By Erik Eckholm
August 29, 2015

Whether California’s application of the death penalty is so drawn out and arbitrary that it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment will be argued on Monday before a federal appeals court in Pasadena.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fellow Republican 2016 U.S. presidential candidates Dr. Ben Carson (L), Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (2nd L) and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) laugh as fellow candidate and businessman Donald Trump (2nd R) reacts near the end of the debate after realizing that a slew of criticisms spoken by fellow candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (not pictured) were not aimed at him but at Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, at the first official Republican presidential candidates debate of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign in Cleveland, Ohio, August 6, 2015. (© REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

David Weigel
The Washington Post
Sunday, August 30, 2015

One of politics’ most reliable polls has found first-time candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson galloping to big leads in the Iowa caucuses. The Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll, released Saturday night, also finds one-time front-runner Scott Walker, governor of neighboring Wisconsin, losing the dominance he’s had all year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hillary Rodham Clinton, seen here speaking in Iowa on Aug. 14, is trying to assure nervous Democrats that she would be the party’s strongest presidential nominee in the general election. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

By Dan Balz and Philip Rucker
August 29, 2015 at 9:00 PM

MINNEAPOLIS — The Democratic Party, whose presidential race has been mostly overshadowed by Donald Trump and the Republicans, heads into the fall with its nomination contest far less certain than it once appeared and braced for a series of events that will have a significant effect on Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign.

Read the rest of this entry »

Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Jeb Bush at the first G.O.P. presidential debate. (Credit Andrew Harnik/Associated Press)

.

Maureen Dowd
SundayReview | Op-Ed Columnist
August 29, 2015

Washington — PITY Poppy.

When I went down to Houston a few years ago to eat pizza with the former president, he was his usual gracious self, speaking fondly about President Obama and his new pal Bill Clinton.

But there was one person who got dismissed with a brusque obscenity: Donald Trump.

Read the rest of this entry »