Outside the Beltway

Donald Trump is out with his first television ad, and it’s about what you’d expect.

Jim Webb’s recent criticism of Hillary Clinton is renewing speculation about an independent bid for the White House, but he hardly seems like a viable candidate for such a run.

Donald Trump displays some appalling ignorance about an important part of America’s military, but his supporters are unlikely to care.

It’s now the most hated man in the Senate’s turn in the sun. Can it last?

Ben Carson threatens to leave the GOP over recent reports about plans for a brokered convention, but with his poll numbers collapsing one wonders why anyone would care if he did.

Donald Trump’s plan to bar all Muslim immigration to the United States is being widely condemned by his fellow Republicans and others, but the proposal probably won’t hurt him politically in a Republican Party that is deeply bigoted against Muslims in general.

Yesterday, cable news networks, and most especially MSNBC, showed their profession at its most pathetic.

No, there really haven’t been 355 ‘mass shootings’ since January 1st. Not unless you’re relying on completely unreliable data.

Polls are quite useful in the right circumstances, but knowledge, complexity, and timing all have to be taken into account in determining what they are telling us.

A new poll taken in the wake of the Paris attacks finds Americans increasingly fearful of ISIS attacks in the U.S., opposed to the admission of Syrian refugees, and not very confident in President Obama’s ability to deal with the ISIS threat.

Donald Trump’s latest tirade has led to another round of speculation as to whether or not he’s ‘gone too far’ and reached the beginning of the end of his campaign. Don’t count on it.

Hillary’s leading potential Republican candidates, but so is Bernie! Rand Paul does better against Hillary than other Republicans! Those are the headlines you get from head-to-head match-up polls, but it’s all largely meaningless.

Marco Rubio’s performance in this week’s debate is once again leading to speculation about whether is about to have a breakout moment.

After an eleven hour day on Capitol Hill, it was Hillary Clinton 1 House Benghazi Committee 0.

What will likely be the apex of the House Select Committee’s investigation of the Benghazi attack begins and ends today with the testimony of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The criteria for next month’s third Republican Presidential debate have been announced, and they’re likely to end up being bad news for several Republican candidates.

Even taking the fact that he is the Republican frontrunner into account, Donald Trump is getting a disproportionate amount of attention from the political media.

The 2016 election will be fought on a very small battlefield, and right now the makeup of that battlefield heavily favors the Democrats.

If we are gong to assess the significance of Trump, we need to pay attention to the numbers.

For a variety of reasons, it’s unlikely that the Republican field will shrink significantly before the Iowa Caucuses.

Donald Trump’s campaign seems to be making a play for whatever portion of the GOP it may be that still likes Sarah Palin.

His remarks about John McCain’s military service don’t seem to be hurting Donald Trump with Republican true believers.

This is not a serious Presidential campaign, it is a bloviating sideshow.

Matthew Dickinson takes a stab at explaining “Why So Many Republicans Are Running in 2016.”

Brian Williams will apparently stay at NBC News notwithstanding last year’s scandal, but he won’t be anchoring the network’s marquee newscast.

The head of the Spokane NAACP has apparently been lying about her racial background, and that’s led to a whole other argument.

With 14 candidates vying for the Republican nomination, TV execs are scrambling to make the debates watchable.

Hillary Clinton hasn’t taken questions from reporters in three weeks. Because she doesn’t need the media as much as most other candidates.

Some people in the media can’t seem to get it through their heads that speech they consider hateful is entitled to as much protection as speech that they support.

Great Britain heads to the polls in less than a week, and it remains unclear just what’s going to happen.

Even for political junkies, the thrill seems to be gone.

It’s time for another White House Correspondent’s Dinner, and it’s going to be just as atrocious as the last one. But, the dinner isn’t the real problem.

Hillary Clinton’s political and personal baggage is likely to be a bigger problem for her than whomever her Republican opponent ends up being.

Former Hewlett Packard CEO, and failed Senate candidate, Carly Fiorina will be running for President for some reason.

Some observations about Stewart’s interview (and some digression from me–okay, a lot of digression by me).

Florida Senator Marco Rubio is getting ready to jump into the race for President, but he has an uphill fight ahead of him.

Two potential candidates for the Republican nomination in 2016 traded barbs this week over the President’s new policy toward Cuba.

When push comes to shove, top Republicans may still try to make Mitt Romney happen.

Much like the disease itself, Ebola panic seems to have disappeared as the midterm elections become ever more distant in the rear view mirror.

The results of the 2014 midterms should teach us some lessons about how to handle and evaluate polling.

We are obviously moving toward an era of streaming and other services that don’t rely on Cable/Satellite providers, but it will still take some time to get there and for it to be cost effective.