Outside the Beltway

It’s straw poll season already. First up, New Hampshire where things turned out about how you’d expect them to considering Mitt Romney lives there now.

The same people who were complaining a week ago that the media was obsessed with Sarah Paln are now complaining that a media figure has suggested she doesn’t deserve the coverage she gets.

Didn’t we just talk about this?

For perhaps the first time ever, I find myself in total and complete agreement with Dana Milbank. Take the pledge: Give Palin a rest.

Once again, the frontrunners for the 2012 GOP nomination aren’t looking very good at all.

Despite a bad week and a half, there are still signs that Sarah Palin is at least looking at a run for the White House in 2012. Which may be why some Republicans seem to be getting worried about her.

After a fairly bad 2010, Barack Obama is starting off 2011 in a very good position.

The newest WaPo/ABC News poll numbers.

Sarah Palin’s unfavorability ratings continue to climb. And there’s very little room for her recovery.

Sarah Palin was “interviewed” by Sean Hannity last night. I doubt she helped herself.

Now that Republicans have the House, wouldn’t they be better off playing nice?

The first poll assessing the political impact of last week’s events is out, and it has good news for President Obama, and bad news for Sarah Palin.

The American media and Sarah Palin have developed an odd symbiotic relationship, and it’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

There is a problem with political rhetoric in this country, but telling people to be nicer to each other isn’t going to cool it down.

Both Bill Kristol and Brit Hume had interesting observations about Palin’s “blood libel” speech today on FNS.

A poll that came out late last week purports show that Palin’s speech helped her public image. However, if we look at the numbers, that claim is a weak one.

Yesterday, Eric Fuller, one of the victims of last week’s shooting in Tuscon, blamed Sarah Palin, John Boehner, Glenn Beck and Sharron Angle for the tragedy. Today he was arrested for making a death threat to a local Tea Party leader.

Factions on the right and left continue to charge one another with trying to politicize the Tucson murders. They’re now nitpicking the memorial service.

One columnist argues that Sarah Palin’s response to the Arizona shootings mark the end of whatever political future she might have had. He’s probably correct.

Palin’s “blood libel” speech continued to keep here in the conversation about Tucson, and not in a positive way.

By this point in the last presidential cycle, there were already 14 major party candidates who had publicly announced. There are zero today.

Sarah Palin released a statement today about the Arizona shootings and the debate that has followed. It’s unlikely to help her.

The relationships between inflammatory rhetoric and political violence is complicated.

Over the past two days, Sarah Palin has become the center of the media firestorm over the tragic shootings in Arizona, she doesn’t belong there.

The debate over heated political rhetoric has now led one Pennsylvania Congressman to suggest that some speech should be banned. This must stop now.

The tragic shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others in Arizona has started another debate about political rhetoric. It’s a stupid debate, and it’s utterly pointless.

Palin’s infamous “target” poster recycles a theme used by both parties over the years.

Graphic by Sarah Palin’s PAC had Gabriel Giffords’ district in the crosshairs

The shooting of Representative Giffords is tragic and undeniably political. Still, we need to be cautious about accusations and speculation.