marco rubio

Marco Rubio shows "a spinal flexibility only Plastic Man could love," says Leonard Pitts Jr.

Witcover: Imagine what serious members of Congress might think of Mr. Trump's comparisons of school shootings with aircraft hijackings, and his idea to arm teachers with the concealed carrying of federal air marshals.

Parents and survivors of this latest school shooting are not going to be silent. They are not willing to see their friends and loved ones forgotten. They will not allow our political leaders sweep gun violence under the rug yet again.

Refusing to discuss gun control in wake of Florida shooting is another manifestation of evil behavior.

Congressional Republicans were on the verge of approving the first major overhaul of the nation’s tax laws in three decades as negotiators locked down the final version of the bill Friday and two key Senate holdouts announced they would support the measure.

By John Fritze

Dec 15, 2017

What's both funny and sad is that there is remarkably little intellectual or ideological substance to the current populist fever, says Jonah Goldberg.

Poll numbers indicate Mr. Trump is getting ever closer to being the president only of fools and fascists, says David Horsey.

Writer says both sides have blame for violence in Charlottesville.

The Senate gave final approval Thursday to a measure pushed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen that would speed approval of cancer drugs for children.

By John Fritze

Aug 3, 2017

Remember when Republicans said that being under an FBI investigation disqualified Secretary Hilary Clinton from serving as president of the United States?

Retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben Carson appeared poised to be confirmed as the nation's next Housing secretary after breezing through a confirmation hearing on Thursday and largely avoiding difficult questions about the agency he hopes to oversee.

By John Fritze

Jan 12, 2017

After the craziest presidential election in recent memory, we offer a 2016 dictionary of dysfunction.

Trump's secretary of state nominee is a problem not just for his ties to Russia but for his support of climate change deniers

Isn't it awfully late to be decrying the normalization of Mr. Trump when you were an early adopter of normalization because you thought the horrible Democratic nominee would have an easier time beating him?

With just weeks to go before the presidential election, many Carroll County officials indicate they will cast their vote for Donald Trump, though few say they are totally satisfied with their options.

Republicans for Clinton: Donald Trump went after Hillary Clinton in Baltimore on Monday and in a new ad for her "basket of deplorables" comment. But unless your Twitter avatar is an egg, you follow "white genocide" handles and are afraid of taco trucks, she's not talking about you. The only thing more laughable than Mr. Trump whining about name-calling is the pundit pearl-clutching over Ms. Clinton calling the Trump Movement exactly what it is.

Who is the real Donald Trump? Has anyone figured it out other than Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio, who called him a con man and a liar? First, Trump has

When Donald Trump speaks, I hear someone who talks like a bully and who gives white people — mainly men — the courage to let their inner-bullies emerge, training their malevolence on those they perceive as threats. I do not see myself having an easy time in a Trumped-up America.

By E.R. Shipp

May 31, 2016

Not sufficiently humiliated by his collapse as the early Republican presidential front runner, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in an attempt to deny the nomination to Donald Trump.

By Jules Witcover

Mar 28, 2016

Jonah Goldberg: Whether Donald Trump is the presidential nominee or not, the GOP as we know it is wrecked.

Again politics is in the news. Probably more accurately, politics is the news. The "Super Tuesday" and Midwest and Florida "Winner Take All" presidential primaries are over, bringing the potential nominee for each party more clearly in focus.

Some Republicans are very fond of lecturing the country on the importance of personal responsibility. Serving a long jail sentence for a minor drug offense? It's your fault for getting involved with drugs in the first place. Requesting unemployment benefits beyond the 72 weeks now allowed by law? You must be lazy and aren't serious about getting a job. A single mother of four struggling to live on welfare? Well, you should have thought about this before having those babies.

The significance of the latest GOP debate was the conspicuous cease-fire in what had become a circular firing squad among the candidates, tarnishing the party's reputation. It remains to be seen now whether this pivot to the high road will survive throughout the remaining primaries that lead up to the July convention in Cleveland.

