Ahead of redistricting, Democrats seek to reverse statehouse declines
The national Democratic Party wants to regain some of the 900-plus state legislative seats Democrats have lost since 2009.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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A college degree wasn’t always a ‘must’ for U.S. presidential candidates
If Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wins the Republican presidential nomination next year, he’ll be the first major-party nominee without a college degree since Barry Goldwater in 1964.
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The skills Americans say kids need to succeed in life
In a recent Pew Research survey, more respondents said communication skills were most important for children to have, followed by reading, math, teamwork, writing and logic. Science fell somewhere in the middle.
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From telegrams to Instagram, a look at presidents and technology
President Obama’s recent interviews with Buzzfeed and Vox, and his embrace of online news and social media more generally, stands in a long tradition of presidents employing novel communications technologies to speak to Americans directly.
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More openings and hires give Americans reason for greater job optimism
As openings and new hires hit levels not seen in years, more Americans say they’re hearing mostly good news about the jobs situation.
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Four signs of the improving U.S. jobs situation
The unemployment rate may get most of the attention, but why people are unemployed, and how long they’ve been out of work, can be just as telling about the state of the economy.
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Job shifts under Obama: Fewer government workers, more caregivers, servers and temps
The healthcare industry, food and drink establishments and temp services have driven most of the jobs growth since Barack Obama took office nearly six years ago.
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114th Congress is most diverse ever
Almost one-in-five members of the House and Senate are a racial or ethnic minority, making the 114th Congress the most diverse in history. However, Congress remains disproportionately white when compared with the U.S. population, which has grown increasingly diverse in recent decades.
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Will GOP-run Congress lead to more Obama vetoes? History suggests yes
Some political observers predict that Obama will be using his veto pen a lot more in his last two years in office than he did in the first six. Recent history indicates that presidents do veto more bills when both houses of Congress are controlled by the opposing party.
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Pew Research will call more cellphones in 2015
An estimated 46.5% of U.S. adults are cell-only today. To keep pace with this trend, the Pew Research Center will increase the percentage of respondents interviewed on cellphones in its typical national telephone surveys to 65%.
