Jennifer Harper

Inside the Beltway: On message: Mike Pence earns his keep

He has graciously assumed the role of Donald Trump's running mate. Gov. Mike Pence is blazing down the campaign trail and countering the melodramatic, often imaginative media narratives about Mr. Trump -- which are both caustic and plentiful.

August 3, 2016

John Bolton Super Pac: $700,000 to re-election campaigns of Joe Heck, Kelly Ayotte

Some significant support for a pair of security-minded Republicans: through his Super PAC, former UN ambassador John Bolton ismaking an independent expenditure $700,000 to the re-election campaigns of Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada and Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire.

August 3, 2016

CNN hosts Libertarian town hall with Gary Johnson on Wednesday

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson and running mate William Weld continue to draw interest from the press, along with voters exploring their third-party options in the November presidential election. The former New Mexico governor has also hinted that 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney may be forthcoming with an endorsement.

August 3, 2016

Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton campaign amid chaos

The far-flung presidential hopefuls are many miles from each other Wednesday. But both are campaigning amid drama, trauma and fancy footwork. GOP nominee Donald Trump has a town-hall meeting in Daytona Beach, Florida, followed by a rally in Jacksonville. Democratic rival Hillary Clinton is in grass-roots mode, campaigning through Adams County, Colorado, culminating in a rally in Commerce City.

August 2, 2016

American interest in Olympic games tumbles to a ‘new low’: Gallup poll

Reports of toxic water, sewage in the sea and discord surrounding the Olympic summer games in Rio de Janeiro appears to have taken its toll. American interest in the games set to begin Friday have tumbled to a "new low," according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday.

August 2, 2016

Women give generously to Donald Trump’s campaign

One of the mainstream news media's favorite myths is that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is not popular with women. A new study from the Center for Responsive Politics has some research which would suggest otherwise: "Trump is doing surprisingly well with women donors," reports Alec Goodwin, an analyst for the nonprofit watchdog, who recalls that Mr. Trump recently stated that he's faring "pretty well" among female voters.

August 1, 2016

Madame Tussauds reveals preliminary ‘head sculpts’ for next presidential wax figure

Some precision work in the nation's capital: Madame Tussauds DC has completed preliminary clay head sculptures of the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in preparation for the election, now less than 100 days off.

August 1, 2016

Three books critical of Hillary Clinton now dominate New York Times best-seller lists

Public interest in the anti-Clinton book genre appears intense. A trio of books critical of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton are among the top five positions on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list.

August 1, 2016

Donald Trump proves a mastermind in the $6 billion presidential marketing war

The money spent on advertising and marketing so far in the 2016 presidential race is unprecedented. Consider, for example, that by the time the Democratic National Convention rolled around last week, Hillary Clinton's campaign had already shelled out $220 million on radio and TV ads alone, mostly to blast Republican rival Donald Trump.

July 31, 2016

Americans’ sense of ‘alienation’ at an all-time high: poll

While a contentious presidential election dominates the media, a new survey finds that a sense of "alienation" among average Americans is at an all-time high.

July 30, 2016

Gretchen Carlson possibility: She may run for office

Many still ponder former Fox News Channel anchor Gretchen Carlson's exit from the network, her much-publicized sexual harassment lawsuit against CEO Roger Ailes and his own sudden exit from that same news organization. Speculation has begun on the spinoff episode.

July 28, 2016

Libertarian Party woos ‘politically homeless’ Bernie Sanders voters

The opportunity to pick up a few disenchanted Bernie Sanders voters is not lost on Libertarian National Committee chairman Nicholas Sarwark, who is now coaching his fellow libertarians on the art of political wooing.

July 28, 2016

Bernie Sanders launches a new ‘Revolution’

All that brusque determination had to go somewhere. Sen. Bernard Sanders has not put his campaign out to pasture just yet.

July 27, 2016

Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation: ‘John Hinckley is still a threat’

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation issued a response Wednesday to a federal judge's decision to release the would-be assassin of the nation's 40th president from a mental institution after a stay that spanned three decades.

July 27, 2016

Inside the Beltway: Energized Trump: 6 campaign stops in 48 hours

While the Democratic National Convention rolls along over increasingly rough terrain, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is blazing down the campaign trail, with a bold and nimble itinerary. And an energetic one.

July 26, 2016

Media watchdog launches 24/7 effort to foil ‘love affair’ between liberal press and Hillary

The Media Research Center is vigilant about monitoring liberal bias in the press. The Democratic National Convention, however, has prompted the conservative watchdog to go round-the-clock, says founder Brent Bozell, who has assembled a "massive team of analysts" to track news media transgressions and tingling hysteria in Philadelphia -- hour by hour if need be.

July 25, 2016

Bill, Hillary Clinton featured in graphic novel

When it was released in May, The New York Times called "Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich" by Peter Schweizer "the most anticipated and feared book of a presidential cycle." Here comes part two. Just in time to attract millennial voters, it's "Clinton Cash: The Graphic Novel" from Regnery Publishing.

July 24, 2016

Inside the Beltway: Donald Trump’s ‘boyhood home’ gets famous

"Mount Vernon. Monticello. Wareham Place? If Donald Trump wins the presidency in November, his modest boyhood home in Jamaica Estates in Queens, New York arguably could attain something approaching the status of George Washington's or Thomas Jefferson's historic residences," notes an analysis in MarketWatch.

July 21, 2016

Inside the Beltway: Ka-ching: Conventions generate $360 million for their host cities

Despite all the fuss, uneasiness and melodrama in the host cities, both the Republican and Democratic national conventions are very good for the local economies. Very, very good. "Between getting there, staying there, eating and drinking there, and all other activity, attendees of the two major-party conventions will be responsible for spending an estimated $360 million in their host cities," says the U.S. Travel Association in a new analysis of direct local spending on lodging, meals, transportation, retail sales, plus host committee expenses on such concerns as security and logistics.

July 20, 2016

Reagan historian to the GOP: Unify or lose the 2016 election

Let us recall the 1980 presidential election, when almost every one of Ronald Reagan's primary opponents addressed the Republican National Convention in Detroit that year. These prime-time appearances helped produce a unified convention, a unified party and a mighty candidate who went on to score a historic victory that November, says Craig Shirley, a best-selling presidential historian and Reagan biographer.

July 19, 2016