DETROIT — From the beginning, Joe Biden knew he would take heat at Wednesday's presidential debate. He was right — but he was not alone. The evening marked some of the toughest attacks California Sen. Kamala Harris has faced as a candidate. The exchanges were part of a broader ideological fight...
Kamala Harris Up, Biden (Way) Down in Latest California Poll
A new poll gives Sen. Kamala Harris a narrow lead among Democratic voters in her home state of California, but otherwise shows the race is still up in the air. That’s probably terrible news for Joe Biden. And the poll is also bound to disappoint Pete Buttigieg. The mayor of...
Biden Criminal Justice Plan Reverses Part of 1994 Crime Bill
Joe Biden is proposing to reverse several key provisions of the 1994 crime bill he helped write in an acknowledgment that his tough-on-crime positions of the past are at odds with the views of the modern Democratic Party. In a speech later Tuesday in New Orleans, the former vice president will...
How to Beat Trump? Democrats Divided as He Rams Race Onto Ballot
LOS ANGELES — Joe Biden was at a soul food restaurant in Los Angeles on Thursday when he blasted President Donald Trump's "racist" taunts at a rally the night before. "This is about dividing the country," the early Democratic front-runner, who has been criticized for his own handling of race, told...
Buttigieg, Biden Represent Democrats' Generational Divide
LACONIA, N.H. — Amy McInerney at first saw Joe Biden as Democrats' best hope to beat President Donald Trump — an experienced politician with the potential to peel off some of Trump's working-class supporters. Then she heard Pete Buttigieg speak. "I felt like Pete more represented my generation," said McInerney,...
Biden Aggressively Defends Health Law Known as Obamacare
Joe Biden is taking an aggressive approach to defending the Affordable Care Act, challenging not just President Donald Trump but also some of his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination who want to replace the current insurance system with a fully government-run model. The former vice president will spend much of the...
Poll: Trump Isn't Getting a Boost from Strong US Economy
WASHINGTON — The solid economy is doing little to bolster support for President Donald Trump. Americans give Trump mixed reviews for his economic stewardship despite the growth achieved during this presidency, according to a new survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Nearly two-thirds describe as "good"...
Kamala Harris Gets Personal, Delivers Stunning Blow to Biden
WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris spoke slowly but bluntly as she stared at Joe Biden, then began treating him as a hostile witness. The former prosecutor turned California senator started by saying she didn't think the former vice president was racist. But she criticized him for recently defending having worked with segregationists in...
Kamala Harris Pressed to Get Personal About Why She's Running
WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris nodded knowingly when a black woman at a weekend candidate forum recounted watching her mother face racial discrimination during her childhood. "You and I have a similar experience growing up," said Harris, the California senator and former prosecutor who would be the first black woman elected president. "I...
Biden: Congress Should Immediately Make 'Dreamers' Citizens
Weighing in on immigration before the first Democratic debates, Joe Biden is proposing that Congress grant immediate citizenship to "dreamers" — the more than 800,000 U.S. residents who were brought to the country illegally as children. The former vice president and Democratic polling leader introduced some of his immigration priorities...