even as they pledge to play a supporting role for Mitt Romney, they try to carve out their own niche here in Tampa. Published August 28, 2012
Another Ryan at RNC is a Paul devotee
Becoming the youngest member of the Republican National Committee will place Ashley Ryan firmly within the GOP establishment this week, but the 21-year-old Ron Paul devotee insists her party is about to make a fatal mistake. Published August 28, 2012
GOP convention fights for star power
After being criticized for being too country music-heavy at their 2008 convention, the GOP put together a more diverse lineup this year, with a few leading pop artists and rock bands joining the southern performers. Published August 28, 2012
So whose House will it be?
Democrats expect to chip away at House Republicans' 49-seat majority in November, but GOP leaders insisted Monday that they've seized the advantage for the second election cycle in a row and will pocket four to eight more seats. Published August 27, 2012
Akin to continue Senate race despite GOP pressure to quit
Despite being dumped by nearly every major Republican over the last 48 hours, Rep. Todd Akin said Tuesday afternoon he's made a final decision to continue his bid to unseat Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill. Published August 21, 2012