Susan Crabtree

ELECTION 2012: Obama stays with traditonal game of Election-Day basketball

Saying he was sticking with a tried-and-true election-day routine, President Obama played a game of basketball Tuesday with a small cadre of friends and confidantes before awaiting election results in his hometown of Chicago. Published November 6, 2012

A nostalgic Obama ends campaign in Iowa, where his political rise began

President Obama, with first lady Michelle Obama by his side, wrapped up the final, frenzied hours of campaigning in the place where his march to the White House first began. Published November 5, 2012

Obama, Romney rush to the finish with battleground state stops

Running at a breakneck pace in what is shaping up to be one of the tightest presidential battles in American history, President Obama and Mitt Romney spent the last full day of the campaign scouring the country for additional votes, and calling on their troops to give them the ground support they need to capture the White House. Published November 5, 2012

GOP demands answers on Benghazi; hit not a priority on stump

Nearly two months after the terrorist assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, it continues to ripple across American politics, though the constantly shifting timelines provided by the administration and the new questions raised by Republicans have not dramatically reshaped the presidential race. Published November 4, 2012

Obama’s transparency promises stall

President Obama ran in 2008 while making big promises on transparency and ethics. He is making no such promises in this year's campaign, though, nor is he taking a victory lap on those old vows. Published November 4, 2012

Obama’s pitch: Slow but steady gains for middle class

With the economy stuck in low gear and deficits soaring, President Obama's closing argument to voters for his re-election Tuesday is that he is moving the nation on the fairest path for the middle class, however slowly. Published November 4, 2012

Bloomberg issues surprise endorsement of Obama

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, an independent, issued a surprise endorsement of President Obama's re-election Thursday, pointing to the president's belief in global warming. Published November 1, 2012

Obama tries new tack in stump speech

After presiding over four straight trillion-dollar deficits and a stubbornly weak economic recovery, President Obama billed himself as the real candidate of change Thursday as his tight race against Republican Mitt Romney entered the final days of campaigning. Published November 1, 2012

Ravaged states start cleanup, add up losses

Giant cities and small neighborhoods across the eastern half of the country took stock, mourned their losses and began the first tentative efforts to restore normalcy Wednesday as the death toll from superstorm Sandy rose to more than 70 and the economic losses were being reckoned in the tens of billions of dollars. Published October 31, 2012

For Obama, an opportunity to take charge in a crisis

Although Hurricane Sandy blew President Obama's re-election campaign far off its charted course, Mr. Obama had the advantage over Republican rival Mitt Romney Tuesday by taking on the presidential role of coordinating emergency relief efforts across the Eastern seaboard. Published October 30, 2012

Keeping Obama’s many promises to veterans will be daunting

President Obama has kept his vow to wind down two wars and bring home troops — but meeting the job, educational and medical needs of those returning veterans also has become a challenging priority for the White House. Published October 29, 2012

Sandy throws wet blanket over campaign plans

President Obama rushed out of the battleground state of Florida on Monday to return to Washington and oversee the response to one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the Northeast. Published October 29, 2012

Obama makes trip to FEMA ahead of Sandy’s landfall

Just hours before planning to leave Washington for a campaign trip to Florida, President Obama visited the Federal Emergency Management Agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C., for a briefing on the latest preparations for Hurricane Sandy. Published October 28, 2012

Big Bird’s producer boasts well-padded retirement nest

Far from being a pauper, Sesame Workshop, the company that produces the beloved children's television program that has become an unlikely point of partisan bickering in the presidential campaign, has put away more than $100 million in investments, including more than $20 million in hedge funds and $9.7 million in a private equity fund. Published October 24, 2012

Pentagon will not label Fort Hood shootings as terrorist attack

Already facing intense scrutiny for its shifting narrative about the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, the Pentagon now says it will not reclassify the Fort Hood shootings as a terrorist attack over concern about biasing the case against the gunman — an argument that is getting a mixed review from legal specialists. Published October 22, 2012

Fort Hood victims see similarities to Benghazi

Benghazi isn't the first time the Obama administration has struggled with whether to call an attack on a U.S. post a terrorist attack. Nearly three years after the fact, the Defense Department still calls the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, an act of workplace violence, despite the suspect's ties to al Qaeda. Published October 18, 2012

Obama says he is starting to ‘get the hang’ of debating

Buoyed by his much stronger second debate performance, President Obama on Wednesday said he was beginning "to get the hang of these things" and continued where he left off the previous night: pounding away on GOP rival Mitt Romney's five-point plan for the economy, tax plan and record on pay equity and other issues with appeal for women. Published October 17, 2012

Day after debate, Obama, Romney keep on punching

Fresh off his more animated debate performance, President Obama joked Wednesday that he is still trying to get the hang of the face-to-face showdowns with Mitt Romney, even as the Republican nominee said Mr. Obama appears to be "running on fumes" in the run-up to Nov. 6. Published October 17, 2012

Obama, Romney clash on jobs, energy and Libya at second debate

A combative President Obama, seeking to redeem himself from an earlier poor debate performance, went toe-to-toe with Mitt Romney Tuesday night at their second debate and accused the Republican nominee of fabricating attacks and distorting both of their records on everything from energy policy to terrorism. Published October 16, 2012

Clinton takes ‘full responsibility’ for security at Libyan consulate

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is taking "full responsibility" for the lack of security at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya before the attack on the anniversary of 9/11 that led to the death of four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Published October 15, 2012