Outside the Beltway

Another Federal District Court ruling on the Constitutionality of the NSA’s data mining program, this time more favorable to the NSA.

A third term for any of these guys? Don’t count on it.

The federal government won’t have money to pay its workers come Tuesday but it’ll spend like a drunken sailor on Monday.

Does it matter if political leaders like each other on some personal level? Sometimes it does.

There seems to be an effort underway to reassess the legacy of our 43rd President.

If you want to understand contemporary politics, the last thing you should do is reference an Andrew Sorkin project.

The Iraq War did significant damage to the legacy of the Republican Party.

The final release of President Lyndon Johnson’s tape recordings reveals a bizarre plot.

President Lyndon Johnson considered flying to the 1968 convention and offering himself up for re-nomination.

Looking at the data? Not very.

A rich child is 45 percent more likely to earn a four-year college degree than a poor one.

Are two-term Presidencies the new normal?

In a posting for New Atlanticist titled “Status Quo Election,” I note the near total absence of foreign affairs from a presidential campaign that’s mercifully coming to an end.

Republicans think they found the smoking gun of the 2012 election. They’re kidding themselves.

Victor Davis Hanson thinks President Obama plans to win the back the White House by alienating the white man.

There’s little evidence that Vice-Presidential picks have as big an impact on elections as pundits seem to think.

Examining a history that might have been.

The Veepstakes doesn’t matter nearly as much as the media tells you it does.

For the first time in 68 years, neither major party candidate for President has served in the military. Does this matter?

Nicholas Katzenbach, a central figure in the civil rights fights of the 1960s, has died.

Joe Biden says we can’t afford a president who has to learn foreign policy on the job.

The Obama campaign’s cheap politicizing of the SEAL raid that took out bin Laden is unseemly. And unnecessary.

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.

Is the United States a serious country? Should we be?

Is the presumptive Republican nominee too handsome, too rich, and too pompous to win the hearts of ordinary Americans?

American politics is as polarized as ever, and it shows no signs of changing regardless of who wins in November.

Mitt Romney made a suggestion about how to fix our campaign finance system. It’s a good idea.

The Republican candidates for President have apparently forgotten that this guy was their party’s nominee twice.

“Democratic” Pollsters Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen are out with another wacky Op-Ed.

“Democratic” pollsters Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen argue that President Obama should decline to run for re-election.

Barack Obama uses a teleprompter. This is not a big deal.

Have Republicans been co-opted by the Big Government they claim to hate?

Yes, Barack Obama is running for a second term.

Richard Cohen reports that people like Richard Cohen have lost their enthusiasm for Barack Obama.

Former Oregon governor and long-time US Senator Mark Hatfield has died.

Some on the left are upset with the President, but does it really matter?

President Obama is polling at 46.8 percent, below the level needed to win re-election.

Thomas Ricks makes the case that JFK was the worst President of his century but his argument misses the mark.

Barack Obama’s leadership style may be his undoing.