Posts by Doug Mataconis

Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

New Hampshire Likely To Be A Battle For Second, And Third, Place

The real question about the GOP primary in New Hampshire will likely be about who comes in second and third place. But what if there are no clear winners for these positions?

Clinton Supporters Scold Younger Women For Supporting Bernie Sanders

Hillary Clinton’s campaign and its supporters seem to be getting frustrated by the fact that younger women are seemingly more interested in her opponent than in her.

Marco Rubio Becomes The Main Target At Eighth Republican Debate

Marco Rubio was the man in the cross hairs in last night’s Republican debate.

Would Subjecting Women To The Draft Make War Less Likely? Of Course Not

It’s been suggested that subjecting women to a possible draft would make leaders less likely to go to war. Unfortunately, there’s no reason to believe this is true.

Army And Marine Chiefs: Women Should Be Required To Register For Draft Just Like Men

The Army Chief of Staff and Commandant of the Marine Corps told Congress that women should be required to register for the draft just like men are.

After Two Solid Months, January Brings A Decidedly Mediocre Jobs Report

January’s Jobs Report was nothing to write home about.

Hillary Clinton And Bernie Sanders Clash In First One-On-One Debate

With the Vermont Senator holding a seemingly insurmountable lead in New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders and HIllary Clinton clashed last night in their most contentious debate yet.

Trump Continues To Lead In New Hampshire, Rubio Surges, In Post-Iowa Polling

Donald Trump continues to lead, while Marco Rubio surges, in the first polls out of New Hampshire since the Iowa Caucuses.

Pennsylvania Judge Refuses To Dismiss Charges Against Bill Cosby Due To Immunity Agreement

A Pennsylvania Judge has refused to dismiss sexual assault charges against Bill Cosby based on an alleged 2005 Immunity Agreement.

Ben Carson Cuts Staff, Salaries, One Month After Raising $22 Million

Ben Carson cut his campaign staff drastically just a month after raising more than $22 million. Another sign of a dead campaign.

War Against ISIS Poised To Expand Into Libya?

Get ready for an expansion of the war against ISIS into Libya, because it’s probably not far away.

Doctors: N.F.L. Great Ken Stabler Suffered From C.T.E. Due To Concussions

Another late football great has been diagnosed with a brain disease directly connected to the game they played.

Tweet Of The Day

Iowa 2016 Provides Yet More Evidence For The Argument Against Caucuses

Reports of discrepancies in the counting of ballots in the Democratic Caucus in Iowa reveal yet again why the caucus process is outdated and ought to be abandoned.

From 17 Candidates, The Race For The GOP Nomination Is Effectively Down To Just Three

Six months ago, there were seventeen candidates for the 2016 Republican nomination. Now, the race is effectively down to three candidates.

Clinton Narrowly Wins Iowa, Heads To Seemingly Unwinnable Battle In New Hampshire

Hillary Clinton eked out the narrowest of wins in Iowa, but now she’s headed to New Hampshire where Bernie Sanders holds a seemingly insurmountable lead in the polls.

Ted Cruz Wins Iowa GOP Caucus, Trump Second, Marco Rubio A Strong Third

Ted Cruz won, Marco Rubio surged into a stronger than expected third place, and Donald Trump was humbled just a little bit, but he was hardly a “loser.” The race for the GOP nomination has begun for real.

Final Iowa Polling Shows It All Depends On Turnout, Plus A Projection

The final polls of the Iowa Caucus show that the outcome of tonight’s caucuses depend almost entirely on turnout at this point. Plus, a projection of who will win and the order of finish.

Donald Trump And Bernie Sanders Hold On To Solid Leads In New Hampshire

With just over a week to go, the New Hampshire primary is being dominated by a bombastic New York celebrity and a septuagenarian Vermont socialist.

Clinton, Sanders, Cruz And Carson Won Fourth Quarter 2015 Money Race

Fundraising in the final three months of 2015 largely reflected the state of the race itself, but some candidates are better positioned going forward than others.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.