U.S. Congress News

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) is lukewarm on Palin, speaking to South Carolina radio, via The Page:

DAYTON, Ohio (AFP) - John McCain tossed a huge but risky surprise into the US race for the White House Friday when he unveiled the little-known governor from Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his vice presidential running mate.

DENVER, Colorado (AFP) - Energized by a historic Democratic convention, Barack Obama Friday plunged back onto the campaign trial as his Republican rival John McCain shook up the White House race with a surprise VP pick.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens' political fate could be up to his colleagues if a jury decides the Senate's longest-serving Republican has violated the law.

DENVER--Joseph Biden is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, widely respected for his knowledge of international affairs.

POTTSTOWN, Pa. - A candidate for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is bringing up his arrest for domestic assault — in his own campaign materials.

NEW YORK - A longtime Brooklyn congressman who has gone most of his career without ever facing much of a re-election challenge is facing an aggressive fight this year from a former "Real World" cast member.

CLEVELAND - Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has ordered a special election Nov. 18 to replace the late U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

LAS VEGAS - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday that Republican John McCain "doesn't have the temperament to be president."

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Don Young, Alaska's lone congressman for the last 35 years, remained locked in a tight race with the lieutenant governor Wednesday, a day after the state's primary election, and the winner may not be decided for days.

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator Ted Stevens won his Alaska Republican primary race less than a month after his indictment on corruption charges, while Representative Don Young's bid for a 19th term is too close to call.

DENVER, Colorado (AFP) - Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani crowed Wednesday that Hillary Clinton's showstopping convention speech would help Republicans defeat the Democrats in the White House race.

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Republican John McCain on Tuesday questioned rival Barack Obama's belief in American leadership in world affairs with two days to go before the Democratic senator accepts his party's nomination for U.S. president.

WASHINGTON - Six more senators on Tuesday joined a bipartisan group of 10 senators backing a bill they say will break the stalemate over offshore drilling in Congress.

WASHINGTON - A federal judge who ruled last month that top White House advisers must comply with congressional subpoenas refused to put that ruling on hold Tuesday while the Bush administration appeals.

Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Patrick Murphy is the only Iraq War veteran in Congress, so when he argues for a swift withdrawal of U.S. troops, people tend to listen.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Ted Stevens accused the Justice Department of trying to smear his character Monday as he prepared to defend his seat in a crowded Republican primary election.

DENVER - Democrats ridiculed several Republican congressional candidates for planning to skip their party's nominating convention in St. Paul next week. It turns out many Democrats are using the same strategy.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, faces six challengers Tuesday in Alaska's primary, but his recent indictment on corruption charges poses little threat to Stevens' quest for the GOP nomination to seek a seventh full term.

DENVER - A black delegate for Hillary Rodham Clinton says she was called an "Uncle Tom" by Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, one of Barack Obama's political mentors.

DENVER - Barack Obama's choice of Joe Biden as a running mate sets the bar for John McCain. The Republican could use his own pugnacious No. 2 to deliver attack lines and a solid debate performance.

DENVER - Democrats opened their national convention on Monday, seeking peace in the family as they pursue victory in the fall for Barack Obama and his historic quest for the White House.

DOVER, Del. - Sen. Joe Biden will pursue two campaigns at once this fall: his race for the White House as Barack Obama's running mate and his quest for re-election to the Senate.

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic governors of two states that the party is targeting in the November presidential election said Barack Obama's choice of Senator Joseph Biden as a running mate will reassure voters who question the presumptive nominee's experience on foreign policy and national security.

The Democrats are strongly favored to make gains in this year's Senate elections that will bolster the fragile majority the party won in the 2006 elections. And one big reason is that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has greatly outraised its counterpart, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that expanded oil drilling in federal waters could be included in a broader energy bill if advocates can prove its viability as a solution to America's energy problems.

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic governors of two states that the party is targeting in the November presidential election said Barack Obama's choice of Senator Joseph Biden as a running mate will reassure voters who question the presumptive nominee's experience on foreign policy and national security.

AUSTIN, Texas - An appeals court has declined to throw out money-laundering indictments against two of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political operatives, who had claimed that state elections law used to charge them was too confusing to proceed.

To find the last time a presidential ticket consisted of two senators, you have to go all the way back to ... 2004.