Outside the Beltway

The biggest surprise of the Presidential race to date is the fact that Mitt Romney has lost the edge he once had on economic issues.

The response rates for opinion polling of all types has become incredibly low.

Annie Lowrey reminds us that our taxes will likely rise in January regardless of who wins the November election.

Virginia went Republican in every presidential contest from 1968 to 2004. It’s likely to vote for Barack Obama again five weeks from now.

Where’s the beef?

There’s little evidence that Presidential debates can be game changers.

The Court’s 2012-2013 term begins tomorrow morning, and there are plenty of big cases on the docket.

Getting to the heart of the problem from my POV (plus historical numbers).

The Presidency costs taxpayers a lot of money, but that’s been true for many, many years now.

Don’t hate the player, hate the game (more or less, anyway).

There are signs that some Romney supporters have already decided their candidate is going to lose.

Both campaigns are trying to set the stage for Wednesday’s debate.

Questions about why the Obama administration pretended the attacks on our Embassy in Libya were a spontaneous reaction to a video rather than a coordinated terrorist attack are gaining steam.

Yet another case of breathless media reporting on academic research findings.

Not exactly journalism.

The Afghan Surge announced by President Obama in December 2009 is over. By any objective measurement, it was a failure.

Mitt Romney’s “47 Percent” remarks seem to be hurting him.

The arguments of the people claiming that every single poll showing Mitt Romney is unfairly biased do not stand up to scrutiny.

A wonderfully descriptive story in the New York Times Style section that’s almost surely mere anecdote being touted as trend.

The NYT stages an interesting debate on “Which Language Rules to Flout. Or Flaunt?”

Secret surveillance of American citizens has dramatically increased under the Obama Administration.

Our War On Drugs is having a disastrous impact on our neighbors to the south, and they’re starting to notice.

Just as we saw in 2008, the conservative base doesn’t want to hear their nominee saying that the President is a basically decent man.

Because some things are worth reinforcing.

My latest for The New Republic, “America’s Scandalous Drone War Goes Unmentioned in the Campaign,” is out.