Outside the Beltway

If the first round of post-convention polling is correct, President Obama may be pulling away from Mitt Romney.

The President and his supporters say that Congressional Republicans will temper their rhetoric in a second Obama term. Don’t count on it.

After three days of buildup to a “mystery speaker,” the closing night of the Republican convention featured a rambling performance by Clint Eastwood and an empty chair.

The GOP claims to be a party that favors limited government, but its foreign policy positions reveal this to be little more than a lie.

Condoleeza Rice’s first trip onto the political stage was very successful last night. Where will she go from here?

Today’s convention activities will include the opening salvos of an attack on the President’s foreign policy. This strikes me as a mistake.

The GOP Platform will include an abortion plank that Todd Akin would love.

Maybe the real problem this year isn’t that the campaign is unduly nasty, but that it’s incredibly petty.

National Republicans aren’t at all thrilled with Todd Akin right now.

At some point, however, using the bad actions of the past to justify worse actions in the present has to stop.

GOP stratgist Alex Castellanos issues a challenge.

Victor Davis Hanson thinks President Obama plans to win the back the White House by alienating the white man.

There’s little evidence that Vice-Presidential picks have as big an impact on elections as pundits seem to think.

Mitt Romney has effectively rebooted his campaign by picking Paul Ryan, but he’s also handed the President a powerful weapon.

For the first time in 80 years, there are no veterans on the major party Presidential tickets.

He’s no Sarah Palin but Paul Ryan doesn’t make immediate sense as Romney’s running mate.

Is the the 2012 Republican Presidential ticket? We’ll find out Saturday morning.

Once again, Chris Christie makes one wish there were more Republicans like him.

Politico’s Mike Allen reports that several Republicans are expected to speak at the Democratic National Convention next month.

In calling for the sequestration cuts to be delayed, Republicans are demonstrating their lack of seriousness on the issue of fiscal responsibility.

The recent call by many on the right for Mitt Romney to select Paul Ryan as his running mate is puzzling.

President Obama still has the advantage in the battleground states.

Mitt Romney continues to have serious problems getting people to like him.

Mitt Romney and other top Republicans are not taking part in the latest round of the culture war debate over same-sex marriage, for good reason.

Three new polls show President Obama leading in three key battleground states.

Kids, the President of the United States has a message for you: stop hanging out and get to work.

There are still three months or so go. The race is incredibly tight. And, voters are starting to really dislike both candidates.

Alex Pareene’s quip that “Aaron Sorkin is why people hate liberals” has gone viral.

Michele Bachmann and several other Members of Congress are engaging in the despicable tactics of Joe McCarthy.

The Romney campaign has apparently decided to be more aggressive in its attacks on the President, which poses serious risks for the campaign.

The people trying to undo the Defense Budget sequestration cuts are making some pretty weak arguments.

The Koch brothers will spend more money in this election cycle than the entire McCain campaign did in 2008.