Outside the Beltway

The first Democratic debate drew record numbers on both nights.

With the first Democratic debate set to begin tonight, it’s a good time to take a look at the state of the race.

Former Congressman Joe Sestak is the 24th Democrat to enter the race for President.

A trio of new polls shows Elizabeth Warren slipping past Bernie Sanders into second place in the race for the 2020 Democratic nomination

Kamala Harris is trying to jump-start her Presidential campaign with an idea for a new law, but it’s probably unconstitutional and would never get through Congress.

The party’s presidential wannabes have until September 12 to demonstrate a pulse.

Michigan Congressman Justin Amash doubled down on his assertion that the Attorney General was deliberately misleading Congress and the American public.

President Trump isn’t pleased that a news network that has generally been his own personal propaganda network is reaching out to Democrats.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden continues to hold a strong lead over his rivals for the Democratic Presidential Nomination.

Passing up an opportunity that other Democrats are taking, Elizabeth Warren is declining to appear on Fox News Channel. This seems like an unwise decision.

The White House claims to want to talk to Iran but the President’s actions make clear that negotiation is the furthest thing from his mind.

An absurd theory for an absurd time.

Stacey Abrams, best known for losing the race for Governor of Georgia in 2018, is still apparently thinking of getting in the race. Her chances seem slim at best.

The New York Times has obtained about ten years worth of Donald Trump’s tax returns from the late eighties to early nineties. They don’t tell us much that we didn’t already know.

California is the latest state to try to force all Presidential candidates, including the President, to release their tax returns as a condition for getting on the ballot. It’s not at all clear that this is permitted under the Constitution.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other firebrands aren’t steering the ship. Yet.

A year and a half into the #MeToo era, we’re still debating who gets to have a career.

Lacking any real support from the military or police, the attempted coup against Nicolas Maduro has predictably failed.

Pete Buttigieg is in the top three in a recent poll of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters, but can it last?

Pete Buttigieg is getting a lot of attention for a relatively unknown candidate. but it’s unclear if it can last.

There’s a lot of money already chasing the 2020 presidential election.

It’s increasingly challenging to discuss media coverage because we’re all consuming a hand-selected bit of it.

The mea culpas and I-told-you-so’s are rather premature.

As it has since 2007, the Democratic National Committee is barring Fox News from hosting a debate featuring the party’s candidates for President.

A new report demonstrates that the relationship between Fox News Channel and the Trump Administration is much closer and more pervasive than previously believed.

And I’d still prefer her to Donald Trump.

A Coast Guard officer and aspiring domestic terrorist was arrested late yesterday for plotting to kill Democratic politicians and members of the media.

Faced with a field that could be more crowded than the Republican field in 2016, Democrats have come up with a different solution to the rather obvious problem of debate scheduling.

Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld is preparing for a primary challenge against Donald Trump. He won’t win, but he could still have an impact.

It was only a matter of time before Trump’s rhetoric against the press would lead to something violent. Last night in El Paso, it happened.

The Speaker was dealt a winning hand and played it with the skill of a seasoned pro. But the outcome was all but inevitable.

Congress will not be returning to Washington until some time next week. Thus guaranteeing that this shutdown will last at least through January 3rd.

Faced with the prospect of a large field like the one Republicans had in 2016, Democrats are trying to figure out how to handle debates. So far, the ideas being put forward are as bad as what the GOP ended up doing.

There’s yet another rumor that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly could be on the way out.

The 2020 campaign is already heating up, and California Senator Kamala Harris could be one of the first serious candidates for President to throw her hat in the ring.

The continued problem cause by a lack of shared reality.

Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has made several mistakes since Election Day, but she’s likely to win tomorrow’s runoff election.

The morning show co-hosts tied the knot at a secret ceremony at the National Archives.

One of the last Republican strongholds in California is now completely blue.

Starbucks Founder Howard Schultz is apparently considering running for President.

Beto O’Rourke should consider running again in 2020, but not for President.

Donald Trump’s lies became even more frequent during the recently-concluded campaign season.

The emergence of a silly talking point.

When do we stop pretending that Fox News Channel is anything other than State Run Media for the Trump Administration?

As the midterm campaign draws to a close, Donald Trump is returning to the message of xenophobia and fear that dominated his Presidential campaign.

Just days after appearing to condone donning blackface in the style of a 19th Century minstrel show, Megyn Kelly is out at NBC News.

Two more potential explosive devices, addressed to New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, have been discovered by law enforcement.

Jamal Khashoggi’s final column includes a message that should resonate far beyond the Arab world it was addressed to.

Those rambling campaign rally speeches the President loves to give aren’t getting the kind of coverage they used to, not even from his favorite news channel.

Is the reopened investigation of Brett Kavanaugh a real investigation of the charges made against him by three separate women, or is it a political sham? It’s beginning to look much more like the latter than the former.