Politics

Early voting is now an option in most of the country, and roughly a third of all Americans casting a ballot in the 2012 presidential race are expected to do so before Nov. 6, Election Day. For an early voting calendar and state deadlines for voter registration, visit http://apps.npr.org/early-voting-2012/

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Washington Supreme Court could decide by the end of this year whether a voter-approved two-thirds requirement for tax hikes is constitutional. But first, the justices must determine who has the right to challenge the law. That technical question was the focus of oral arguments Tuesday .

It’s not as if the Washington Supreme Court hasn’t heard this case before –- or at least ones similar. Four years ago, it was Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown leading the charge to strike down the supermajority rule.

Alec MacGillis is senior editor at The New Republic.

One presidential candidate talked about slavery, the other of freedom.

And the speeches President Obama and Mitt Romney gave at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Tuesday were as different as the men themselves.