While 9/11 was off-limits for campaign politics, the murder of Americans in Libya was not.

These aren't areas where candidates can rail against each other because they aren't topics that can be resolved with an easily chant-able slogan.  So it's safer for both sides to leave them out of the debates.

Swing voters would love to see a decent alternative to Obama, and if Romney were a decent alternative, he'd be the one leading in the polls right now.

Let me preface this by saying that if the Baltimore Ravens stadium were on fire, and I had just finished drinking a six pack of beer, as a Redskins fan I would do nothing to help put the fire out.

Marriage equality. The Dream Act. Reproductive rights. Voter access. These Democrats were bold and certain. They were progressive and passionate.

Now that the conventions are over, both campaigns will pivot to the swing states where they still need to make the case to crucial undecided voters. In my home state of Iowa, the campaigns are turning up the heat over every eligible pocket of the state.

I did hear something at both conventions that gives me hope about being able to avoid this fast approaching 'fiscal cliff', and get our government headed in a more fiscally sane direction.

The current crop of Democrats give good speeches. That's one of the take-away lessons from this week's Democratic National Convention.

It might be that the Bush years put in contrast how good the Clinton years were, or that the current Republican Party makes Clinton look out-and-out left-wing by comparison.

President Bill Clinton took the audience, the viewing public and the Republicans to school.

So you’re running a political convention. You want excitement. You want Kumbaya. You want above all unity. But on Wednesday night during the early part of the evening session, unity was about to go down the toilet!

Cory Booker and Deval Patrick moved the crowd in exceptional ways, ways that worried me. Would there be enough inspiring-black-man sauce left for President Obama Thursday night?

Warren will enter on a motorized canoe with a hidden, radio-controlled electric cart underneath it, decked out in traditional Indian garb, including a feather headdress and buckskin skirt. The lighting scheme will suggest onstage the rippling waters of Lake Superior.

The convention looks like the America the Obama team describes: diverse, cross-generational, truly a nation inside the hall. And the crowd was ready to cheer for a beloved First Lady who delivered the most passionate and successful speech of the night.

Being able to gauge the reactions of the audience is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

You want to run on "We can do better," but find yourself chanting, "We can still do even better than the gradual improvements we've already made."

The Democratic National Convention in Charlotte is like a music festival just with more American flags and slightly less beer.

I really do think there is a chance that this garbage will cost Romney 2-3 points. Not to Obama, but to Gary Johnson.

Hey Congress, please let people with either a legitimate science background or at least a respect for science serve on the Science Committee.