Arian Campo-Flores

Surveying the crop of would-be Republican presidential contenders in 2012, some Christian leaders can't muster much enthusiasm.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez is a hero to many Hispanics. He says he won't change his methods, no matter who gets irritated.

Following Sen. Harry Reid's hard-fought victory against Sharron Angle in Nevada, the postgame analysis has revved into high gear. How to explain his win? One factor in particular appears to have been key: the Hispanic vote.

Given the personal fortune Linda McMahon has tapped to finance her Republican run for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, you'd think she'd hold a formidable edge against her Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

A new crop of Latino Republican candidates is capturing Hispanic votes in spite of tough immigration stances. But if the GOP believes it has seized on a winning formula, it may want to think again.

Like a journalistic Zorro, a Mexican blogger works where reporters fear to tread. Is he doing a public service, or is he just a tool of the cartels?

After months of getting hammered by Hispanics for failing to tackle comprehensive immigration reform, Democrats are now hoping to pass the much narrower DREAM Act. The bill, which would legalize young undocumented immigrants who attend college or enlist in the military, has proved politically popular in the past and has garnered bipartisan support.

As polls show voters defecting in droves from Democrats, one bastion of support you'd think the party could count on is Hispanics. They turned out in force in 2006 and 2008 to punish Republicans for their shrill rhetoric on illegal immigration, reversing the party's historic gains among Latinos under George W.

He has outlasted eight U.S. presidents, survived countless CIA efforts to do him in, and his communist regime has remained in power for a generation after the collapse of his Soviet sponsors. So what does the leader of the 1959 Cuban revolution think now of the system he created? Last week The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg reported Fidel Castro's startlingly honest assessment: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore."

It's become increasingly clear that politicians have decided that taking a hardline stance against illegal immigration is a winner this election season. The irony is that the illegal-immigration problem appears to be receding in importance.

Will high-flying hopes succumb to the swamp of the 'Big Sleazy'? Not if the latest Crescent City crusader can help it.

Kendrick Meek's 26-point trouncing of billionaire Jeff Greene in the Florida Democratic Senate primary last night gives his campaign a much-needed boost. The real loser last night, though, was Charlie Crist. Had Greene pulled off an upset, Democrats would likely have fled the billionaire in droves and headed straight into the arms of the governor.

Running in a three-person race in Florida, GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio has had to be careful to keep the support of his Tea Party adherents while appealing to moderate voters. It hasn't been easy.

On the eve of Arizona's immigration law's taking effect, U.S. district judge Susan Bolton blocked its most controversial elements. So where do things go from here?

Interest groups of all sorts--big business, farmers, human-rights advocates, religious organizations, even many Cuban-­Americans--have united to back a new congressional bill that would lift the travel ban and further loosen restrictions on U.S. agricultural sales to the island. Will hardline Cuban-Americans be able to defeat the bill?

Not long ago, Florida's governor seemed like a dead pol walking. Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio was thrashing him in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. Crist's 30-point lead had swung to a 30-point deficit; funding was drying up, as were endorsements. Now he's back, and ready to prove that centrists can win.

Last Tuesday, the upper crust of South Carolina's Republican establishment gathered at the tony Spartanburg home of Karen Floyd, the state party chair. They'd come for a $1,000-per-couple GOP fundraiser, headlined by visiting Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. Among the luminaries were Roger Milliken, a billionaire textile magnate who has donated millions to the party, and Robert Chapman, a retired federal appellate judge appointed by Ronald Reagan.

Seated in his dimly lit den on a rural stretch of highway in Manning, S.C., Alvin Greene rattles off talking points for his unlikely candidacy for U.S. Senate. The 32-year-old unemployed Army vet came from nowhere to win the Democratic primary earlier this month, raising suspicions of dirty tricks. But another possibility is emerging: this was the quixotic quest of a strange man.

Yet again, Americans are suffering a period of national distress over illegal immigration. However a little-known, but enormously significant, demographic development is unfolding south of our border that could make all this angst ultimately an over-reaction.

Outspoken parish president Billy Nungesser isn't about to sit idly by as oil destroys the land and livelihood of his fellow Louisiana residents. BP, the Coast Guard, and the government can either get on board or get out of the way.

Try as it might, the Tea Party just can't shake the accusations of racism. As I wrote in an article last month, recent polling seemed to confirm many people's darkest suspicions about the movement—that it was motivated not just by antipathy toward big government but also by racial animus.

For a Latino surge in November, Democrats would need to ratchet up their outreach and make a serious effort to pass immigration reform.

At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration lies one key question: are immigrants good or bad for the economy? The American public overwhelmingly thinks they're bad. In a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, 74 percent of respondents said illegal immigrants weakened the economy, compared to only 17 percent who said they strengthened it.

Yesterday, I noted that a new push by the National Association of Evangelicals in support of comprehensive immigration reform faces a key obstacle: opposition from the grassroots.

Today came the news that the National Association of Evangelicals is launching a new campaign in support of comprehensive immigration reform. It'll debut with a full-page ad in Roll Call on Thursday that will argue for including a path to citizenship for immigrants who are in the country illegally.

The measure bars officers from 'solely' considering race in deciding whose immigration status to check, but no one's quite sure what else they should take into account.

A new study shows that the movement's supporters are more likely to be racially resentful.

As speculation that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will run for U.S. Senate as an independent reaches a fever pitch, it's worth revisiting Sen. Joe Lieberman's independent run in 2006.

Even if he loses in Iowa's bigger cities, Edwards can still win by wrapping up smaller, far-flung precincts.

Boozing, bikinis and bullying: how the scandalous behavior of five high-school cheerleaders rocked a bedroom community near Dallas.