After watching her approval rating plummet by double digits, GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte is scrambling to control the damage caused by her "no" vote on the recent background checks bill on gun sales. She's written an op-ed to defend her position on the Manchin-Toomey bill. Read More
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First Word: All eyes on South Carolina’s special election
12:07 PM on 5/7/2013
Both former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Democratic newcomer Elizabeth Colbert Busch will rely on their voting base to come out and vote in South Carolina's special congressional election Tuesday. Read More
Justice Department to monitor South Carolina congressional election
9:48 PM on 5/6/2013
The Justice Department will monitor Tuesday's special election for South Carolina's First District congressional race between former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and political newcomer Elizabeth Colbert Busch. Read More
Medal of Honor Society honors six Newtown educators
4:57 PM on 5/6/2013
The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is in Newtown to honor the six educators killed in the massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School with its highest civilian award. Read More
First Word: Has the NRA become the National Republican Association?
12:05 PM on 5/6/2013
The NRA claims its largest membership ever -- 5 million members. 70,000 attended the annual conference in Houston over the weekend and celebrated the defeat of the gun legislation in the Senate. Read More
Meet the NRA’s new president, Jim Porter
7:32 PM on 5/2/2013
The NRA has a new president and a new focus of trying to undo gun-safety measures that have passed in states like New York and Connecticut. Read More
Barbara Buono challenges Chris Christie’s record
6:18 PM on 5/2/2013
On the same day New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made a hefty ad buy for his re-election campaign, his Democratic challenger appeared on MSNBC's "The Last Word" to analyze Christie's record. Read More
First Word: NRA to convene for the first time since Newtown
2:07 PM on 5/2/2013
The NRA will gather this Friday and Saturday for its annual convention in Houston, the first gathering since the Newtown shooting massacre. Read More
Newtown daughter to Sen. Ayotte: ‘Why doesn’t my mother’s murder matter?’
5:16 PM on 5/1/2013
The daughter of a Newtown shooting victim asked Sen. Kelly Ayotte why she voted against expanding background checks for commercial gun sales, and got "no clear answer." Read More
First Word: 3 taken into custody in connection with Boston bombing
12:56 PM on 5/1/2013
Three college students, who have been identified as friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, have been arrested for assisting Tsarnaev in the Boston attacks. Read More
Why #98 –Jason Collins’ jersey– made Matthew Shepard’s mother cry
11:04 PM on 4/30/2013
The parents of hate-crime victim Matthew Shepard talked about NBA player Jason Collins' coming out. "It made me cry to know that Matt's story still has an impact," Judy Shepard said. Read More
The NRA’s new women’s channel: ‘Armed and fabulous’
8:24 PM on 4/30/2013
With the relaunch of the NRA's online women channel, the gun lobby is attempting to boost membership and refocus the gun control debate on a woman's ability to protect herself. Read More
First Word: Does Obama have enough ‘juice’ to push legislative agenda in second term?
4:03 PM on 4/30/2013
The president said during a news conference Tuesday morning he couldn't force Republicans to cooperate if they are unable to. "It’s not my job to get [Congress] to behave. That’s their job." Read More
An NBA player says, ‘I’m gay.’ How the public is reacting
9:27 PM on 4/29/2013
NBA players, professional athletes, sports media and politicians tweeted support and encouragement to Jason Collins after his landmark announcement. An ESPN commentator, though, questioned whether Collins could be gay and Christian. Read More
Poll numbers slide for senators who voted no on background checks
8:03 PM on 4/29/2013
Senators who voted against expanding background checks for gun sales, in several states with bipartisan support for background checks, have seen their approval ratings drop, according to a new poll. Read More
First Word: The NBA reacts to Jason Collins, its first openly gay player
4:01 PM on 4/29/2013
Jason Collins, an NBA center, became the first male athlete actively playing in a major American sport to come out as openly gay on Monday. Read More
First Word: George W. Bush Presidential Center dedication
1:16 PM on 4/25/2013
The nation's five living presidents have gathered to help dedicate the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas on Thursday. Read More
Debunked: The Harvard study that Republicans used to push austerity
11:04 PM on 4/24/2013
A 28-year-old Ph.D economics student has discredited a Harvard paper that had shaped the pro-austerity, anti-debt policies of many Republicans. Read More
Flake out: Senator tells grieving mother he supports ‘strengthening background checks’ – then votes no
11:00 PM on 4/23/2013
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake wrote to the mother of a man killed in the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting, saying that "strengthening background checks is something we agree on." Then he voted against the bill last week. Read More
Axelrod, Christie land headlining slots on Romney’s all-star retreat roster
8:05 PM on 4/23/2013
Mitt Romney has invited unlikely speakers to address his public policy retreat in Park City, Utah in June, including David Axelrod and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who backed President Obama's presidential campaigns. Read More
