Outside the Beltway

Based on its recently passed platform, the Democratic Party has given up any pretense of putting civil liberties ahead of “national security.”

The Defense of Marriage Act is under challenge through a unique angle: estate taxes.

A POLITICO analysis finds that “Obama and his top campaign aides have engaged far more frequently in character attacks and personal insults than the Romney campaign.”

Obama heads into his convention in a good position, but with several potential pitfalls in his path.

General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sent a message to Israel last week.

Not surprisingly, Romney campaigns staffers don’t seem to want to take responsibility for Clint Eastwood’s performance last night.

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.

Tonight’s convention speech is the most important speech Mitt Romney has ever given.

Security at the Republican Convention in Tampa looks more like a war zone than a political convention in a democratic republic.

Will an MRI of your brain someday be able to tell if you’re lying? And, if it can, should it be admissible in Court?

The Romney Campaign is reportedly planning a more aggressive campaign against the President for the fall.

NYT executive editor Jill Abramson is shocked that her outgoing public editor thinks her paper “virtually bleeds” a “kind of political and cultural progressivism.”

The fact that yesterday’s shooting at the Empire State Building resulted in nine civilians being injured by police bullets raises several questions.

New York’s police commissioner admits that his officers recklessly wounded 9 innocent bystanders at the Empire State Building yesterday.

The Romney/Ryan ticket has gained grown in Wisconsin and Florida, and is steady in Ohio, but they’ve got a Medicare problem.

The candidates aren’t talking about the war in Afghanistan very much, but that’s mostly because the American people don’t want them to.

When and how often must they disclose their relationship? And can we take them seriously at all?

As far as the law is concerned, your social media accounts aren’t private at all.

While Republicans talk about family values, Chuck Schumer is busy promoting them one staffer at a time.

Jon Corzine appears to be about to get a ‘Get Out Of Jail Free” card.

There’s a wee bit more to the “Progressive defended my sister’s killer” story that went viral yesterday.

The Obama campaign has begun to respond to the addition of Paul Ryan to the Republican ticket.

Most of the early reaction on the right consider’s the selection of Paul Ryan a smart move on Mitt Romney’s part, but you could also say it’s just risky.

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

President Obama still has the advantage in the battleground states.

Nick Delpopolo has been banned from the Olympics for testing positive for cannabis, which he claims came from unwittingly eating a marijuana-laced brownie.

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

The novelist, playwright, and social critic Gore Vidal has died, aged 86.

Moderate Republicans in the House are starting to become more assertive in voicing their frustrations with how Congress is operating.