The National Rifle Association (NRA) violated federal law by using a common vendor to illegally coordinate with four Republican Senate candidates, according to a complaint filed by a non-partisan public interest watchdog. On Monday, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) submitted a 25-page complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that that the NRA used a consulting firm to evade federal rules prohibiting coordination between congressional candidates and outside spending groups.

The United States is full of personally decent and caring, often highly intelligent people mired in political ignorance and delusion. By Paul Street.

It’s not just about the $32,000 couch. By Mark Joseph Stern.

Free of that pesky Voting Rights Act, Republicans are closing down every polling site they can to stop the blue wave. It won't be enough. By Justin Rosario.

They'll save Trump every time, no matter what he's done. By Damon Linker.

People who have studied the extremist right as a historical and sociopolitical phenomenon in depth are acutely aware of a simple truth: America has been very, very lucky so far when it comes to fascistic political movements. And now, with the arrival of the Donald Trump 2016 phenomenon, that luck may be about to run out... By David Neiwert.

Every four years the political parties describe the impending presidential election as a historic event – and every once in a while it's true. By Sean Wilentz.

William Ruckelshaus, who this week will receive the presidential medal of freedom, says candidates are harming US’s reputation ahead of Paris climate talks. By Oliver Milman. (Nov. 23)

The coverage of our elections has a fairy tale feel to it. Our national press pretends that they are dealing with men and women of principle, offering carefully thought-out solutions to our nation’s problems, rather than groveling servants of billionaires who finance their campaigns; and that the voters these candidates try to persuade in the primaries are well-informed and well-meaning Americans and not people who by and large get their information from Fox TV and hate radio. By Charles Simic.

How a group of radical conservatives ousted John Boehner—and pushed Congress to the right. By Ryan Lizza.

Donald Trump’s plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States presents many constitutional quandaries. By Amy Davidson.

Our In-Depth Investigation of the Propaganda Cycle. By Heather Hogan. (Sept. 2)

Will the GOP as we know it survive 2016? By David Frum.

While he has very little support among party elites, Cruz seems to believe that Republican voters are hungry for a candidate who will challenge their party’s foreign policy at the ideological level. By Jonathan Chait.

Unpopular in Senate, Ted Cruz has strong backing among House conservatives. By Anna Palmer and Lauren French.

The war on women gets personal — and even more hateful — in New Hampshire. By Amanda Marcotte.

How the campaign's biggest laugh turned ugly in 2015. By Matt Taibbi.

A year ago, Trump was a joke and Paul was rising. But now that their fortunes have flipped, is it fair to say libertarianism is finally dead? By Nick Gillespie.

In their own voices, a tale of a bizarre beginning to the Republican presidential race. By Dan Balz, Philip Rucker, Robert Costa and Matea Gold. (Jan. 3)

On inherited power, wealthy patrons, religion and politics, populism, and more. By Alissa Ardito.

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul dismisses Ted Cruz's effort to win over his father Ron Paul's 2012 supporters, saying that group of libertarian-minded voters aren't "very excited about making the sand glow in the Middle East." By Reid J. Epstein.

Birthers, internet commenters, and the "mantle of anger" take their places on stage. By Pema Levy and Patrick Caldwell.

The Ivy League-educated, white-shoe lawyer running for the Republican nomination is now being forced to defend his American-ness. It’s fun to watch. By Jeb Lund.

The animosity between the two men began after Mr. Cruz invoked Mr. Dole’s name as an example of the missteps the party had made with past presidential nominees — as in, “Remember President Dole? Remember President McCain? Remember President Romney?” By Maggie Haberman.

There were stays at boutique hotels featuring rooftop pools, private soirees at members-only, jacket-and-tie clubs and fundraisers at the Four Seasons, the St. Regis and the Mandarin Oriental. By Michelle Conlin and Grant Smith.

If Trump is a judgment on the GOP, he's also a judgment on conservative Christians. By Rod Dreher.

Jeb Bush quit the race after poor showings in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa.

Three wins in a row for the billionaire businessman, and in Nevada he breaks that 'ceiling'

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will endorse Ted Cruz, giving the Lone State senator his highest-ranking political endorsement thus far in the presidential race

Senator Marco Rubio has persuaded wealthy donors, Republican Party elders and his colleagues in Congress that he represents their best chance to overtake the seemingly invincible force that is Donald J. Trump...

Sandoval is increasingly viewed by key Democrats as perhaps the only nominee President Obama could select who would be able to break a Republican blockade in the Senate. By Mike DeBonis and Juliet Eilperin.

How the 2016 primary will define the GOP for years to come. By Shane Goldmacher.

A total of 469 seats in the U.S. Congress (34 Senate seats and all 435 House seats) are up for election on November 8, 2016.

Oppo research and ad blitzes are well underway. 'They’re going to light this person up,' a Republican aide says.By Burgess Everett and Anna Palmer.

Meg Whitman, the head of technology firm Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (HPE.N), said on Sunday that Donald Trump was "unfit" for the U.S. presidency, and criticized New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose failed presidential bid she supported, for endorsing him. But, later in the day, Trump picked up another high-profile endorsement, from U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a leading conservative. Trump's insurgent campaign...