Staff Writer

Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Staff Writer

Christopher Peleo-Lazar is a staff writer for National Journal Hotline, covering a wide variety of races across the country as well as national television coverage. He also maintains the National Journal’s Independent Expenditure tracker. Previously, Peleo-Lazar worked as a research assistant for MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. He is a native of Chicago and earned bachelor’s degrees from American University in Political Science and History.

Christopher Peleo-Lazar's Latest Posts

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

A deal on gun control, President Obama's budget proposal and the Senate's Gang of Eight pending immigration proposal are at the top of the Sunday show agenda. Sen. Marco Rubio , R-Fla., is hitting the airwaves with a "Full Ginsbu...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Jake Tapper's New CNN Show: 'We're Going to Take Risks'

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Sen. Rand Paul 's, R-Ky., 13-hour filibuster is sure to be a hot topic on the Sunday shows this weekend, though Paul himself does not currently appear in the lineup for any of the programs. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush , meanwh...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Kelly Wins Ill. House Primary With Boost From Gun-Law Advocates

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Gun Issue Propels Kelly to Frontrunner Status in Ill. House Primary

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Debbie Halvorson Says Michael Bloomberg Trying to Buy Ill. Special Election

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Friday Feature: Candy Crowley

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Every Friday, The Hotline 's Latest Edition features a profile of a media figure. From all walks of the industry, we ask questions varying from the personal to the absurd. Today, we thought readers would enjoy our latest Friday Fe...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Sunday shows will address the fallout from the first presidential debate as well as the improved unemployment numbers. Read More »

Friday Feature: Mark Knoller

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Every Friday, The Hotline 's Latest Edition features a profile a media figure. From all walks of the industry, we ask questions varying from the personal to the absurd. Today, we thought readers would enjoy our latest Friday Featu...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

With under 50 days to go before Election Day, newly revealed videos and Univision forums are the highlights on the Sunday shows. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Updated at 7:42 p.m. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

With both party conventions in the rear-view mirror, this weekend's shows will look forward to the final two months of the campaign. Read More »

Republican Convention Ratings Down from 2008

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Continuing the trend, TV ratings for the final night of the Republican National Convention were down compared to 2008. 25.28 million viewers tuned in to see Mitt Romney accept the GOP nomination and Clint Eastwood make a... memo...

Q&A: Jessica Yellin Discusses CNN's Obama Documentary

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Last week, we talked to CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger about her reporting for "Romney Revealed: Family, Faith, and the Road to Power," the documentary that kicked off CNN's coverage of the Republican Convention. This...

When It Comes to TV Ratings, Ryan Is No Palin

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

In case anyone was wondering, Paul Ryan is not Sarah Palin, at least in terms of ratings value for the Republican National Convention. Read More »

Joe Scarborough's Almost-Endorsement of Matt Salmon

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Outside support and influence has flowed into Arizona's 5th Congressional District in the days before the state's primary. But former Republican Rep. Matt Salmon might have had the most peculiar testimonial, which he blasted to su...

Viewer's Guide to the GOP Convention

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Check out all the details after the jump. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

The Republican Convention kicks off next week, and the Sunday shows will focus on the GOP's big gathering. Read More »

Q&A: Gloria Borger on Her Upcoming Romney Special

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

CNN is kicking off its coverage of the convention with a profile of Mitt Romney called "Romney Revealed: Family, Faith, and the Road to Power ." The documentary will air Sunday night at 8 p.m. CNN chief political analyst Gloria B...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

With the Republican National Convention just over a week away, the presidential campaigns will be front and center on the Sunday shows. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

The weekend shows will focus on the latest jobs numbers and the 2012 campaign, and the winner of the Texas GOP Senate runoff will make an appearance. Read More »

Friday Feature: Willie Geist

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Each Friday, The Hotline 's Latest Edition includes a profile of a media figure. Today, our "Friday Feature" was MSNBC's Willie Geist . Geist hosts MSNBC's "Way too Early with Willie Geist" and co-hosts "Morning Joe." Geist also h...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

This weekend, all of the cable news and broadcast networks will be updating audiences on the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting. Read More »

Friday Feature: Bob Schieffer

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

The Sunday shows will be dominated this week by the Supreme Court's decision to ruling uphold most of President Obama 's health care law. Read More »

Fox, CNN Backpedal on Health Care

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Post updated with Fox News comments at 1:03 p.m. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

This weekend the Sunday shows turn to the battle over immigration in the 2012 race and the contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder . Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

