WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Tuesday’s decisive win by
Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential election highlighted how
population shifts – ethnic and generational – have buoyed
Democrats while forcing Republicans to rethink their message.

Without recasting their core message and actively trying to
expand their base beyond older mostly white Americans,
conservatives could struggle even more in future elections as
the nation’s population incorporates more Latinos, Asians and
other minorities as well as young voters, analysts said.

CLEVELAND/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – If there was any doubt that the U.S. presidential fight hinges on Ohio, an awkward campaign airplane traffic jam at the Cleveland airport made it clear on Tuesday.

Minutes after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney touched down on the tarmac, Vice President Joe Biden swooped in on Air Force Two for an unannounced – but what the White House said was long-planned – visit.

WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) – U.S. school children searching
for a healthy snack at school – perhaps an apple or some celery
sticks – may find that a bag of potato chips is much easier to
come by, a report released on Thursday said.

Students in states such as Connecticut and West Virginia
have limited access to junk food like candy and chocolate on
school grounds while those in Louisiana and Idaho can buy it in
abundance, according to an analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts
and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – No one’s calling it a “campaign” event. But it will surely dominate the presidential campaign on Wednesday when Democratic President Barack Obama and New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie inspect storm damage in the hard hit coastal state – together.

Had Obama been traveling with any old Republican governor, few would have taken notice.

WASHINGTON, Oct 30 (Reuters) – Republican New Jersey
Governor Chris Christie, a fierce critic of Barack Obama,
praised the president and the federal government’s response to
the massive storm Sandy, which caused widespread damage and
power outages along the East Coast.

Christie has attacked Obama repeatedly on the campaign trail
and said the Democrat does not deserve a second term in the
White House, instead backing Republican challenger Mitt Romney
in the Nov. 6 election.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The nation’s capital appeared to have escaped the worst of monster storm Sandy on Tuesday, although concerns remained about the potential for severe flooding along the Potomac River.

Washington suffered high winds and rains that brought down trees on some homes and flooded a few roads. But the area got off relatively lightly compared to New Jersey, where Sandy came ashore on Monday night, and battered New York City.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a fierce critic of Barack Obama, praised the president and the federal government’s response as the brutal storm Sandy swept through his state and caused widespread damage and power outages.

Christie has attacked Obama repeatedly on the campaign trail and said the Democrat does not deserve a second term in the White House, instead backing Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the November 6 election.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chief executives of more than 80 big U.S. corporations, including Goldman Sachs, Cisco Systems and Boeing, joined forces to press Congress to reduce the federal deficit in a rare show of broad corporate unity.

Though the list largely excludes the energy and technology sectors, an omission organizers say they are trying to fix, the U.S. corporate chiefs who did take part said it was urgent to put in place a bipartisan plan to shrink America’s debt.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday endorsed Barack Obama’s bid for re-election, citing the Democratic president’s efforts to wind down the war in Afghanistan and tackle terrorism.

“I think we ought to keep on the track that we are on,” the Republican, who also backed Obama in 2008, told “CBS This Morning,” adding, “I voted for him in 2008 and I plan to stick with him in 2012.”