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Jennifer Harper

Jennifer Harper

jharper@washingtontimes.com

Jennifer Harper wrote the daily Inside the Beltway column for The Washington Times.

Articles by Jennifer Harper

Sen. Marco Rubio

Inside the Beltway

Even the most connected Democrats are not above handicapping the potential Republican ticket and the likeliest team to seriously challenge President Obama come November.

January 30, 2012

Inside the Beltway

Despite all the Grand Old Party's political theater, the state of the nation does not appear lost on Americans. President Obama has work to do.

January 29, 2012
President George W. Bush delivers his State of the Union address on Jan. 29, 2002, in Washington. Sunday will mark 10 years since that day, when Mr. Bush introduced the phrase "axis of evil." (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway

Time flies when the world is chaotic. The phrase "axis of evil" is 10 years old Sunday, introduced by former President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address Jan. 29, 2002.

January 26, 2012
President Eisenhower delivered a State of the Union speech that was written on a 12th-grade level. (Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum)

Inside the Beltway

Hollywood beckons the White House: several glittering fundraisers are scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Tinseltown, complete with the Obama Victory Fund's own "Platinum Package," just for two.

January 25, 2012
**FILE** Jeb Bush (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway

The name of Jeb Bush has been bandied about for months as a jump-in candidate for president; the former governor of Florida is described as "the last dream date that Republicans may have at their disposal."

January 24, 2012
"Obstructionists" and "compromise"? Enjoy a game of bingo based on cliches likely to surface in President Obama's State of the Union address, courtesy of Americans for Tax Reform. (Image from Americans for Tax Reform)

Inside the Beltway

President Obama "faces the daunting task of making his [State of the Union] message credible and relevant against the backdrop of political and economic turmoil that has characterized much of the past few years," observes Gallup analyst Lydia Saad, upon reviewing numbers that reveal an edgy nation.

January 23, 2012
NBC News anchor Brian Williams moderates the 19th Republican presidential debate in Tampa, which could yield a creative outburst from GOP hopeful Mitt Romney this time. (Image from NBC)

Inside the Beltway

Mitt Romney needs a "Newt moment" to woo voters who now revere Newt Gingrich for his attack on CNN anchor John King in the last Republican presidential debate. The 19th bout looms Monday night; it's NBC News anchor Brian Williams' turn to wrangle the GOP hopefuls.

January 22, 2012
"We'll be saving the American Dream one bus stop at a time," Heritage Foundation President Ed Feulner said of the organization's involvement in a nine-month multi-city bus tour between now and November's elections. (Heritage Foundation)

Inside the Beltway

Who gets to be the conservative standard-bearer in the 2012 race?

January 19, 2012
CNN anchorman John King moderates the 18th Republican presidential debate on Thursday, and plans to let the candidates set the tone and tenor of the event. (Photo courtesy CNN)

Inside the Beltway

CNN anchor John King tells Inside the Beltway there is no truth to rumors that the five remaining Republican presidential hopefuls will be "unleashed" in Thursday night's debate, or that the 18th encounter among rivals will devolve into mayhem.

January 18, 2012

Inside the Beltway

There are rumblings that Mitt Romney, after Thursday night, may be a no-show in the six remaining GOP debates, now scheduled for Florida, Arizona, Georgia, California and Oregon through mid-March.

January 17, 2012
J.C. Watts, a Gingrich national co-chairman, calls social conservatives' endorsement of Rick Santorum in Texas "misleading." (Associated Press)

Inside the Beltway

Interpretations vary as to just what went on at last weekend's conservative gathering in Texas.

January 16, 2012
Sen. Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, is the Senate majority leader.

Inside the Beltway

The tea party movement is in the midst of re-invention, judging from the big doings at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition convention, now under way in Myrtle Beach.

January 15, 2012
Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina will join Fox News' Mike Huckabee in Charleston on Saturday for a Republican presidential candidate forum. (Photo courtesy Tim Scott)

Inside the Beltway

The South Carolina Tea Party Coalition descends on Myrtle Beach this weekend for a bustling convention.

January 12, 2012
Texas Gov. Rick Perry's down-home cachet could play well in South Carolina, like it does at this campaign stop at Fatz Cafe in Gaffney. (Perry campaign photo)

Inside the Beltway

"Bare-knuckle politics. Now it matters. Bring your big-boy pants."

January 11, 2012
Rep. James E. Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat, will share billing at a homeownership rally Thursday at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C., with a Republican presidential hopeful.

Inside the Beltway

South Carolina press and public are puzzling over Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich's decision to appear at a homeownership rally in Columbia on Thursday with Rep. James E. Clyburn, the Palmetto State's only Democratic congressman.

January 10, 2012
Fox Business Network anchor Neil Cavuto hosts Sarah Palin and Herman Cain on Tuesday night, and says the economy-driven Republican primaries have a global audience. (image from Fox Business Network)

Inside the Beltway

Behold: Sarah Palin and Herman Cain will visit Fox Business Network anchorman Neil Cavuto Tuesday night to weigh in on a presidential primary drawing a global audience — where the economy trumps all and a third-party interloper may be an uncomfortable reality.

January 9, 2012
Republican Jon Huntsman Jr. is getting backing from the Boston Globe and other New England newspapers as he tries to surge in the presidential primary race.

Inside the Beltway

Do Republican officials need to fear the specter of some defiant third party bogeyman emerging to split the vote and keep President Obama in the White House?

January 8, 2012

Inside the Beltway

Only six candidates will step up to their glittering lecterns during the 19th Republican presidential debate, airing Saturday night on ABC from Manchester, N.H.

January 5, 2012
He's gaining momentum: There is a slim chance that Republican hopeful Buddy Roemer could make it into the ABC News candidate debate on Saturday. (Photograph provided by Buddy Roemer)

Inside the Beltway

Let Buddy debate: And so goes the repeat refrain from the camp of persistent Republican presidential hopeful Buddy Roemer, barred from the major presidential debates by sponsoring news organizations because of his flagging or nonexistent poll numbers.

January 4, 2012
New tribes in the powerful independent voting bloc: "NPR Republicans" and "America First Democrats," says the upcoming book "The Swing Vote" by Linda Killian. (Image from St. Martin's Press)

Inside the Beltway

The arrival of Election Year 2012 has triggered a Pavlovian response of drooling and whining among journalists.

January 3, 2012