Outside the Beltway

The beginnings of a populist challenge to Hillary Clinton in 2016?

The President is neither messiah nor devil, and the media does the public no favors when it treats him as either.

The Fox News Channel created “War On Christmas” officially entered the absurd zone last week.

Republicans have some good ideas about overhauling how they pick a nominee. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see how most of them can be enforced.

The Federal Exchange website seems to be functioning better, but many questions about implementation of the PPACA remain to be answered.

A top House Republican suggested today that only Governor’s should be President. His argument has both practical and historical merit.

Rand Paul used word-for-word excerpts from Wikipedia in two speeches in Virginia.

Can differences in media coverage of two unrelated filibusters be explained solely by media bias?

And Republicans wonder why they have problems with minority voters.

Al Jazeera debuted its American broadcast Tuesday. Fewer Americans have access to Al Jazeera than they did Monday.

Some conservatives don’t seem too troubled by Vladimir Putin’s repression.

Three years after joining The New York Times, Nate Silver is jumping ship to Disney’s ESPN and ABC.

Low voter priorities and the natural tendency of the media to move on to the next big story meant that gun control was not going to be a top political issue for long.

Evidence that George Zimmerman acted out of racial bias is completely lacking, which means the Federal Government should stay out of this case entirely.

The prominent media critic will no longer bother criticizing CNN for not living up to the standards of the profession.

CNN is reviving the Crossfire shoutfest with Newt Gingrich, S.E. Cupp, Stephanie Cutter, and Van Jones as hosts.

I have for months taken it as a given that she went on five Sunday morning talk shows and lied about what happened there. Did she?

John McCain is taking a break from advocating yet another war in the Middle East to make war against cable television companies.

Big Brother is watching us. And he may be watching us a lot more after what happened in Boston.

The In Sheep Dip – Baaaa’d Puns Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

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

Whether in the blogosphere or on television, people are increasingly only accessing sources of news and opinion that confirm their pre-conceived ideas.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes uses a quota system to make sure his guests aren’t all white dudes.

The Hagel confirmation, like Obama’s election, was big news to some avid news consumers.

CPAC’s organizers have decided not to invite the most popular Governor in the country.

How he went from Juicebox Mafia member to the most important young journalist in DC.

MSNBC’s Krystal Ball isn’t being hypocritical in trusting Obama to decide which Americans to kill even though she wouldn’t have trusted Bush. But she’s being short-sighted.

Alex Pareene’s annual hack list omits an obvious candidate: Alex Pareene.

Jake Tapper is moving to CNN, where he’ll host a daily show and run their political coverage.

Wherein I get a bit petty (but to make a point and, maybe just because it amuses me).

The 2012 Election should be a warning to the GOP that it needs to open itself up to minority groups, especially Latinos.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been working tirelessly to ensure Barack Obama is a one-term president but has been effusive in praising Obama’s leadership during Hurricane Sandy.