Mara Liasson

Mara Liasson is the national political correspondent for NPR. Her reports can be heard regularly on NPR's award-winning newsmagazines All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Liasson provides extensive coverage of politics and policy from Washington, DC — focusing on the White House and Congress — and also reports on political trends beyond the Beltway.

Each election year, Liasson provides key coverage of the candidates and issues in both presidential and congressional races. During her tenure she has covered five presidential elections — in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. Prior to her current assignment, Liasson was NPR's White House correspondent for all eight years of the Clinton administration. She has won the White House Correspondents Association's Merriman Smith Award for daily news coverage in 1994, 1995, and again in 1997. From 1989-1992 Liasson was NPR's congressional correspondent.

Liasson joined NPR in 1985 as a general assignment reporter and newscaster. From September 1988 to June 1989 she took a leave of absence from NPR to attend Columbia University in New York as a recipient of a Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism.

Prior to joining NPR, Liasson was a freelance radio and television reporter in San Francisco. She was also managing editor and anchor of California Edition, a California Public Radio nightly news program, and a print journalist for The Vineyard Gazette in Martha's Vineyard, Mass.

Liasson is a graduate of Brown University where she earned a bachelor's degree in American history.

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4:38am

Fri March 22, 2013
Politics

GOP Encouraged To Shift Positions On Immigration, Gay Marriage

Originally published on Fri March 22, 2013 10:55 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

With his journey, the president temporarily left behind a changing American political scene. The Republican Party is struggling with that change. Public opinion on immigration and gay marriage is changing quickly. That forces Republicans to try a balancing act, as NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson reports.

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4:43am

Tue March 19, 2013
Politics

RNC Report Calls For Community Outreach, Revamped Primary Rules

Originally published on Tue March 19, 2013 10:42 am

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And the Republican Party has issued a blistering assessment of why it lost the 2012 election. The Republican National Committee Growth and Opportunity Project told the party that if it wants to win national elections in the future, it needs to change the way it communicates with voters and runs its campaigns.

NPR's Mara Liasson reports.

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5:13pm

Mon March 18, 2013
Politics

RNC Report A Postmortem On Failed 2012 Election

Originally published on Mon March 18, 2013 5:54 pm

After failing to take the presidency or U.S. Senate in 2012 and losing House seats, Republicans launched the "Growth and Opportunity Project" to understand what went wrong. Party Chairman Reince Priebus and others toured the country and released a report with recommendations on Monday.

6:15am

Fri March 15, 2013
Politics

CPAC Kicks Off With Sobering Message For GOP

Originally published on Fri March 15, 2013 6:31 am

The Conservative Political Action Conference is drawing a huge crowd of politicians, activists and Republican presidential hopefuls, all looking to break the Republican Party's recent string of presidential election losses. It kicked off Thursday with speeches by two young senators interested in the White House — Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

3:56am

Thu March 14, 2013
It's All Politics

It's Still Early, But GOP Hopefuls Test The Waters For 2016

Originally published on Thu March 14, 2013 9:34 am

During the annual Conservative Political Action Conference that begins Thursday, a slew of men who appear to want to try their hand at leading the GOP back to the White House in 2016 will be speaking, though not every potential presidential candidate was invited.

Yes, it's four years away, but that hasn't stopped Republican hopefuls from testing the waters. There are already polls — for whatever they're worth — of potential GOP candidates.

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3:06am

Wed March 13, 2013
It's All Politics

Republicans Face Off Over Strategy For Picking Candidates

Originally published on Wed March 13, 2013 5:36 pm

Credit Rich Pedroncelli / AP

Republicans have a steep hill to climb if they want to take control of the Senate next year. The GOP would need to pick up six seats in 2014.

There are plenty of open seats and vulnerable Democrats up for re-election, but Republicans are debating the best way to win.

Last year's Senate results were disappointing for the GOP: The party ended up losing a number of seats it thought were winnable — and now it's trying to figure out what to do differently next year.

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5:29pm

Tue March 5, 2013
Politics

Jeb Bush May Have Changed His Mind On Immigration With 2016 Bid In Sight

Originally published on Tue March 5, 2013 6:20 pm

When former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush got to work on his new book on immigration, he was expected to be out in front of his party urging a broader conversation with Hispanics and more open legislation. After all, he had previously supported a pathway to citizenship for immigrants here illegally. Instead, it's fellow Florida Republican Marco Rubio in the lead, and Bush who's explaining an apparent reversal on the issue of citizenship. Both are likely candidates for president in 2016.

5:17pm

Mon March 4, 2013
Politics

Obama's Second Term Cabinet Nears Completion With New Nominations

Originally published on Mon March 4, 2013 5:34 pm

President Obama named a new Department of Energy secretary, a new budget director and a new head for the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday. All three will require confirmation by the Senate.

5:19pm

Fri March 1, 2013
It's All Politics

One Strategy For A GOP Overhaul? Follow The Democrats' Example

Originally published on Fri March 1, 2013 8:01 pm

Credit Charles Dharapak / AP

These are difficult times for the Republican Party. In the latest NBC-Wall Street Journal poll, Democrats led Republicans — in some cases by double digits — on issues like Medicare, taxes and the economy.

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6:12am

Fri February 15, 2013
Politics

Automatic Budget Cuts Near As Democrats, GOP Stand Firm

Originally published on Fri February 15, 2013 8:39 am

It looks like the across the board spending cuts that were never supposed to happen are going to — at least for a while. It's another sign of Washington's dysfunction.

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