Political debates

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., listens to questions during a news conference following a GOP policy meeting on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, June 30, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
June 30, 2020 - 2:24 pm

Republicans, With Exception Of Trump, Now Push Mask-Wearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — In Republican circles -- with the notable exception of the man who leads the party -- the debate about masks is over: It’s time to put one on. As a surge of infections hammers the South and West, GOP officials are pushing back against the notion that masks are about politics, as...
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In this Friday, June 19, 2020, photo Jeannine Lee Lake, Democratic candidate for Indiana's 6th congressional district, speaks to the crowd gathered for Juneteenth day event in Columbus, Ind. The reenergized movement against racial inequality and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has amplified the voices of Black candidates across the country. Among them is Lake, who is challenging Rep. Greg Pence, the vice president's brother, in a deeply conservative Indiana district. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
June 28, 2020 - 12:52 pm

Black Candidates Push Race Debate Into Gop-Held Districts

COLUMBUS, Ind. (AP) — It was a scene Jeannine Lee Lake never would have imagined when she first ran against Greg Pence, Vice President Mike Pence’s brother, for a rural Indiana congressional seat two years ago: an almost entirely white crowd of more than 100 people marching silently in the Pences'...
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Sen. Cory Booker, D- N.J., speaks with Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on police use of force and community relations on on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, June 16, 2020 in Washington. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Pool via AP)
June 23, 2020 - 1:47 pm

Congress Stalls On Policing Overhaul, Despite Public Outcry

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is hitting an impasse on policing legislation, as key Senate Democrats on Tuesday opposed a Republican proposal as inadequate, leaving the parties to decide whether to take on the hard job of negotiating a compromise or walk away despite public outcry over the killings of...
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FILE- In this June 21, 2019 file photo, the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County is lit up before dusk in Miami. The site of Democratic Presidential Debates in June 2019, will host a presidential debate after the University of Michigan withdrew after siting the work needs to prepare the campus for fall during the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
June 23, 2020 - 9:48 am

2Nd Presidential Debate Moves From Michigan To Florida

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nonpartisan commission that sponsors the formal election year presidential debates announced Tuesday that an October debate that had been set for Michigan will now take place in Florida. The change comes after the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, determined it was no longer...
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Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, left, listens as Carlette Brooks, owner of Carlette's Hideaway, a soul food restaurant, talks during a meeting with small business owners, Wednesday, June 17, 2020, in Yeadon, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
June 22, 2020 - 4:31 pm

Biden Campaign Commits To 3 General Election Debates

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden’s campaign said Monday that the presumptive Democratic nominee would commit to participating in three debates, and slammed a push by President Trump’s advisers for additional debates as an “effort to change the subject.” “Our position is straightforward and clear: Joe...
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Vice President Mike Pence, center, visits Dennis Nelson, a patient who survived the coronavirus and was going to give blood, during a tour of the Mayo Clinic Tuesday, April 28, 2020, in Rochester, Minn., as he toured the facilities supporting COVID-19 research and treatment. Pence chose not to wear a face mask while touring the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. It's an apparent violation of the world-renowned medical center's policy requiring them. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
May 07, 2020 - 12:21 pm

Face Masks Make A Political Statement In Era Of Coronavirus

WASHINGTON (AP) — The decision to wear a mask in public is becoming a political statement — a moment to pick sides in a brewing culture war over containing the coronavirus. While not yet as loaded as a “Make America Great Again” hat, the mask is increasingly a visual shorthand for the debate...
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FILE - In this March 10, 2020, file photo wearing gloves, a King County Election worker collect ballots from a drop box in the Washington State primary in Seattle. Washington is a vote by mail state. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds Democrats are now much more likely than Republicans to support their state conducting elections exclusively by mail, 47% to 29%. (AP Photo/John Froschauer, File)
May 05, 2020 - 8:34 am

Vote-By-Mail Debate Raises Fears Of Election Disinformation

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bitterly partisan debate unfolding on whether more Americans should cast their votes through the mail during a pandemic is provoking online disinformation and conspiracies theories that could undermine trust in the results, even if there are no major problems. With social...
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FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2018 file photo, Georgia Democrat and former Columbus mayor Teresa Tomlinson poses for a photo in Columbus, Ga. Former congressional candidate Jon Ossoff and Tomlinson, two of the top Georgia Democrats vying to take on Republican Sen. David Perdue in November, took hard swipes at each other during a virtual debate Sunday, May 3, 2020, as criticism of the official response to the coronavirus took center stage. (Mike Haskey/Ledger-Enquirer via AP, File)
May 03, 2020 - 7:57 pm

Top Georgia Democrats Running For Us Senate Spar In Debate

ATLANTA (AP) — Two of the top Georgia Democrats vying to take on Republican Sen. David Perdue in November took hard swipes at each other during a virtual debate Sunday as criticism of the official response to the coronavirus took center stage. Former Columbus mayor Teresa Tomlinson took an opening...
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Former Vice President Joe Biden, center, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., far right, participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios in Washington, Sunday, March 15, 2020. Looking on are from far left, Ilia Calderon, from Univision, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, both from CNN. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
April 21, 2020 - 2:31 pm

Presidential Debate Planning Proceeds Despite Virus Worries

WASHINGTON (AP) — Preparations for the 2020 general election debates are proceeding “according to schedule” despite the coronavirus outbreak. The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has organized all general election debates since 1988, said in a statement Tuesday that it "will...
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FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2020, file photo Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivers her State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate at the state Capitol in Lansing, Mich. Across an arc of vital swing states, the coronavirus has put politics on an uneasy pause. The tension is most pronounced in Michigan, where the outbreak is far worse than in any of the other northern political battlegrounds. (AP Photo/Al Goldis, File)
April 20, 2020 - 12:23 pm

Battleground Power Plays Rage As Everyday Politics Go Quiet

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Door-knocking? Over. Local party activity? Some Facebook traffic, if that. Across an arc of vital swing states, the coronavirus has put politics on an uneasy pause. Instead, political fights among state leaders from Iowa to Pennsylvania over the handling of the pandemic’s...
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