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The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to kill a controversial proposal pushed by Republicans that would have allowed employers to opt out of providing health care coverage they disagree with on moral grounds.

Northumbria Police spoke to PC David Rathband - found dead at his home on Wednesday - last week after concerns were raised about his mental state, it is revealed.

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's top investigative agency has launched a probe regarding videos on Internet that purport to show fraud during the country's presidential election, even though it hasn't taken place yet....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate is considering GOP legislation, steeped in election-year politics,to roll back President Barack Obama's policy on birth control coverage....

CHARDON, Ohio — A teenager was charged Thursday with killing three students in a school shooting, the first step in proceedings that could see him charged as an adult and facing the possibility of life without parole if convicted.

The charges filed in Geauga County juvenile court accuse T.J. Lane, ...

Romney tucked three more victories into his win column this week, and he is looking to be in decent shape for Super Tuesday, where 10 states will be up for grabs.

Arizona

Romney easily won the Arizona primary on Tuesday night with 47% of the vote and took away all 29 delegates. Short on organization and money, no other candidate really tried for the important border state. If Romney is the eventual nominee, it is promising to see how effective his early-voting efforts have been this primary season.

Michigan

The primary in Michigan earned most of the attention as it is both Romney's birth state and demographically-friendly to Rick Santorum, who won caucuses in nearby Iowa and Minnesota. The race was tight, but Romney pulled out a 41-38% victory over his rival. Romney actually dominated with Republican voters, winning that group 48-37%, but Santorum made it close with a heavy push by Democrats who tried to alter the outcome of the race.

Wyoming

And finally, if you blinked you would have missed that Wyoming actually wrapped up a long caucus on Wednesday night with Romney coming out on top once again with 39% of the vote. While the victory will not attract much attention, even as it has as many delegates as Arizona and Michigan, it shows why Romney has the easiest path to victory. While a handful of states are viewed as "important" because they are likely to be close, Romney is snatching up victories in most of the other states with little effort or opposition.

See Also: 2012 Primary Results and Calendar

Romney Racking Up Wins originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Thursday, March 1st, 2012 at 14:48:18.

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It was Rick Santorum's night to prove he was the best Republican option to counter Obama in the 2012 Presidential election. Unfortunately for him, the reviews were not good.

The lackluster debate performance should not have been entirely unexpected. Santorum had never really stood out in any of the previous 20 or so debates. He was always viewed as a low-energy candidate who could never quite get to the point when making an argument. But expectations were set unreasonably high. And like with Newt in Florida, he was out-matched by Mitt Romney, who almost always is the most prepared of any of the candidates.

As a results, conservatives are starting to wonder if Santorum really is the answer to go up against Barack Obama. Some have started drifting back to Newt Gingrich, again. But at least one poll, by Mitchell Rosetta, shows Romney has earned his biggest lead in weeks in Michigan over Santorum. While only a 36-33% advantage for Romney, it shows a turnabout in a state where Santorum once led by as much as 15%.

Photo: Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum. Source: Gage Skidmore

Arizona Debate: Santorum Struggles originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Thursday, March 1st, 2012 at 14:48:17.

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Now that Rick Santorum has emerged as the latest "anti-Romney" of the 2012 campaign he will certainly be the focus of the final debate prior to primaries in Arizona and Michigan. And if you thought that the 2012 campaign was going to be a referendum on Barack Obama, the economy, gas prices, and Obamcare: think again.

Fairly or unfairly, the rise of Rick Santorum has caused a monumental shift in the nomination battle at large, and Santorum's social views and statements have been grabbing headlines. In the last week he has been criticized about his views on women in the military, comments in his book about women in the workplace (and then when he claimed his wife actually wrote that section of the book), position on contraception being bad for women, opposition to insurance coverage for prenatal screenings, comments about homosexuality, and so on.

Santorum, meanwhile, has doubled-down on most of the controversy and seems to be relishing the debate. Conservatives, however, might start getting concerned if these statements continue to overshadow economic issues and continue driving the headlines.

Photo: Rick Santorum Campaigns. Source: Gage Skidmore

Santorum Likely Focus of Next Debate originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Thursday, March 1st, 2012 at 14:48:16.

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After his impressive victory in Florida, it seemed Mitt Romney might run away with the Republican nomination for president. But Iowa caucus winner Rick Santorum had something to say about that, and the two candidates split a handful of victories following Florida.

Santorum implemented an "abandon Florida" strategy that enabled him skip the expensive primary there and start campaigning in friendlier, low turnout caucus territory. The move paid off and Santorum scored two victories in Colorado and Minnesota. These wins were sandwiched between victories for Romney in Nevada and Maine.

See Also: GOP Primary Results

Photo: Romney Campaigns for Votes. Source: AFP/Getty Images

Santorum & Romney Split Victories originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Thursday, March 1st, 2012 at 14:48:15.

