PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans are about equally likely to have a favorable (42%) as an unfavorable (45%) view of Joe Biden, which has been the case for most of his tenure as U.S. vice president. Americans were much more positive than negative toward Biden from the time he was chosen as Barack Obama's running mate through the first several months of the Obama administration. The May 10-13 USA Today/Gallup poll marks the first time opinions of Biden have tilted negative since he became Obama's vice presidential pick, but they are not materially different from the closely divided but still net positive ratings of Biden from October 2009-March 2011. The current poll was conducted after Biden's comments in favor of same-sex marriage on "Meet the Press" ... Continue reading →

By Tim Gaynor PHOENIX | Wed May 23, 2012 1:30pm EDT PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona's secretary of state has received information from Hawaii that verifies Barack Obama's birth records, satisfying criteria to put the president on the November ballot in the state, his office said on Wednesday. Ken Bennett, who is Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign co-chairman in Arizona, made a request to authorities in Hawaii on March 30 on behalf of more than 4,000 constituents, his office said.Bennett received verification on Tuesday of Obama's birth from officials in Hawaii in lieu of a certified birth certificate, Bennett's spokesman Matthew Roberts said."We never requested a birth certificate. What we requested was a verification from Hawaii that the information on the president's birth certificate was ... Continue reading →

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“We’re being told that the only way to save the library is to rip out its innards,” said David Nasaw, a panelist and a history professor at the City University Graduate Center, who called the plan “fatally flawed.” “It might be best to start over again,” he said. “This boat doesn’t float.” Anthony W. Marx, the library’s president and also a panelist, argued that the redevelopment, which is still in planning, was essential to the library’s future. “The current status quo cannot be maintained and should not be maintained,” he said. The library’s much-debated project, known as the Central Library Plan, would turn the Fifth Avenue research center partly into a circulating library by selling two popular locations — the Mid-Manhattan branch and the Science, ... Continue reading →