Obama saved the best for last for his South Dakota trip
President Obama became the fourth president to visit all 50 states while in office when he spoke at the Lake Area Technical Institute commencement in Watertown, S.C., on Friday. Gary Young, the owner of Young's Primetime Sports, made shirts that read "Saved The Best For Last" to commemorate the visit.
[Only three presidents have visited all 50 states in office. Until now.]
The White House shared a photo this week of 11-year-old Rebecca, who asked why Obama hadn't been there yet, and made the case for why he should come: 1) it's the warmest of the Dakotas 2) they have Mount Rushmore and 3) sometimes, when you go to the park, you can see coyotes, hawks and bald eagles. Hard to argue with that.
Rebecca's heart can officially mend when President Obama visits South Dakota tomorrow → http://t.co/Cm9KnTEfDR pic.twitter.com/FNsposqhaT
Did Bill Simmons become too big for ESPN?
Bill Simmons, one of the most recognizable and popular of ESPN's massive stable of writing and reporting talent, is no longer part of that stable.
“I decided today that we are not going to renew Bill Simmons’ contract," ESPN president John Skipper said in a statement. "We have been in negotiations and it was clear it was time to move on."
What on Earth happened in Britain? A WaPo polling guru weighs in.
On Thursday, what polls suggested would be a close race between Conservatives and Labour in the U.K. turned out to be a Conservative rout. We sat down with Scott Clement of the Post's polling team to try and figure out why the final polls were so far off the mark -- and to discuss the theories some other knowledgeable people are putting forward.
Whose electoral system is less representative: Britain’s or ours?
No representative government is fully representative. It's the nature of the thing; some candidates lose. Overall, it's hoped that the governing body reflects the population as much as possible, but the extent to which it happens varies.
After we published a look at why Britain's election on Thursday was interesting and I tweeted about it, Bret Matthew tweeted some skepticism.
NSA: The 2016 issue that defies partisanship
A New York federal appeals court ruled Thursday that mass collection of phone records by the NSA is illegal. It's a major ruling, and declared and potential 2016 candidates were either silent on it or all over the map.
[NSA program on phone records is illegal, court rules]
Here's who said what so far:
The top 10 GOP presidential contenders
A 2016 poll came out in New Hampshire this week that carried some very bad news for Chris Christie.
The survey, conducted by WMUR-TV, showed the New Jersey governor at 3 percent in the New Hampshire primary, putting him in 11th place in the field -- and two points behind reality show "star"/political huckster Donald Trump. Worse for Christie is that when WMUR last polled the New Hampshire primary back in February, he took 9 percent of the vote.
The British election, and the beautiful complexity of having real third parties
When exit polls in the U.K. were first released Thursday evening, people were stunned. Could the Conservative Party really be so dominant in an election that earlier polls had pegged as being close? And sure enough, the exits were wrong. Conservatives did far better than even the exits had suggested.
Obama’s visits to all 50 states, mapped
With Obama completing his 50-state travels today in South Dakota, we thought we would re-up this helpful map from last month. Enjoy!
Last month, the White House revealed that President Obama will travel to South Dakota in May, checking the 50th state of a list he no doubt carries around in his pocket labeled, "States I have visited as president."
Our favorite moment from the British elections
British elections are engineered for more on-screen drama than American ones.
Instead of candidates holding their election-night parties in ballrooms in separate hotels like we do in the United States, candidates for Parliament stand on the same stage together (wearing large ribbons no less) as the results are read.
An index of the American presidential announcement
Once upon a time -- and, really, not that long ago -- presidential candidates didn’t really need to make big announcements to get attention for their bids. Party conventions made all the difference, and lining up those delegates was more important than what some guy in Council Bluffs thought about you.