Outside the Beltway

The annual gathering showed us what the Republican Party would become years ago.

The President of the United States is an existential threat to the Republic.

Many of the 2020 Democratic candidates for President are arguing that the caucus process itself is unfair and undemocratic. They’re right.

President Trump’s latest Syria move is coming under heavy criticism even from fellow Republicans.

Republicans have spent the past week putting as much distance as they can between themselves and the latest round of radical anti-abortion laws.

Several states are getting rid of caucuses in favor of primaries, a move that could be to the disadvantage of candidates like Bernie Sanders.

Billy Graham was the son of a North Carolina farmer who grew up to become a counselor to Presidents, Prime Ministers, and even a Queen.

Stephen Paddock’s crime was clearly terrorizing, and will impact the lives of survivors, families, first responders in many ways for a long time. Based on the currently available evidence, though, the Las Vegas shooting was not “terrorism.”

This year’s Nevada Caucuses are a good argument for why there should not be any more caucuses.

Donald Trump continues to lead, while Marco Rubio surges, in the first polls out of New Hampshire since the Iowa Caucuses.

If Donald Trump is going to win in early states like Iowa or New Hampshire, he needs a ground game that will get voters to the polls. It doesn’t seem like he has much of one right now.

Two new Iowa polls show Ben Carson passing Donald Trump in the Hawkeye State, but that’s not necessarily good news for Republicans.

Trump remains in the lead, but he has been steadily falling over the month of September. (And this triggers, as these things do, musings about institutions and our party system).

Ted Cruz kicks off with the first of what is likely to be a string of candidates getting into the 2016 race in the coming month.

The bizarre dynamics of Virginia politics.

Over the weekend, Mitt Romney was sounding more like Rick Santorum than himself.

The Republican Party has apparently solved all of the nation’s real problems and decided it can waste time on nonsense.

We’re literally choosing locking up drug offenders over investing in our children.

Nominating Rick Santorum may be the best things Republicans could do to save their party, but not for the reasons Santorum thinks.

Rick Santorum is Michele Bachmann level crazy. Yet he’s arguably the Republican frontrunner right now.

150-plus evangelical leaders are trying to derail the Romney Express. They’re going to get run over.

The Ames Straw Poll isn’t going away any time soon.

Has Iowa “blown its special claim as the first state” in the nomination process? No, it never had any special claim in the first place.

A comment on the commentariat.

Iowa Republicans fear that a Ron Paul win on Jan. 3rd will destroy the credibility of their caucuses.

Stranger things have happened.

From across the pond, an observation that the way we pick Presidents isn’t really that bad after all.

There was a somewhat disturbing moment during last night’s GOP Debate.

Last night’s GOP debate was a two-man affair.

What are the contours of “mainstream” religious thought in today’s America?

Herman Cain is getting a lot of attention lately, but will he amount to anything?

Sarah Palin’s latest media spectacle will be heading west next month.

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is beginning to more like a real candidate for President. She won’t win, but she will be entertaining.

Are Marco Rubio, Haley Barbour, and Mike Huckabee the favorites to win the White House?