General Election

Election officials have begun sending out vote-by-mail ballots for the June 5 primary. The forms can be requested from county registrars until May 29. But May 21 is the last day to register to vote in this year's primary, which will mark the first widespread use of California's new election system, approved by state voters in 2010. Party primaries are a thing of the past for all but the office of president and for county central committees. This year, all voters will get a single ballot listing every candidate for their congressional and state legislative districts.

The campaign for president has moved into an anxious phase for political junkies: A lot is going on, but nothing is really happening. Mitt Romney has largely consolidated support among his Republican base, matching the support that President Obama has among Democrats. Now, the two sides are testing the messages they will deploy with increasing intensity over the next five months as they seek to motivate their supporters and woo the undecided few. All that produces a lull in political news, which gets filled with pseudo-events and polls - lots of polls.

Mitt Romney started as the odds-on favorite for the GOP nomination, and he's never really lost that spot. Still, he's had a rough six weeks. He's been attacked by his Republican rivals as both a heartless capitalist and a closet liberal. He's committed gaffes that make him sound like a caricature of a clueless rich guy. And the Democratic president he wants to replace has surged ahead of him (and all the other GOP challengers) in head-to-head polls. So is it time for Democrats to rejoice?

WASHINGTON -- An insurgency within an insurgency could be emerging in the GOP Senate primary in Nebraska, where a lesser-known upstart appears to be gaining on two other conservative candidates in yet another battle between tea party activists and the GOP establishment this election cycle. Deb Fischer, a state legislator endorsed by Sarah Palin, has surged heading into Tuesday's election, according to a recent survey , beyond establishment-backed Attorney General Jon Bruning and Dan Stenberg, the state treasurer.

CHICAGO -- The morning after Rick Santorum ended his bid for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, Mitt Romney was quick to herald the start of the general election. But at the Obama campaign's sprawling headquarters in Chicago, it was just another Wednesday. Sure, there was the morning release of a Web video highlighting many of Romney's statements tailored to the conservative voters he needed in primaries and caucuses. And the rapid response operation sprung to action when the Republican's campaign seemed to be caught flat-footed by a question about the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. But there was no need for a "flip of the switch" as the GOP campaign ended, because the Obama operation had already been long-engaged in the fight.

The two men are unlikely to mix it up in earnest for weeks. But the core argument in a potential Mitt Romney-Barack Obama general election matchup played out one tweet at a time in a virtual clash between their advisors Monday. David Axelrod, senior campaign advisor for the Democratic president, and Eric Fehrnstrom, a top aide for the front-running Republican, exchanged a series of arguments on the economy for the better part of three hours in what was something of an undercard battle before another televised Republican candidates debate.

With both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney increasingly focused on their all-but-certain contest, now is a good time to look at their relative standing in head-to-head polls - a baseline for the race to come. Until mid-spring of the election year, a president's approval rating historically has provided a better gauge of his re-election prospects than horse-race polls. That starts to change around this point in the year, when polls matching the two candidates begin to have some reliability at forecasting the race, according to data compiled by the Gallup organization.

The first Gallup poll of the general election campaign shows Mitt Romney edging out President Obama, a close result that both parties expect will be the case through much of the next seven months. The former Massachusetts governor, emerging from a difficult and longer-than-expected Republican nomination battle, has the support of 47% of registered voters nationwide, while the president has the support of 45%. Two percent of voters said they supported another candidate, while 7% were undecided.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama branded the House Republican budget "a prescription for decline" Tuesday and used it as a proxy to frame his general election confrontation with Mitt Romney, just as the GOP frontrunner appeared poised to tighten his grip on the party's nomination. "It's a Trojan Horse. Disguised as deficit reduction plan, it's really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. It's nothing but thinly-veiled Social Darwinism," the president said in a speech at the Associated Press luncheon in Washington.

Macedonia set Sept. 15 as the date for a general election politicians hope will crown the peace process begun after last year's ethnic conflict. Parliamentary Speaker Stojan Andov, announcing the date, said he hoped the election would be fair and democratic and "conclude the crisis and open a new era."

President Obama's fundraiser Thursday night at George Clooney's house was marked by the glitz of celebrity attendees and jokes about the president's graying hair and wrinkled visage. But the tone of the president, less defiant than prior visits, more sober, was a reflection of the headwinds he faces going into the general election. Obama highlighted the challenge of wooing an electorate that is still struggling in the nation's slowly recovering economy. “This is going to be harder than it was the last time -- not only because I'm older and grayer and your "Hope" posters are dog-eared,” Obama said to laughter.

Re "Failure's no option in fight for Florida," May 7 That there are "places that don't matter in the general election" of a free, democratic society is a disgrace. The two-party system, regardless of which party happens to dominate, fosters the pandering to and representation of the few while rendering whole segments of the population voiceless. Angeline Olliff Mission Hills ALSO: Letters: Smoking tax Letters: Subway horrors Letters: Marriage and North Carolina

After more than 35 years in the Senate, Richard G. Lugarof Indiana was ousted Tuesday by a tea party challenger in a Republican primary that showed how hard it is for a veteran lawmaker known for his ability to compromise to win reelection in the current political environment. The 80-year-old senator, a leading voice for his party on foreign policy, was pummeled for weeks by Republican rival Richard Mourdock for his breaches with conservative orthodoxy. Among them: Lugar's support of citizenship for some illegal immigrants and his votes to confirm President Obama's Supreme Court nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Election officials have begun sending out vote-by-mail ballots for the June 5 primary. The forms can be requested from county registrars until May 29. But May 21 is the last day to register to vote in this year's primary, which will mark the first widespread use of California's new election system, approved by state voters in 2010. Party primaries are a thing of the past for all but the office of president and for county central committees. This year, all voters will get a single ballot listing every candidate for their congressional and state legislative districts.

Mitt Romney didn't exactly fire Richard Grenell, who is gay, as his foreign policy spokesman. But when the religious right got wind of Grenell's hiring, his job started to shrink. Grenell was told to sit in on conference calls with reporters and not say anything, which is tantamount to firing him. He was told to be silent not merely on gay issues. He was told not to talk about anything, even foreign policy. A spokesman who is not allowed to speak - even internally - doesn't have much of a job. So Grenell quit, three weeks after he was hired.

Mitt Romney has now won all five Republican presidential primaries Tuesday, effectively ending the GOP nomination battle. The Associated Press called New York for the former Massachusetts governor not long after polls closed at 9 p.m. EDT. Earlier, Romney was declared the winner in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Tuesday marked the biggest day of voting in the Republican primaries since Super Tuesday on March 6, but there was little suspense. With former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum out of the race, Romney faced only Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, both of whom were well behind Romney in polls.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's party won all but two seats in the island nation's general election. The ruling People's Action Party, or PAP, won the election before the votes were cast when opposition parties decided to contest only 36 of Parliament's 83 seats. They had held four seats in the old assembly. Goh, who waged a fierce campaign focused on voters' pockets and sensitive racial issues, was jubilant. "This is a watershed election," he said.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - With victories expected in five Northeastern primaries, Mitt Romney prepared to claim the mantle of Republican presidential nominee - though he has not officially clinched the race - and turn his focus to a general election showdown with President Obama. Update, 6:32 p.m.: Romney won primaries in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware, and was expected to win New York - contests whose outcomes seemed all but assured two weeks ago when his chief rival, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, suspended his campaign.