Broken health care pledge tests Collins-McConnell relationship

Dems push for more money to fight opioids Study: ObamaCare bills backed by Collins would lower premiums Right scrambles GOP budget strategy MORE Addison Mitchell McConnell GOP strategist donates to Alabama Democrat McConnell names Senate GOP tax conferees Brent Budowsky: A plea to Alabama voters MORE next year, but it may be tougher to strike deals with her after McConnell failed to fulfill a pledge on health care. The moderate senator told reporters this month that she had an "ironclad" commitment from McConnell and Vice President Pence to pass legislation by the end of the year to stabilize ObamaCare premiums.

Spaceport Alabama? Not yet, but new authority could seek one

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sits atop a barge in the Atlantic Ocean after making the company's first successful booster return from space. The new Alabama Space Authority took its first steps Tuesday as members met around Wernher von Braun's conference table in Huntsville to push for more aerospace activity and jobs in a state where the industry is surging.

The Real Message Sent By Alabama Is That The State Is Deeply Divided. And That’s All

"Alabama sends a message" declared a Wall Street Journal editorial the morning after last week's special election for United States Senator from Alabama. What message did Alabama send? For the Journal editorial board it seems the message is that morally flawed candidates are likely to lose because voters "will only accept so much misbehavior in a politician, no matter the policy stakes."

Black Alabamians carried Doug Jones to victory – and it should be a warning to Democrats for 2018

Black voters deserve much of the credit for Democrat Doug Jones's stunning victory in the Alabama Senate special election on Tuesday. "It's time for them to get off their ass and start making life better for black folks and people who are poor," said Alabama native and retired NBA star Charles Barkley.

Democrats have new Southern strategy

With Doug Jones' upset victory in last week's Alabama U.S. Senate race, Democrats are solidifying a new model for rebuilding their tattered competitiveness in the South. Jones benefited from the unique vulnerabilities of his opponent, Republican Roy Moore, who was a deeply polarizing figure even before he was besieged by allegations that he had pursued relationships with teenage girls, some of them underage, while in his 30s.

Trump has ambitious plans to campaign in 2018 midterms, including in Pa.

President Donald Trump is not on the ballot in 2018, but the White House is planning a full-throttle campaign to plunge the president into the midterm elections, according to senior officials and advisers familiar with the planning. Trump's political aides have met with 116 candidates for office in recent months, according to senior White House officials, seeking to become involved in Senate, House and gubernatorial races - and possibly contested Republican primaries as well.

Florida Gov. Scott mulls next political move

For more than a year, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has engaged in a guessing game about his political future: Will he challenge U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2018? President Donald Trump has already publicly called on Scott to run, but Scott again this week insisted he had not made up his mind. And he sidestepped questions about whether the upset win of Democrat Doug Jones in the neighboring state of Alabama is a sign that a GOP candidate could have difficulty next year in a state that has backed candidates of both parties.

After Alabama loss, Trump has ambitious plans to campaign in 2018 midterms

President Donald Trump is not on the ballot in 2018, but the White House is planning a full-throttle campaign to plunge the president into the midterm elections, according to senior officials and advisers familiar with the planning. Trump's political aides have met with 116 candidates for office in recent months, according to senior White House officials, seeking to become involved in Senate, House and gubernatorial races - and possibly contested Republican primaries as well.

Presidents Should Never Name Sitting Office Holders to Appointed Positions

One lesson of the Alabama Senate race that does not seem to ever sink to either party is that there is no good reason for a president to name sitting office holders in critical positions to the Cabinet. I'm sure when Trump named Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III as Attorney General, Republicans thought there was absolutely no way they could possibly lose that seat.

Black voters won Alabama for the Dems. Here’s what they need…

As a scholar of African-American and Southern politics for the last 25 years, I've witnessed a lot of election upsets and surprises. None has been more interesting than the Democrat Doug Jones' election to the U.S. Senate in a Dec. 12 special election against Republican Roy Moore.

Alabama win has Democrats broadening their target list

To Democrats, Senate candidate Doug Jones ' stunning victory in reliably Republican Alabama is more than a quirky one-off. Instead, party leaders cast the upset as a sign of growing nationwide momentum among voters opposed to President Donald Trump and an indication that Democrats shouldn't shy away from competing in Republican territory.

National View: By endorsing Moore, Trump sunk the US presidency to unplumbed depths

The first time ended badly, so when, 156 years later, Alabamians were incited to again try secession, this time from the national consensus that America is a pretty nice place, they said: No. No, that is, to rubbish like this: In April, Alabama's Republican governor, Robert Bentley, resigned one step ahead of impeachment proceedings arising from his consensual affair with an adult woman.