President Obama and Mitt Romney delivered dueling campaign speeches on the economy in Ohio this week while Obama announced a shift in immigration policy on Friday. Expect the Sunday shows to zero in on these events. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich and Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick will be talking jobs and the economy on Meet the Press while Moody's Mark Zandi and Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell will be tackling ...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

This Memorial Day weekend, the Sunday shows will focus on Bain Capital, Iran, Afghanistan and a host of other topics. Read More »

'America Live' Finds Success in Afternoon Time Slot

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Daytime cable news programs don't typically rival top cable entertainment channels in the ratings battle. But Fox News' America Live is defying the odds: In April, the show nearly matched perennial daytime TV leaders TNT, Nickelod...

A Farewell to Arms

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

This year's presidential election between President Obama and Mitt Romney will be the first time since 1944, when President Roosevelt defeated Republican Thomas Dewey for a fourth term, that neither major-party candidate on ...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

CNN 'Starting' Over

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

How do you build a television news audience in the hyper-competitive morning market? It sure helps to make some actual news, as CNN's new show Starting Point is aiming to prove this year. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

It's the year anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden. It's the weekend of the White House Correspondents dinner. And the general election is in full swing on the Sunday shows. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

With Palin, NBC's Today Tops GMA's Couric Appearance

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Sarah Palin 's appearance as a guest host on NBC's Today beat Katie Couric 's guest hosting of ABC's Good Morning America in the ratings battle on Tuesday. The NBC morning show has held its 17-year ratings lead over its ABC r...

Limbaugh Out of Limbo

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Updated on 3/30 Read More »

Whatever Happened to Wesley Clark?

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Former NATO Supreme Commander Wesley Clark was out in force on Tuesday in a Democratic National Committee email blast against presidential candidate Mitt Romney . Clark criticized Romney's classification of Russia as "without que...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

White House adviser David Plouffe will be a familiar face on television news programs this weekend. He'll appear on four Sunday shows: Meet the Press , This Week , Fox News Sunday and State of the Union . Read More »

Etch A Sketch Stock Jumps After Romney Adviser's Comment

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Updated at 2:12 p.m. Read More »

Brian Lamb Steps Down as CEO of C-SPAN

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

C-SPAN's Board of Directors announced the end of an era on Sunday: Founder Brian Lamb will step down as CEO. Lamb has served as CEO since the founding of the network in 1978. He has been chairman of the C-SPAN board since 1985 and...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

President Obama and Vice President Biden went into campaign mode this week with dual stump speeches as the GOP presidential candidates geared up for Illinois primary. Read More »

Game Change Draws Record Audience for HBO

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

HBO's Game Change , a film based on the book with the same title about the 2008 presidential campaign, premiered before a record audience over the weekend. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich hits the Sunday shows this weekend, heading into Tuesday's Alabama and Mississippi primaries. He'll be on Face the Nation and Fox News Sunday . Former Sen. Rick Santorum , R-Pa., will make the cas...

Limbaugh Losing Individual Advertisers, but Little Else

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Since he made a series of controversial comments about Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke , Rush Limbaugh 's popular radio program has lost over 20 advertisers. But the advertisers' flight likely won't be a major blow to the sta...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

The weekend before Michigan and Arizona are holding primaries, two presidential candidates and several governors are making appearances on the Sunday shows. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Former Sen. Rick Santorum , R-Pa., who pulled even with frontrunning Mitt Romney in national polls this week, will appear on CBS's Face the Nation to talk about the presidential race. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who is...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

White House Chief of Staff Jacob Lew will make his Sunday show debut in his new role: he'll be discussing President Obama's shift on contraception as well as the upcoming unveiling of the new budget with a "Full Ginsburg" of app...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

The focus will be on the Super Bowl and Nevada caucus results on the Sunday shows this weekend. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

With the exception of Rep. Ron Paul , R-Texas, the Republican presidential contenders will appear on a special edition of FNC's Huckabee titled "Forum 2: South Carolina Undecided." Former Arkansas Republican Governor Mike Hucka...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

New Hampshire will hold its presidential primary on Tuesday and the Sunday shows are going full speed into the Granite State this weekend. Two debates, one hosted by ABC News/Yahoo! News/WMUR-TV on Saturday and another that will air...

The Year in Media

By Sarah Mimms and Christopher Peleo-Lazar

2011 was a year of upheaval in the media, with small outfits and blogs breaking major news, major players fleeing their network homes, troubles at News Corp. and the New York Times erecting a pay wall. As the year comes to a clos...