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The roller coaster ride that is the Republican primary took a turn in Mitt Romney's favor Tuesday night. After a brief bump in the polls for Newt Gingrich, Mitt responded with a heavy ground game that turned out early and absentee voters en route to a lopsided victory.

At the end of a contentious week it was Romney at 46.4% to Gingrich's 31.9%. Rick Santorum (13%) and Ron Paul (7%) did not make a play for the state.

With the January sweeps over, this is where the candidates are today after 4 contests:

1 - Romney: 2 States Won, 2 Second Place Finishes; 41% of Total Vote; 85 Delegates*
2 - Gingrich: 1 State Won, 1 Second Place Finish; 31% of Total Vote; 27 Delegates
3 - Paul: 0 States Won, 1 Second Place Finish; 115 of Total Vote; 10 Delegates
4 - Santorum: 1 State Won; 14% of Total Vote; 8 Delegates

Up next for the candidates: A handful of contests in February are scattered across the country, included primaries and caucuses in Maine, Nevada, Arizona, and Minnesota. This well lead into "Super Tuesday" in March, where 10 states will hold nominating contests and possibly even narrow the field somewhat. Be sure to follow all of the action in the 2012 Elections Tracker.

*Delegate Counts are approximate

Romney Wins Florida GOP Primary originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Thursday, March 1st, 2012 at 14:48:14.

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Republican Newt Gingrich may have suffered from two things at last night's presidential debate. First, the audience was asked to remain quiet during the debate, and they obliged. Newt's South Carolina surge was kick started by Newt's ability to turn ridiculous questions that no one cares about (wives, schoolchildren as janitors) and take it as an opportunity to rip the media and receive a standing ovation. None of that happened, and Newt came off no better or worse than anyone else on stage.

His second problem is born out of his self-appointed status as the greatest debater since Abraham Lincoln. People tuning in to a debate for the first time last night did not see that. He was easily out-maneuvered by Mitt Romney, who is battling the consensus that he is the establishment candidate.

Throughout the debate Romney was on the offensive, attacking Newt from the right and giving solid answers up and down the board. Newt refused to answer any charges against him and instead just said anything negative said about him was a lie. For the first time in three debates Romney didn't stumble over the tax return question, and even managed to turn it into a talking point on taxes in general. He was probably the most solid candidate of the night, but struggled to come up with an answer as to what he has done for the conservative movement. He also came out strongly against sugar subsidies in the state of Florida.

Finally, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul offered up debate performance on par to the two frontrunners, but received very few questions throughout the night. Ron Paul has little to lose or gain in these debates as his audience is pretty much built in, and will neither grow nor shrink at any significant rates. Santorum is still angling as the conservative alternative to both Gingrich and Newt, but is losing steam quickly.

Overall, Romney did what he needed to regain his footing in the primary. Meanwhile, Newt's renewed frontrunner status seems to have forced him to revert to "run out the clock" mode, which does not help carry over the momentum from his South Carolina victory. Overall, all four remaining candidates gave equally compelling debate performance, but by virtue of Newt not winning, Romney gained the most.

Photo: The Four Remaining Republicans Debate in Florida. Source: New York Times

Florida GOP Primary Debate Recap originally appeared on About.com Conservative Politics: U.S. on Thursday, March 1st, 2012 at 14:48:13.

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CHARDON, Ohio (AP) -- The deadline to file charges in a fatal Ohio high school shooting loomed as students still reeling from the slaying of three teenagers planned a march to return to their school....

Pioneering conservative author, blogger and polemicist Andrew Breitbart died suddenly of natural causes at the age of 43, his website Big Journalism confirmed in a posting this morning.

The Los Angeles coroner's office confirmed that Mr. Breitbart died shortly after midnight at UCLA Medical Center, ABC News Radio reported Thursday ...

A late season storm is bringing heavy snows to California's high country, a welcome influx after an especially dry winter. But snow storms are also creating avalanche conditions in Colorado and forcing some schools to close in New York....

Syria is burning -- scorched for nearly a year by tenacious political resistance, a merciless security crackdown and cries for democracy.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Two American soldiers were killed Thursday in a shooting by an Afghan soldier and a literacy teacher at a joint base in southern Afghanistan, officials said, the latest in a series of deaths as anti-Americanism rises following the burning of Qurans by U.S. soldiers....

PERM, Russia (AP) -- In Vladimir Putin's Russia, artists have done art and left politics to the politicians....

HARRISBURG, Ill. — Jeff Rann had ample warning that terrible weather was approaching before dawn. A frantic call to his wife from his mother-in-law alerted them to reports that a tornado was barreling down, and Mr. Rann heard the deafening wail of storm sirens.

He was among those who survived ...