By Jules Witcover

Mar 14, 2016

The most plausible path to a Trump-free, Republican-controlled White House is consolidation around Mr. Cruz. It's a difficult conclusion for many people, and some may not get there until Sen. Marco Rubio loses the primary in his home state of Florida. And some may never accept Mr. Cruz, opting to bend the knee to Mr. Trump instead.

Why have none of the GOP presidential contenders ever served in the military?

Why Marco Rubio has been such a flop

Back in the 1960s, Barry Goldwater warned the Republican Party to avoid entanglements with the Religious Right, saying "Mark my words. If and when [the Religious Right] get control of the [Republican] Party, it's going to be a terrible ... problem. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them." The party ignored his warning, and the first seeds of factionalism

On the day Mitt Romney called Donald Trump a con man, a fraud and a phony, and Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz subsequently ran Mr. Trump through a televised debate buzz saw, the Republican Party may have hit a new low in self-disparagement.

By Jules Witcover

Mar 7, 2016

John Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign was hailed for its landmark use of TV. But Kennedy was practically a bystander to his success on the small screen compared with Donald Trump's manipulation of TV and social media in becoming the Republican front-runner.

By David Zurawik

Mar 4, 2016

Super Tuesday made it clear that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are likely to be the presidential nominees.

In media studies there's a phenomenon known as selective perception, and it is playing a demonstrative role during this election cycle. Selective perception describes how people act when unwillingly exposed to material that goes against their interests and beliefs. Some opt to ignore it while others will reframe the content to support their way of thinking.

Trump's Super Tuesday gains further test an increasingly fractious political party

Dr. Ben Carson, a retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, has defied the Republican establishment — and conventional political wisdom — by staying in a race that has for all practical purposes already left him behind.

By John Fritze

Mar 1, 2016

Depressing GOP debate

While Republicans seeking the White House bash one another like brats, Baltimore mayoral candidates present ideas. By comparison, Baltimore's race looks smart and civilized.

By Dan Rodricks

Mar 1, 2016

It looks more and more like the presidential race will be between Clinton vs. Trump. So no news there. Both candidates have flaws.

Desperation ran rampant Thursday night in the final Republican presidential debate before Super Tuesday's 11 state primaries. The unuttered battle cry was: Stop Donald Trump!

By Jules Witcover

Feb 29, 2016

No matter his views on white supremacy, Donald Trump is now on track to win his party's nomination and the GOP should weep because of it

Could a unity ticket, a la Reagan-Bush in 1980, in the form of Los Hermanos Cubanos, with Marco Rubio at the top and Ted Cruz as V.P., defeat Trump?

Cruz will be tough on illegal immigrants

March will tell us who the likely nominees are for both parties. There are 30 contests in March. By March 15 Republicans will know if Trump is their likely nominee and new party leader. And by then, Democrats will know who they must rally behind to win in November.

Marco Rubio was lambasted by his Republican competitors during a recent debate when he kept repeating a line about President Obama "trying to change America." They took him to task for his robot-like repetition, but they should have addressed the accuracy of his statement. Perhaps they did not for one simple reason: Mr. Rubio is right.

Establishment politics in both major parties are in crisis, says Jules Witcover.

Is it just me, or does anyone else out there think that presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio is going to burst a blood vessel the next time he debates? Though I find him the angriest of the Republican candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are not far behind in exceeding their rage quotients. Instead of reasoned discussions with the expected "point and counter-point" of a parliamentary debate, what we are witnessing is a level of acrimony uncalled for in today's politics.

Whether Rubio is a robot or Clinton is falling behind Sanders, Granite State voters will now offer their influential view

Jonah Goldberg: Those who dismiss Marco Rubio as the "Republican Obama" seem to have forgotten the president was elected twice.

The Iowa outcome allows hope that the 2016 campaign will become less carnival-like, says Jules Witcover.