Outside the Beltway

Libertarian Party Presidential nominee Gary Johnson is doing quite well in the polls, when pollsters bother to include him.

With top Republicans recoiling from the realization that the GOP is stuck with Trump in 2016, the ground seems to be being prepared for a conflict that could tear the GOP apart regardless of who wins in November.

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s fate lies the hands of the Supreme Court.

Another big night for Hillary Clinton, and more bad news for Bernie Sanders.

In a huge step forward for criminal justice reform, Virginia’s Governor has restored voting rights for some 200,000 people who have paid their debt to society.

The business of the media is business. Business is not good.

There are many aspects of the way delegates to the party convention are chosen that is “undemocratic,” but it’s unclear why this is a problem.

Bernie Sanders swept the Western Caucuses on Saturday, but Hillary Clinton remains in control in the delegate count.

With President Obama becoming the first American President to visit Cuba in 88 years, a new poll finds majority support for his changes in Cuba policy.

Given the stakes headed into the latest version of ‘Super Tuesday,’ last night’s Republican debate was surprisingly subdued.

It seems increasingly apparent that the only way to stop Donald Trump now is by trying to force a contested convention. It also seems clear that such a plan probably wouldn’t succeed.

With time running out, the top three candidates for the Republican nomination picked up right where they left off last week.

All of which leads to a discussion of electoral rules.

Is President Obama planning a Checkmate move in the SCOTUS nomination fight?

Dare I say: hate the game, not the players?

With the Vermont Senator holding a seemingly insurmountable lead in New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders and HIllary Clinton clashed last night in their most contentious debate yet.

Ted Cruz won, Marco Rubio surged into a stronger than expected third place, and Donald Trump was humbled just a little bit, but he was hardly a “loser.” The race for the GOP nomination has begun for real.

We will have a two party system for the foreseeable future.

Marine Le Pen suffered setbacks in the second round of regional voting on Sunday, but the party still seems likely to become more popular in the coming years.

Should Donald Trump be classified as a fascist?

The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in a case that could have big implications for redistricting, and the make-up of state legislatures and the House of Representatives.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The United States and Europe are giving everything the perpetrators of the Paris attacks hoped for.

After thirty years in Federal Prison, Jonathan Pollard is a free man. Make no mistake, though. Pollard is not, and never has been, a hero and he deserves to be remembered as nothing but the criminal that he is.

John Kasich wants the United States Government to create an agency to spread ‘so-called ‘Judeo-Christian values.’

Ben Carson displays incoherence and ignorance on foreign policy issues that disqualify him from being considered a serious candidate for President of the United States.

Today, many states and municipalities are having elections that will mostly attract Democrats.

So close, and yet so very, very, far.

To the surprise of nobody who was actually paying attention to political reality, Vice-President Biden announced today that he will not be a candidate for President.

If pre-election polling is to be believed, Stephan Harper and Canada’s Conservative Party seem likely to lose power after Monday’s elections, but there are several reasons why this may not end up being the case.

In addition to doing everything she needed to do last night, Hillary Clinton also destroyed whatever logic remained for a Joe Biden candidacy.

California has become the second state to provide for automatic voter registration for all eligible voters when they obtain or renew a driver’s license.

The seeds of the current peace deal date back to 2007-2008 (plus some longer-term background notes).

Joe Biden may want to run for President, but does anyone else? It doesn’t really seem like it.

Like many Republicans, Jeb Bush continues to be willfully blind to the truth about the Iraq War.

A Federal Appeals Court has dealt a setback to Texas in the battle over its Voter ID Law.

Public opinion on the Supreme Court has declined significantly, largely because Republicans don’t like the Supreme Court very much right now.

Greek voters rejected the latest bailout package, but that only seems likely to make things even worse for them.

He definitely wouldn’t appreciate it, but in some sense you can thank Robert Bork for the Supreme Court’s opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges.

SCOTUS has upheld the use of election commissions to draw Congressional district lines.

Debating the proper role of the judiciary.

Wherein I take the view that as our understanding of language changes, so too does our application of the Constiution.

The US Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Constitution contains a right to same-sex marriage.

The era of legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act is over.