Gov. Bill Richardson signed legislation Wednesday repealing New Mexico's death penalty, making it the second state to ban executions since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. ...more

March 18, 2009

The New Mexico Legislature has voted to repeal the death penalty. ...more

March 13, 2009

After swiftly naming his Cabinet nominations, President Barack Obama has been beset with problems. ...more

February 9, 2009

President Barack Obama ran into the perfect ethical storm — probably due to a failure in his vetting process. ...more

February 7, 2009

Barack Obama on Tuesday abruptly abandoned his nomination fight for Tom Daschle and a second major appointee who failed to pay all their taxes, fearing a lingering ethics dispute would undercut his claims to moral high ground and cripple his presidency in just its second week. "I screwed up," Obama declared. ...more

February 3, 2009

Some of the personnel stumbles of the Obama administration - including the aborted nomination of Bill Richardson as commerce secretary - resulted from incompetent vetting. William Lynn's reception as deputy secretary of defense has been complicated by hypocrisy - the administration's attempt to gain political credit for a restrictive lobbying ban it swiftly violated to get a qualified appointee. ...more

January 31, 2009

Bill Richardson has withdrawn his nomination to be Barack Obama's commerce secretary, according to an Associated Press report. ...more

January 4, 2009

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is among the candidates that President-elect Barack Obama is considering for secretary of state, according to two Democratic officials in close contact with the Obama transition team. ...more

November 13, 2008

It was 5 p.m. at the Alice Hall Community Center in Zephyrhills and more ducks were being fed outside the building than humans casting ballots inside. An estimated 1,200 voters were expected at the precinct on Election Day, but with two hours until the polls closed, just over 600 voters had been through the doors. ...more

November 4, 2008

The thousands of National Guard troops sent to reinforce the U.S.-Mexican border two years ago have almost completely withdrawn, despite pleas from border-state governors once skeptical of using soldiers to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers. ...more

June 21, 2008