Sun-Times stars on debate: Who won, who flubbed — and what to expect on ‘Saturday Night Live’

MARK BROWN Winner: Obama Four years experience as commander-in-chief is a clear advantage for President Barack Obama, and he exploited it well. Mitt Romney did nothing to hurt himself, but foreign policy clearly is not a strength at this point in his political career. Which …

Watching the debate with Rahm Emanuel: High fives, big smiles and a few near yawns

In a night focused on body language, the head nods, high-fives and ear-to-ear smiles of Mayor Rahm Emanuel during the presidential debate seemed to confirm his pre-debate, jump-the-gun assessment of hours earlier that “the president won.” Emanuel, President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff, got …

Michelle Obama in Chicago: Election ‘closer than the last one’

In the multi-level Lincoln Park home of one of the biggest political donors in America, first lady Michelle Obama implored a crowd of about 200 people on Thursday not to take anything for granted. “The only guarantee you have in this election is it will be closer than the last one,” she said.

Ann Romney’s plane makes emergency landing after smoke fills cabin

DENVER — A plane carrying Ann Romney, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s wife, made an emergency landing Friday afternoon after smoke filled the cabin. No injuries were reported.

An apparent electrical fire forced the detour on the flight from Omaha, Neb., to Los Angeles, campaign …

Romney points to 1998 Obama remarks to divert attention from flap over video

Seeking to defuse a firestorm over an explosive video released this week of comments he made dissing 47 percent of Americans, Mitt Romney sought to shift the conversation Tuesday to remarks President Barack Obama made 14 years ago about redistributing wealth.Romney said remarks he made in a leaked video of a May fund-raiser were “not eloquently stated” then attempted to put Obama on the defensive. “The right course for America is to create wealth … not to redistribute wealth,” Romney said in a Tuesday interview with Fox News.

Four years later, ‘down-to-earth’ president still this barber’s top customer

The sound of slicing scissors and buzz of the electric clippers fell mostly silent at the South Side barber shop Thursday night when perhaps its most famous customer, President Barack Obama, made his primetime television appearance to accept the Democratic party’s nomination. Again. There was a bit of deja vu in it all.

Durbin plays coy on re-election talk

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sen. Dick Durbin, the second most powerful Democrat in the U.S. Senate, on Thursday would not commit to whether he would seek re-election, leaving unfinished one of the state Democratic Party’s big storylines heading into the 2014 elections. Durbin said he would wait until next year before he decided.

No balloon finale for Democrats

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The red, white and blue balloons are going to have to wait until 2016. The massive balloon drop that was to have been the exclamation point on President Barack Obama’s Thursday night speech was cancelled Wednesday when organizers pulled the plug on Thursday’s outdoor conclusion to the Democratic National Convention. The convention’s planning committee moved the last night to the 24,000-seat, indoor Time Warner Cable Arena because of the threat of “severe weather.”

Was that Rahm Emanuel? Or Knute Rockne? Or Elvis?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Is Mayor Rahm Emanuel a presidential wannabe or the second coming of legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne? Maybe both. One day after speaking about President Barack Obama’s leadership to the Democratic National Convention, Emanuel gave a fiery pep talk to the Illinois delegation Wednesday.

Wisconsin residents cheer on ‘Paul’ as Ryan accepts spot on ticket

JANESVILLE, Wis. — A breathless Sara Mueller literally ran through the front doors of the Holiday Inn Express Wednesday evening.

“I’m extremely excited,” said the 40-year-old homemaker and lifelong Janesville resident.

Mueller spent the next few minutes telling a gathering of fifty or so other …

Tropical Storm Isaac clouds picture for Republicans

TAMPA — Republicans gaveled their convention to order Monday for a session lasting only minutes as Tropical Storm Isaac spun a path toward New Orleans, presenting Mitt Romney’s team with the challenge of selling his candidacy while the Gulf Coast faces another potential disaster.

Convention notebook: Republicans use Madigan to raise money

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Illinois Republicans are going to the dogs.

Not literally.

In the party’s quest to demonize House Speaker Michael Madigan and make him a key part of its 2012 messaging, the state Republican Party debuted a website where the party’s faithful can buy …

First lady tells Chicago donors why to re-elect Obama: He’s ‘awesome’

First lady Michelle Obama revved up a hometown crowd of women at the Standard Club on Tuesday and then watched as Gov. Quinn signed a law to protect military families. As her husband raised money in George and Florida, Mrs. Obama told Chicagoans, including many old friends she waved to, that in her biased opinion, the president is “awesome” and deserves another four years.

U. of C. prof wants to shelve Obama library idea

A University of Chicago professor is raising red flags about the still-underground campaign to bring Barack Obama’s presidential library to the campus where Obama was a senior law lecturer.

“I want to raise the alarm because I think a presidential museum will inevitably become our …

Mapping the presidential libraries

Building presidential libraries on college campuses is a recent trend.

Franklin Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower all are remembered in free-standing institutions in their hometowns.

Jimmy Carter’s library in Atlanta has a loose affiliation with Emory University through the Carter Center. The …