May 14, 2015 - Dr. Ben Carson is showing some bounce from his presidential announcement as he finds himself tied with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in the newest poll on the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Both Carson and Bush find themselves with the support of 13% of those polled. Next up is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker with 11% followed by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee with 10%.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is in 5th place with 9% ahead of Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky with 7%. Tied at 6% each are Senator Ted Cruz of Kentucky and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Each polling 2% are former Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Senator Rick Santorum and Ohio Governor John Kasich. Rounding out the poll is former CEO Carly Fiorina and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal both at 1%.

The amount of candidates and potential candidates being polled anywhere  from 15 to sometimes 20 shows the dilemma come August when the first Republican presidential debate is scheduled for Cleveland Ohio. A 90 minute debate with 15 people is considered to be impractical as it would only allow for about 4 minutes each for a candidate to speak when the time to ask questions and T.V. commercials are added. Whether a formula will be devised that includes poll numbers, fund raising amounts and the size of a campaign staff to be invited to a debate is at the moment being considered.

 May 12, 2015 - In a video statement released today by the Barack Obama Foundation, President Barack Obama announced that Chicago would be the home of  his presidential library.

Chicago , the city were President Obama began his political career, beat out two other finalist cities, Honolulu , Hawaii where the President was born and New York City were he attended Columbia University.

In the video posted on the Foundation's web site Obama said " All the strands of my life came together and I really became a man when I moved to Chicago."  The President added "the people there , the community, the lessons that I learned , they're all based right in this few square miles where we will now be able to give something back and bring the world back home after this incredible journey."

While the library will be located on the South Side of Chicago , it is yet to be determined whether it will be located in Jackson Park or Washington Park.

 May 7, 2015 - The latest poll on the New Hampshire Republican Presidential Primary shows former Governor Florida Jeb Bush in the lead with 15%. Next at a close second is Senator Marco Rubio of Florida with 12%.

In  third place is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker with 11% followed by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky with 10%.

Despite Bush being in the lead, the primary is really up for grabs at the moment considering that the poll measured the strength of 20 potential GOP White House Contenders.

One of the 20 taking a slice of the pie is Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in 5th place with six percent of the poll. Next up is business entrepreneur Donald Trump with 5%, followed by Dr. Ben Carson, former CEO Carly Fiorina and former Texas Governor Rick Perry all at 4%.

Tied at 3% is former Arkansas  Governor Mike Huckabee and New Jersey  Governor Chris Christie. This new poll on New Hampshire is particularly bad news for Christie considering he was polling at 9% in the same poll back in February of this year. Christie is scheduled to make a two day swing through New Hampshire for a potential presidential run this week.

Coming is at 2% in the poll are Louisianan Governor Bobby Jindal, former New York Governor George Pataki, and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. Tied at 1% are Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Ohio Governor John Kasich.

Other names that the were polled but failed to register any significant support were New York Congressman Peter King, former Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich, former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore and former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton.

 May 5, 2015 - Its been a busy week in presidential politics as four more candidates have entered the race. Until now  Hillary Clinton had the Democratic field entirely to herself , but last Thursday Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont made it official when he announced he would run for the Democratic Party nomination.

Sanders, 73, is an Independent who normally caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate. He said he would register as a Democrat if necessary to win the nomination. Sanders made a nice splash in fundraising after his announcement when he promptly raised $1.5 million dollars online for his campaign. That will sure pay for a lot of Bernie Sanders for President campaign buttons!

On the Republican side three more candidates have now entered the quest for the White House,  Dr Ben Carson, former Hewlett - Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

Carson, 63, is a retired neurosurgeon who in 1987 became the first surgeon to successfully separate conjoined twins joined at the head. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008. Carson became a favorite of conservatives when he delivered a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast where he explained his ideas on political correctness, health care, taxation and education. In the latest polling , Carson has the support of 7% those polled. This is Carson's first run for political office.

Fiorina , 60, in addition to her  time at Hewlett - Packard, was an executive at AT&T and at Lucent. This will be Fiorina's second run for political office. In 2010, she ran for the U.S. Senate from Californian losing to California's long time Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer. Currently Fiorina is registering at just 1% in the latest political opinion poll.

Huckabee , 59, begins his second quest for the presidency having been a candidate in 2008. Despite wining the 2008 Iowa Caucus and several other states including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee he could not over come the campaign of John McCain who would go on to win the 2008 Republican nomination. Huckabee is currently registering in the latest poll with 5%.

In the newest polling, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is the leading the Republican field with 23% followed by , Senator Marco Rubio of Florida with 18%, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker with 14%, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas both with 11% and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie with 5%.

In regards to Christie , the last week brought some news on the long running George Washington Bridge scandal when three of his former allies were indicted in relation to the lane closures. U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Paul Fishman in a press conference about the indictments said there was not evidence that Christie was involved in the September 2013 lane closures on the bridge. Christie has attempted to spin this as a vindication that he had nothing to do with the lane closures. The view of the political world has so far been divided as to whether Christie can still be considered a viable candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

In other news Hillary Clinton has agreed to appear before the House Select Committee on Benghazi to answer questions before the end of May. The committee had wanted Clinton to appear on two separate occasions to answer questions about  Benghazi and the use of emails during her tenure at Secretary of State. Clinton's lawyer David Kendall said that she would appear on one day and stay as long as was necessary to answer the questions on the two topics.

Despite the controversy of the emails, Clinton continues to lead in potential 2016 general election match ups. Here are the results Clinton 49% vs Bush 43%, Clinton 49% vs Rubio 43%, Clinton 47% vs Paul 43% and Clinton 50% vs Walker 40%.