Tennis Channel Ruling Could Open Door for Future Challenges to Comcast

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

The Tennis Channel won a significant victory against Comcast on Wednesday, becoming the first network to win a ruling against the cable provider over its position in the lineup relative to other channels that provide similar content...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Coming out of the last debate before the Iowa Caucuses, the presidential race will again dominate the Sunday shows this weekend. Read More »

Schieffer Discusses Face The Nation's Expansion to One Hour

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

CBS News' Face The Nation will be expanding from 30 minutes to an hour beginning in April, host Bob Schieffer announced on Sunday. In an interview with Hotline On Call on Tuesday, Schieffer said that CBS may begin test drivin...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

This weekend the Sunday shows will react to Saturday's Republican presidential debate on ABC, less than a month away from the Iowa Caucuses. Read More »

Business News Networks Cover Corzine Saga In Different Ways

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Updated at 3:42 p.m. Read More »

CAMPAIGN 2012

Romney Breaks Sunday Silence

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Mitt Romney's upcoming appearance on Fox News Sunday breaks a long drought for the GOP presidential contender. Read More »

CAMPAIGN 2012

Gloria Cain Defends her Husband in Fox News Interview

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

In a Fox News interview that will air on Monday night, Gloria Cain will defend her husband, presidential candidate Herman Cain, against sexual harassment allegations made by several women, saying he would have to have "a split perso...

Cain and Wife pre-taping Fox News Interview

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Previewing The Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

This Saturday, the GOP presidential candidates will attend the CBS/ National Journal debate in South Carolina to discuss foreign policy. The Sunday shows will address the fallout from the week's two debates and the approaching dead...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Last weekend, a storm knocked out reception for many in the northeast. who were not able to watch the Sunday shows. This weekend, the skies look clear as the Sunday shows react to a tumultuous week for Republican presidential candi...

Careerpolitician.com: Not Quite a New Website

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Mitt Romney 's campaign proudly touted the launch of careerpolitician.com Thursday, a website attacks Texas Gov. Rick Perry 's record. While the Romney campaign announced careerpolitician.com as new website, a review of the site'...

Format of Next GOP Debate a Change of Pace

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

There have been six Republican presidential debates so far but the seventh will be unlike any of the previous meetings. Read More »

CAMPAIGN 2012

Herman Cain Jokes With Jay Leno

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain continued his media tour with a stop on Friday's edition of NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Leno joked with Cain about his pizza background that "nobody is going to starve to death" ...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

This weekend, the Sunday shows will host four current governors to discuss the economy and 2012. Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell and Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick will be on Meet the Press , while Maryland ...

CBS Edges Out NBC in Sunday Show Viewers

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

CBS's Face the Nation won the Sept. 25th Sunday show viewership battle, narrowly edging out NBC's Meet the Press by 33,000 viewers. It's a rare win for Face The Nation over Meet The Press , which has won 56 consecutive quarte...

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

White House adviser David Plouffe takes center stage for the weekend shows, appearing on This Week , Fox News Sunday , and State of the Union . He'll talk about the President's plan to reduce the deficit and whether a deal can ...

Pew Poll: Negative Perception of Media at All-Time High

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Americans are more critical of the press than they've ever been, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. Read More »

Previewing the Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

This weekend Meet the Press , Face the Nation , and This Week will host Bill Clinton as he prepares for the 7th annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting. He'll reflect on his presidency, the 2012 presidential race, and possibl...

Giffords Interview Not Guaranteed Yet

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Rep. Gabby Giffords , D-Ariz., and her husband former astronaut Mark Kelly will be participating in the ABC special concerning her recovery, but an interview is not guaranteed. Read More »

CONGRESS

ABC's Sawyer Secures First Giffords Interview

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

ABC News' Diane Sawyer will be the first to interview Rep. Gabrielle Giffords , D-Ariz., following the the tragic shooting in Tucson that critically injured the congresswoman earlier this year. Giffords' husband Mark Kelly will...

Previewing The Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

This weekend, the networks will air special programming commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Read More »

Previewing The Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

President Obama 's advisers and the two governors in charge of their parties' political fortunes will face off on the Sunday shows this week. Read More »

Previewing The Sunday Shows

By Christopher Peleo-Lazar

Following a week in which lawmakers struck an eleventh hour debt compromise and the Dow suffered its largest drop since 2008, the focus of the Sunday shows will be the economy and job creation. Read More »