Outside the Beltway

Why are all the candidates for president so awful?

Conservatives seem to believe that Newt Gingrich can beat Barack Obama merely by debating him. They are delusional.

Last night was the high point of Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign for the Presidency.

Yes, it’s time to talk about that again.

The former Utah governor will almost certainly never be the GOP nominee. But someone like him will be soon.

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

If you’re running low on cash, keeping it low-key in a state you can’t win sometimes make sense.

Right now, Iowa is all about Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and a bunch of also-rans.

Like many Republicans before him, Newt Gingrich is trying to claim the mantle of Reagan. He is the one least entitled to it.

GOP officials are reluctant to resurrect the personal attacks against the President used during the 2008 campaign.

Gingrich is rising in the polls for reasons that help him in the primary race, but may hurt in a General Election.

Stranger things have happened.

Expect plenty of GOP infighting if President Obama is re-elected next November.

Would Republicans really be crazy enough to nominate Herman Cain?

If Republicans keep looking for the next Ronald Reagan, they’re going to be disappointed for many reasons.

Have Republicans been co-opted by the Big Government they claim to hate?

When the old rules don’t apply anymore, the system breaks down.

The Ames Straw Poll is like the first scrimmage of NFL training camp.

Time for the spinning of the straw poll results to begin.

The primary calendar is going to look very different next year.

Now that America’s political leadership have probably averted a self-inflicted global economic calamity, it’s time to assess the winners and losers.

The Senate Republican leader is running a shrewd political game. But what’s good for the GOP is bad for America.

The GOP doesn’t have a charismatic superstar waiting in the wings. That’s okay.

With Huckabee out, the right side of the GOP primary base may end up divided. And that will help Mitt Romney.

With co-frontrunner Mike Huckabee out, Mitt Romney looks stronger than ever.

It is waaay too early to be putting much stock in polling for 2012 (either in terms of X v. Obama or GOP v. GOP).

President Obama is vulnerable, but he’s facing a GOP field that is underwhelming even for Republicans.

Whenever I despair at the current state of the Republican Party, I remind myself that things aren’t much better across the aisle.

Nate Silver argues today’s polls “have a reasonable amount of predictive power in informing us as to the identity of the eventual nominee.”

The prospective Republican field for 2012 is dismal. Then again, it always is.

The Republican Party is united on the issues in a way it hasn’t been in a long time, but personalities threaten to tear the fragile coalition apart.

Mitch McConnell made clear today that he’s targeting Barack Obama for defeat in two years.

Biden got hammered by the FEC for violating campaign finance rules. A big fining deal?