Politics

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has spent much of the last month behind closed doors, putting the final touches on a presidential campaign-in-waiting. Her hectic schedule has been crammed with private lunches and phone conversations with elected officials and political operatives. She has sounded out Democratic Party officials from New York to Des Moines about her … Read more

Lou Dobbs had David from Freeport, N.Y., on the line, the caller musing darkly about President Obama “rushing all these programs through by whatever means,” knowing he will soon be exposed as a fake, a fraud, a . . . Kenyan. At that point, a scrupulous radio host had three options: (A) hit the kill … Read more

James T. Riady, a longtime Indonesian friend of President Clinton who heads the worldwide Lippo banking group, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy related to illegal campaign contributions in the 1996 Democratic fund-raising scandal and during the previous eight years. Riady’s felony plea agreement, combined with LippoBank California’s plea to 86 misdemeanor charges, caps one of … Read more

It’s almost time to hit the polls. Here’s how to do it. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) OK. You’re registered, and election day is almost here. Now what? For first-time voters, the prospect of heading to the polls can seem a little daunting. A recent New York magazine article made waves online when young … Read more

Millions of Californians could soon receive the right to paid leave from their jobs to care for ailing relatives or to bond with new children under legislation that would fundamentally change the contract between employers and employees. Strongly backed by organized labor and vehemently opposed by business, the measure by state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa … Read more

The possibility that raised a fuss in 1988 at J. Danforth Quayle’s nomination as vice president has become an actuality: The man who skirted Vietnam service by getting into a stateside National Guard unit turned up in Saudi Arabia Dec. 31 to cheer our soldiers on to war. The sting is not so much the … Read more

It was a bad day for George Bush, even in Ronald Reagan’s own back yard. In the posh Bel-Air precinct that the former president calls home, Bill Clinton scored a landslide victory over President Bush. Reagan’s neighbors gave the Democratic challenger 377 votes, or 61.1%–far greater than Clinton’s statewide percentage of 46%. The Republican chief … Read more

Russian asylum seekers warm up by a small fire at the U.S.-Mexico border fence near Somerton, Ariz., on Dec. 26. (Rebecca Noble / AFP via Getty Images) Inside a tent near the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico, Jeyson woke up every day for a month before 3 a.m. to fill out applications to request asylum … Read more

First-term Republican Rep. Young Kim is running for reelection in a more conservative Orange County district that has little overlap with her current seat. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) GOP Rep. Young Kim of Orange County has all the elements for a fairly easy path to reelection in November — a gloomy national mood … Read more

The Pentagon’s inspector general is investigating whether the former head of the Air National Guard violated federal ethics law by accepting a job as a lobbyist with Boeing Co. only three months after he retired from the military, officials and the former director said. Boeing hired retired Maj. Gen. Paul A. Weaver, 59, in May … Read more