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Thursday Political Grab Bag: Obama And UK's Cameron Showcase Unity

By: Frank James // March 15, 2012
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In the wake of the alleged killing of Afghan civilians by a U.S. soldier, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he wants all NATO troops moved onto existing large bases and a faster handover of security responsibilities to his nation's forces. This dovetails with growing opinion in the U.S. that the withdrawal of American troops happen sooner than scheduled.

President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron showcased what appears to be a close working relationship during the British Conservative Party leader's visit to Washington Wednesday. It didn't go unnoticed that Cameron didn't meet with any of the Republican candidates and some have noted that Obama and Cameron share some political traits.

Despite all his recent success in the Republican primaries, not only does Rick Santorum significantly trail Mitt Romney in delegates for the Republican presidential nomination, he's also still well behind Romney in the daily money chase.

Romney is looking to the swing states and districts where he has generally outperformed his rivals to cement his claim on the GOP nomination.

Anyone who thinks the Republican presidential race has been too nasty won't be seeing relief anytime soon since the contest has devolved into a grinding state-by-state fight to keep Romney from reaching 1,144 delegates before the August convention.

In a surprising break with his party's ideology, a freshman Republican has authored a bill for a 2.5 percent millionaire's surtax.

Washington lobbyists are appealing to President Obama for a truce in an effort to stop his attacks on them and, more significantly, to shape the laws that govern how they operate.

Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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