Nancy Benac

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  Budget battle: 3 plans on the table, what now?

  By Nancy Benac  |  April 25, 2013

  First the Republican-led House approved a federal budget that's heavy on spending cuts. Then the Democratic-controlled Senate approved one that leans more toward tax increases. Then at last, President Barack Obama put out his own budget plan, two months late, coming down someplace in between.

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  Obama now faces new urgent task

  By Nancy Benac, Nedra Pickler  |  November 7, 2012

  President Barack Obama faces a new urgent task now that he has a second term, working with a status-quo Congress to address an impending financial crisis that economists say could plunge the country into further recession if not resolved.

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  Obama, Romney yield to voters

  By Nancy Benac, Nedra Pickler  |  November 6, 2012

  Two fierce competitors who've given their all, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney now yield center stage to voters Tuesday for an Election Day choice that will frame the contours of government and the nation for years to come.

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  New poll shows Romney erasing Obama lead among women

  By Jennifer Agiesta, Nancy Benac  |  October 25, 2012

  Less than two weeks out from Election Day, Republican Mitt Romney has erased President Barack Obama's 16-point advantage among women, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows. And the president, in turn, has largely eliminated Romney's edge among men.

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  Obama, Romney pumped for dash to the finish

  By Ken Thomas, Nancy Benac  |  October 23, 2012

  Their debates now history, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney on Tuesday open a two-week sprint to Election Day powered by adrenaline, a boatload of campaign cash and a determination to reach Nov. 6 with no would-have, should-have regrets in their neck-and-neck fight to the finish.

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  Obama desperate for debate win

  By Nancy Benac  |  October 16, 2012

  The pressure is on President Barack Obama to deliver a Goldilocks performance in the second debate: Not too cool, as he was in his first, listless encounter with Mitt Romney. And not too hot, as some critics styled Vice President Joe Biden in his faceoff with Paul Ryan.

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  VP debate tees up issues for Romney, Obama

  By Nancy Benac, Philip Elliott  |  October 12, 2012

  In a spirited debate that laid out stark choices, Joe Biden and Paul Ryan teed up pointed arguments on the economy, social policy and America's place in the world that President Barack Obama and GOP rival Mitt Romney now will drive forward into the campaign's final stretch.

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  Romney barrels out of first debate on offense

  By Kasie Hunt, Nancy Benac  |  October 4, 2012

  Little more than a month from Election Day, Republican Mitt Romney is barreling out of the first presidential debate energized by a solid performance that telegraphed his determination to take it to President Barack Obama with gusto.

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  First debate sets up moment of high-risk theater

  By Kasie Hunt, Nancy Benac  |  October 3, 2012

  President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney come face to face for the first time in this presidential campaign Wednesday night for a nationally televised debate that will give millions of Americans a chance to size up two fierce competitors in a moment of high-risk theater.

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  First lady's trips boost health — and her husband

  By Nancy Benac  |  February 10, 2012

  Michelle Obama is on a national tour to promote the second anniversary of her campaign against childhood obesity. The images have been disarming, intriguing and non-political — just the type of thing her husband's re-election campaign can't get enough of.