Seth McLaughlin
Articles by Seth McLaughlin
Romney uses trip to stress foreign policy
Taking a brief turn from the domestic issues that have dominated the campaign, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney kicks off a three-nation overseas trip Thursday that gives him the chance to showcase his differences with President Obama on the foreign policy front and to convince voters that he has the political chops to be a major world player. Published July 25, 2012
Romney slams security leaks, blames White House
Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney accused the White House of leaking classified information to the press for political gain and called for a special counsel to carry out a "full and prompt investigation" into who is responsible for dishing out the national security goods. Published July 24, 2012
Johnson to voters: Give Libertarian a chance
Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson said Monday that he won't release his tax returns, joining his voice to that of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who has declined to release more than the two most recent years. Published July 23, 2012
Campaigns trade charges of lying; Romney camp seeks apology
President Obama's campaign said Wednesday that Mitt Romney either lied to voters or to federal regulators about how long he ran his company, while the GOP candidate's team said the "felony" accusation was so over-the-top that the president should apologize for his aides' behavior; voters were left to sort it all out. Published July 12, 2012
NAACP is hard sell for Romney
Trying to cut into President Obama's overwhelming lead among black voters, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney told the nation's leading African-American civil rights group that blacks have suffered more than most on the president's watch and he plans to fight for their vote. Published July 11, 2012
Rich must pay more taxes, Obama tells voters
A day after demanding Washington lawmakers extend middle-class tax cuts while raising taxes on the wealthy, President Obama took his case directly to voters Tuesday, traveling to Iowa to argue that the rich should pay higher taxes in order to cut the deficit and fund his spending priorities. Published July 10, 2012
Romney, RNC post massive June cash haul
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee raised $35 million more than President Obama and his Democratic allies last month, winning their second month in a row. Published July 9, 2012
Obama struggles to shine again in Rust Belt
As President Obama is in the middle of a two-day "Betting on America" bus tour across Ohio and Pennsylvania, political analysts said he will have to reassemble the "hope and change" demographic coalition of 2008 that relied on a high turnout of youths and blacks, and winning a larger-than-usual percentage of Hispanics and whites. By most accounts, that will be easier said than done. Published July 5, 2012
GOP waits for Romney to pick ‘tax’ or ‘penalty’
A semantic dispute over what defines "a tax" or "a penalty" has pushed Mitt Romney's presidential campaign deeply off message as he struggles for the right response to last week's Supreme Court ruling upholding the health care law. Published July 3, 2012
Romney: To kill health law, Obama must go
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Thursday that the Supreme Court ruling upholding President Obama's health care law means that the only way now to remove the law is to remove the president in the November election. Published June 28, 2012
Health care decision will have great influence on campaign
On the eve of the Supreme Court's ruling on the constitutionality of President Obama's federal health care overhaul, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney tried to erase any doubt about what he plans to do with any parts of the law that might survive. Published June 27, 2012
Romney taking heat on amnesty question
The past two weeks have offered Mitt Romney numerous opportunities to clarify his stance on immigration — and every time the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has taken a pass. Published June 26, 2012
Would-be stars walk tightrope in Romney VP circus
The buzz around Mitt Romney's vice-presidential choice has become deafening — a political soap opera that involves "American Idol"-like auditions on the stump and conflicting reports on who is in the running. Published June 25, 2012
Rubio: Obama edict on illegals politicized issue
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said Thursday that President Obama's unilateral decision to stop deporting young illegal immigrants has further politicized an already emotionally charged issue and short-circuited bipartisan efforts to find a long-term solution. Published June 21, 2012
Immigration decision alters campaigns’ focus
President Obama's speech Friday to one of the country's largest Hispanic organizations has changed from a potential trip through the gantlet into what amounts to a victory lap after he announced last week that he was unilaterally halting deportations of young illegal immigrants. Published June 20, 2012
Anti-Obama sentiment fuels Romney on campaign trail
Mitt Romney's six-state bus swing through small cities and towns in New England, the Rust Belt and the industrial Midwest served as a clear reminder that his biggest ally in the presidential race is also his biggest foe: President Obama. Published June 19, 2012
Immigrant debate shifting under GOP’s feet
The muted public reaction to President Obama's immigration decision of last week — and Mitt Romney's carefully modulated response to the surprise order — could signal an unexpected shift in what has been one of the country's thorniest political issues. Published June 18, 2012
Romney predicts Wisconsin win
Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney campaigned alongside this state's top Republicans on Monday, declaring that he'll win the Badger State in the general election — a prediction that, if it turns out to be true, would be a bad omen for President Obama's re-election plans. Published June 18, 2012
In Ohio, earthy Boehner is a contrast to squeaky clean Romney
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, the clean-cut son of a former governor, and House Speaker John A. Boehner, the cigarette-smoking son of a bar owner, joined forces Sunday, marking the first time this campaign season the two powerful Republicans have shared a stage and the first time they've ever met for burgers. Published June 17, 2012
For Romney, road to White House runs through nation’s Rust Belt
Mitt Romney is trying to do something that Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nominee, could not shore up enough support among the rural, blue-collar voters in such Rust Belt states as Pennsylvania and Ohio to win the White House. Published June 17, 2012