Stephen Dinan

McCain shakes up staff

Sen. John McCain tweaked his campaign Wednesday by elevating aide Steve Schmidt to oversee day-to-day operations, in a move to give his presidential bid the stability and direction that many in his party feared were lacking. Published July 3, 2008

Obama vows to establish own faith office

Sen. Barack Obama promised Tuesday to embrace, but revamp, President Bush's faith-based initiative, in a move to the center as he courts religious voters but one that risks offending liberal voters who opposed the creation as a First Amendment encroachment. Published July 2, 2008

Obama defends his, McCain’s patriotism

Sen. Barack Obama said Monday that he won't tolerate people challenging his patriotism or his rival's military service, and Sen. John McCain announced a "truth squad" to combat attacks on his Vietnam service. Published July 1, 2008

McCain veers from record to woo Hispanics

Sen. John McCain told a Hispanic group Saturday that passing an immigration bill to legalize illegal immigrants is "my top priority, yesterday, today and tomorrow," but mischaracterized his own voting record on the issue. Published June 29, 2008

Cheney aide denies giving carte blanche

He came, they saw, and nobody learned much of anything - David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, skated through three hours of committee testimony Thursday without revealing much other than disputing reports of his vast influence on the war on terror. Published June 27, 2008

House moves to cut back secrecy

Two bills that would make the Homeland Security Department more transparent are poised to pass in Congress, in light of a tide of secrecy that has swept the government since Sept. 11, 2001. Published June 26, 2008

Obama stands firm; McCain rides wave for energy solutions

Polls released this month are finding that voters in Florida support drilling and will reward a candidate who embraces it. Published June 25, 2008

McCain sidetracked by aide’s terror gaffe

An old-fashioned political blunder threw Sen. John McCain off message Monday, distracting from a well-planned effort to drive home his advantage on energy policy. Published June 24, 2008

Nader slams Democrats for continued ‘00 grudge

Ralph Nader says that Democratic leaders, angry about the 2000 election, should stop scapegoating him and face their own failings. Published June 24, 2008

McCain rips Obama trade views as a retreat

Sen. John McCain on Friday accused Sen. Barack Obama of "retreating behind protectionist walls," using a trip to Canada to blast his Democratic presidential rival for insisting on changing free trade agreements. Published June 21, 2008

McClellan only sure of ‘suspicion’

Democrats treated former White House spokesman Scott McClellan's congressional testimony Friday as a road map to scandal in the White House, Republicans saw it as a farce and Mr. McClellan himself used it as a chance to push his book. Published June 21, 2008

McCain oil plan relies on Middle East

Sen. John McCain's environmental plan discourages use of Canadian oil and drastically increases American reliance on oil from the Middle East and other potentially unfriendly places. Published June 20, 2008

Outcry building for more drilling

With President Bush's announcement Wednesday that he now supports oil exploration in the outer continental shelf, Republicans from top to bottom have embraced more drilling as the answer to rising gas prices and put Democrats on the spot to come up with their own solutions to record-high fuel costs that are enraging voters. Published June 19, 2008

Obama, McCain abandon energy stances

John McCain and Barack Obama are fleeing from previous energy policy stances, with the Republican embracing expanded drilling and the Democrat seeking to punish energy companies he once voted to reward. Published June 18, 2008

McCain vows to appoint women

Sen. John McCain on Saturday said he would take a hard line on dangerous Chinese exports, promised to appoint more women to his administration and heaped praise on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in a town-hall meeting aimed at attracting the former Democratic presidential hopeful's primary supporters. Published June 15, 2008

McCain fires back on troop sound bite

John McCain blasted Democrats for using a fragment of an interview to try to portray him as not caring about U.S. troops in Iraq. Published June 12, 2008

GOP ‘shrinking,’ Davis warns party

Virginia Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, a valued statesman for congressional Republicans, says the GOP has failed to innovate and drive new ideas under President Bush, and they are now conceding much of the country to Democrats even as they tear up their own "big tent" governing coalition. Published June 11, 2008