Matt Welch: reason and the libertarian Robert Scheer sits down with journalist and libertarian Matt Welch to discuss the party's growth during this election campaign.

A Nation On the Edge President Obama will be in Dallas tomorrow, to memorialize the five police officers gunned down by a sniper last week during a protest against police violence. Today, Police Chief David Brown said protesters deserve protection.

Are Polls Trumping Political Reality? In a speech in South Carolina today, Donald Trump gave out the personal cell phone of Lindsay Graham, that state's US Senator and a fellow candidate for President. Trump also called Graham a "lightweight" and "an idiot." The Des Moines Register's editorial board has called Trump a "feckless blowhard" and asked him to drop out of the presidential primary. Today's Washington Post/ABC News poll shows Trump leading the field of 16 candidates—with 24%, the biggest showing any candidate has made so far this year. Yet the same survey shows that Republicans don't share Trump's views — even on immigration — and 54% say he doesn't reflect Republican values. Other surveys show the same contradiction. Is it all about saturation news coverage, or is something wrong with the polls? The question's especially important this year when the first debate will include only the ten candidates with the biggest numbers.

Sizing Up Obama's Second Term High ratings in public opinion polls helped President Obama weather financial crises, withstand relentless Republican opposition and win re-election. Now, his ratings are dropping. The disastrous roll-out of healthcare.gov and his own misleading promise that people who liked their health insurance policies could keep them when the Affordable Care Act was implemented are obvious reasons. Critics see inexperience and bad management. Even supporters – including more than a dozen Democratic Senators who spent two hours with the President this week venting frustrations -- say he's failed to communicate well with the public. Two of them complained in public about "a crisis of confidence." Does the President have time to restore his image and pursue his agenda before being overtaken by the inevitable "lame duck" status of a second term?

What's the Future of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell?' After decades of controversy, Congress recognized the right of blacks and women to serve in the US military, perhaps making the armed services America's most thoroughly integrated institution  – except when it comes to sexual orientation. While some states have legalized same-sex marriage, federal law says gays and lesbians can serve only if they're not "out." President Obama and Defense Secretary Gates want Congress to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the political compromise signed by Bill Clinton. John McCain and others see a threat to "combat effectiveness." We hear what a crucial Pentagon survey reveals about the rank and file. If it's not repealed in Congress, what about the courts?

Palin Dazzles the Party with Her Speech, Values and Experience Last night's speeches by Mitt Romney , Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani were full of the kind of sarcasm Republicans are famous for. But it was the speech by vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin that had delegates on their feet again and again at the Xcel Energy Center. She described her family as typically American and boasted of challenging her own party, while delivering lines dripping of partisanship. Again and again she compared herself to John McCain as a maverick willing to challenge his own party and the ruling establishment in Washington. After a slow start, the convention is energized. But will Palin's message touch Independents and uncertain Democrats? How well did she set the stage for tonight's address by McCain?

Rent Control on the June Ballot In 2005, the US Supreme Court outraged land owners all over the country. It said a local government could use the power of eminent domain to seize private homes --not just for roads, schools or other public projects, but for private developments that would provide increased taxes. Two years ago, California voters rejected a proposition that would have prohibited that practice. This year, the issue is back on the ballot—in competing Propositions 98 and 99 . Both would limit the power of eminent domain, but Prop 98 would do much more.