politics

The 1950s game show To Tell the Truth asked a panel to discover which of three nearly identical candidates was the person they all claimed to be. The Republican race is not much different. The question seems to be: "Would the real conservative please stand up?"

Mitt Romney won Florida's winner-take-all primary. Newt Gingrich lost. How? Simple. It came down to two things: big promises and bad rapping. Our special report on Election 2012 gives you the full story in words and videos.

Newt Gingrich used unconventional means to stop Mitt Romney's momentum. Gingrich says he's the only candidate ready to debate Barack Obama, "the most dangerous president of our lifetime". But Gingrich remains far too controversial for many Republicans.

Mitt Romney has found his message: he is the next Ronald Reagan. But can he paint Barack Obama as Jimmy Carter, a president not in control of the economy, unable to project American power abroad and at odds with his advisers?

The January 3 vote in Iowa produced several surprises, among them a near-win by social conservative Rick Santorum. He equated the Democrats' support of a social-welfare system and a right to health care with Mussolini's Italy, which his grandfather left in 1925.

This month on Spotlight Audio: Scottish tradition. Bilingual perspectives. Out-of-office e-mail. A priest in Zimbabwe. And much more.