Outside the Beltway

A long-winded and esoteric discussion about an elusive idea.

A new poll shows meaningful shifts in public attitudes.

A game wherein one team has to score more points to win than does the other.

Our screwy electoral system requires thinking about screwy scenarios.

Accuracy takes time.

The one-time wunderkind, blogging pioneer, and same-sex marriage champion is now on the outs.

Ok, so what should change?

This is not even close to the worst it’s ever been.

The President has hit rock bottom.

States can punish Electors who substitute their judgment for those of the voters.

Joementum.

We’re unlikely to know who wins the November elections right away.

What if instead of the unit rule, states doled out electoral voter based on the proportion of votes each slate of electors received?

Ego trumps all?

The Commission on Presidential Debates has released the schedule and criteria for the General Election debates. As usual, the criteria are heavily biased in favor of the major party candidates.

With an eye on the trade war and the 2020 election, President Trump is increasing subsidies and mandates for corn-based ethanol.

A conservative columnist argues the legitimacy of our system is in question.

But, our process to elect the president is highly flawed.

Staring in 2020 the winner in Maine will be the majority preference.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that states cannot punish electors who fail to follow the will of the majority of voters n their state or state laws purporting to direct how they should vote.

Controversial former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was voted out of office in 2016 after serving six terms in office, is running to get his old job back.

Even a Fox News poll finds that the American public finds the President’s recent rhetoric to be racist. There’s a different picture when you look at his supporters, though.

The Mueller hearing has weakened the political argument for impeachment. Democrats need to proceed with caution, and concentrate on winning in 2020 rather than removing the President from office prematurely.

He could lose the popular vote by an even larger margin in 2020—and still coast to re-election.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a challenger. Much like 2014, though, it’s far too early to start writing his political obituary.

Kris Kobach, former Kansas Secretary of State and former head of President Trump’s “Voter Fraud” Commission, is running for Senator in Kansas.

Mayor Pete is raking in the dough.

Four years ago, Donald Trump began his campaign for President. What has followed has been as bad as could have been predicted that day.

A new poll of Texas voters shows President Trump doing worse than expected against potential Democratic challengers. Should Republicans be worried?

No, abolishing the EC would not turn farmers into serfs.

Recent poll numbers suggest that the President is vulnerable in the part of the country that assured his Electoral College victory in 2020, but Democrats are going to have to work hard to flip these states.

A seemingly out-of-the-blue political movement is arguing in favor of independent election of Vice-Presidents.

A new poll finds that a small majority of Americans support abolishing the Electoral College, but that’s not nearly enough to make any change in how we elect Presidents possible.

A new poll shows President Trump struggling against four of his potential 2020 challengers. Should Republicans be worried and Democrats elated? It’s too early to tell.

Trump campaign officials are worried about the President’s chances of holding onto a state that was crucial to his win in 2020. They should be.

A lesson from Puerto Rico and further reasons why the EC is a problem.

Princeton historian Sean Wilentz lays to rest a pernicious idea propagated by . . . Princeton historian Sean Wilentz.

Some basics on the US party system.

Massachusetts Democrat Seth Moulton makes an argument familiar to OTB readers.

A new tool for looking at possible Presidential election outcomes.

The Texas Congressman has decided to forgo another Senate bid and instead focus his energies elsewhere.

Based on his job approval numbers, President Trump could face an uphill battle in 2020.

There’s only one solution to the D.C. statehood issue. It’s called retrocession.

The Supreme Court will hear a case dealing with a challenge to the Commerce Department’s decision to put a question about citizenship on the 2020 Census.

Former Astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of Gabby Giffords, is running for Senate in Arizona against Martha McSally.

…there is only one plausible pathway to get there.

The way we elect Presidents make it unlikely that a third-party candidate like Howard Schultz could ever actually win the the Presidency.

Looking ahead, the political landscape does not look well for the President.

A Federal Judge has blocked the Trump Administration from going forward with a plan to put a question about citizenship on the 2020 Census.

The latest entry in the unity third party presidential candidate genre is just as bad as they always are.