Outside the Beltway

Wherein I finally reveal my answer (spoiler: it is hardly surprising). And, also, wherein despite the goal of brevity, I fail at that goal.

Separating rhetoric from action.

Looking at past Senate elections and some more thoughts on historical patterns.

The most popular television product is running out of room to expand.

A 2020 blowout has long been presumed. But maybe it won’t happen.

It is really so hard to understand that you don’t go on vacation during a massive disaster?

Granted, there are more than two. But from a political science/political history POV, these two stick out in my mind.

“Now this campaign is over, what is the will of the people? What is our mandate?”

The President’s unhinged Twitter rants have drawn a rebuke from an unlikely source.

An amusing discovery.

A legendary newsman has passed.

The junior Senator from Massachusetts could be facing a big challenge in 2020.

Will Joe Arpaio cause the GOP to lose an otherwise winnable Senate race?

Yesterday was the seventy-sixth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. For most Americans, though, it was just another day. That’s only natural.

Trump isn’t going to win any regional popularity awards in LA.

Donald Trump would be a horrible president. That doesn’t justify Hillary Clinton’s bad acts.

The GOP race for President takes yet another bizarre turn.

The president is getting flack for holding a private party at his house.

NYPD Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were shot dead while sitting in their patrol car In Brooklyn. And those suggesting that anyone other than the killer has “blood on their hands” are being absurd.

After an avalanche of negative commentary, the Governors of New York and New Jersey have modified their policy regarding quarantining people returning from west Africa.

A travel ban sounds like a simple solution to a complex problem. Like most simple solutions, though, it becomes far less appealing when you think about the details.

Conservatives have their own Kennedy myth to compete with the myth of Camelot.

When worlds collide.

Don’t blame Dallas, or 60s era Texas conservatism, for what happened in Dallas 50 years ago,

Yesterday was not a good day for the Cable “News” Network.

There’s a lot we still don’t know about what happened in Boston, so maybe it’s time to stop speculating.

Does the public still care about the personal transgressions of politicians? The evidence seems to suggest they don’t.

People continue to spread conspiracy theories explaining the “real reason” that David Petraeus’s extra-marital affair became public.

Florida’s new education policy essentially assumes that minority students cannot do as well as their peers. That’s a mistake.

While the conspiracy theory is nuts, there are legitimate reasons to be skeptical of some elements of September’s Jobs Report.

Examining a history that might have been.

Is President Obama’s announcement on same-sex marriage helping to create a change in opinion on the issue among African-Americans?

The vetting process for a Vice-Presidential running mate will likely be very different with memories of the Sarah Palin debacle fresh in everyone’s mind.

Wherein we find that Santorum is the “fun” choice and a few election cliches pay a visit.

Rick Perry’s campaign team is already starting to blame each other for the collapse of a campaign that isn’t over yet.

New head-scratching revelations in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the green beret as the official headgear of US Army Special Forces.

Why talk to boring experts when you can, instead, air some more bickering?

Once again, the debt ceiling deal is raising questions about the President’s leadership.