Finally: Voting on the Horizon

Some thoughts and questions as we finally hit the start of the process. (And the return of the Toast-o-Meter)

OTB Caption Contest Winners

The Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over.

Trump, Clinton Hold Leads In Final Des Moines Register Iowa Poll

The final Des Moines Register poll before Caucus Night shows Donald Trump leading the GOP field, and Hillary Clinton with a narrow lead over Bernie Sanders, but much of the final outcome will depend on who shows up for the respective party caucuses.

Headline of the Day

Happy Blogiversary

Trump and the Social Conservatives

Politics makes strange bedfellows, but come on.

State Department Withholds 22 Hillary Clinton Emails For Containing “Top Secret” Information

More email headaches for the Clinton campaign, but it remains unclear if any wrongdoing occurred.

Trumpless Republican Debate Garners 12.5 Million Viewers

Thursday’s debate without Donald Trump drew fewer viewers than might have been expected, but it’s unclear if that’s because Donald Trump wasn’t there.

Economy Grows At Anemic 0.7% In Final Quarter Of 2015

An anemic end to 2015 raises concerns about the health of the economy going forward.

Paul Kantner, Co-Founder Of Jefferson Airplane, Dies At 74

Another icon of popular music has passed away.

Ted Cruz Becomes The Target At Trump-Less Debate, Trump Puts On The Donald Trump Show

Without Trump, the seventh Republican debate largely focused on Ted Cruz, who doesn’t seem to have done himself any favors. Donald Trump, meanwhile, will likely not pay any price at all for skipping the last pre-Iowa debate.

Trumpless Debate Helped Bush, But Likely Not Enough

Last night’s Republican debate had a different feel with the absence of a certain bloviating narcissist.

POLITICO to Leave POLITICO

Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen are leaving after a dispute with their chief investor.

The Great Rubio Hope? Maybe, But He’ll Need To Show He Can Win First

Many analysts are making the argument that Marco Rubio is the GOP’s best hope to win the General Election in 2016. That may be true, but before he can get there he needs to find a way to win the GOP nomination.

The Stage For The First Post-Iowa Republican Debate Will Be A Lot Smaller

The first debate after the Iowa Caucuses will have fewer participants than past debates, and there will be no undercard debate.

If The Latest Polls Are Right, Everything’s Coming Up Trump

With mere days until voting starts, the possibility of Donald Trump running the table in the February primaries and caucuses, or nearly doing so, is more and more likely.

Rush Limbaugh Really Doesn’t Get Donald Trump

Chris Cillizza thinks “Rush Limbaugh totally gets Donald Trump.” I disagree.

Trump Says He’ll Skip Fox News Debate

Donald Trump takes his war with Fox News Channel up a notch, saying he won’t participate in Thursday’s Republican Presidential Debate.

Abe Vigoda, Godfather And Barney Miller Star, Dies At 94

“Tom, can you get me off the hook? For old times’ sake?”

“Can’t do it, Sally.”

The Challenger Disaster, Thirty Years Later

Thirty years ago this week, tragedy struck America’s Space Program.

Hillary Clinton And Bernie Sanders Battle Going Down To The Wire

With less than a week to go before the Iowa Caucuses, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are fighting a closely-pitched battle that will depend largely on turnout.

Race For The GOP Nomination All About Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, And A Panicking GOP

With less than a week to go before voting starts, Donald Trump continues to dominate the GOP race, with Ted Cruz the only candidate even close to looking like a viable challenger.

Rick Perry Endorses Ted Cruz

Rick Perry is endorsing Ted Cruz for President, leading to the question of why Ted Cruz thinks an endorsement from Rick Perry has any value whatsoever.

Donald Trump Has Completely Reversed Ted Cruz’s Lead In Iowa

After grabbing a lead at the end of last year, Ted Cruz has seen Donald Trump completely reverse fortunes in Iowa with just one week to go before voting starts.

OTB Caption Contest

Time the Monday OTB Caption ContestTM

Des Moines Register Endorses Clinton, Rubio

Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio have won the endorsement of the Des Moines Register, but it’s unclear how much this will help their respective campaigns.

Blizzard Over; Shutdown to Last for Days

Not your average DC-area snowstorm.

OTB Caption Contest Winners

The Humphrey The Camel Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over.

Michael Bloomberg Apparently Thinking Of Running For President For Some Reason

We’re in another Presidential election cycle so it must be time to speculate about Michael Bloomberg again.

Will Autonomous Vehicles Lead To A Ban On Human-Operated Cars And Trucks?

As autonomous vehicles near the point where they’ll become a presence on American roads, are we approaching a day when it will largely be illegal for people to drive their own car?

Of Course ‘National Review’ Was Disinvited From the Debate

You can either be a partisan or a moderator.

Gillian Anderson Offered Half David Duchovny’s Pay for ‘X-Files’ Reunion

Is this really ‘infuriating’ news?

National Review Takes On Donald Trump, But It’s Most Likely Too Little, Too Late

The flagship of the American right is leading the charge against Donald Trump, but it’s not likely to work.

Rubio’s Dubious Campaign Strategy

Marco Rubio’s campaign strategy depends on a lot of hope, and no small degree of ignoring reality.

Clinton Email Server Contained Information Classified Above ‘Top Secret,’ Report Contends

New email headaches for Hillary Clinton, but it’s not clear what impact they will have on the race for President, if they have any impact at all.

Sarah Palin Endorses Donald Trump

Sarah Palin is back, and she’s endorsing Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for President.

Supreme Court Accepts Appeal Of Ruling Halting Obama’s Deportation Relief Programs

The Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in what is guaranteed to be a high profile case heading into the 2016 elections.

China’s Economy Appears To Be Slowing Significantly, And That Could Have A Huge Impact

China’s economy is still growing, but it’s most recently reported growth rate is slower than the nation has seen in quite some time.

RNC Replaces NBC News With CNN For February Debate

CNN is taking over a late February Republican debate from NBC News, meaning it will host more Republican debates this election cycle than any other single network.

Glenn Frey, Eagles Founder, Dead at 67

Glenn Frey, bandleader of the Eagles, has died.