Outside the Beltway

The political polarization we saw during the Bush Presidency has continued throughout the Obama Presidency.

A new poll shows public approval for the Supreme Court nearing a all-time low.

Low voter priorities and the natural tendency of the media to move on to the next big story meant that gun control was not going to be a top political issue for long.

Two polls indicate that most Americans oppose the President’s latest moves on Syria. This makes sense considering actual policy there seems to be entirely incoherent.

Public trust in the news media, along with many other institutions, continues to fall. That’s troublesome for many reasons.

Congress gets bad grades in Gallup’s latest poll, and gridlock is the main reason

A George W. Bush renaissance? Not exactly.

Will voters care about the revelations about NSA data mining? Signs point to no.

Michael Kinsley contends “Being against marriage equality doesn’t make you a monster.”

Are civil liberties once again at risk in the wake of the bombing attack in Boston?

The politics of gun control is not nearly as easy as its supporters believe it to be.

There’s a very simple reason why gun control is stalling in Congress despite its popularity in the polls.

One in eight Americans support drone strikes against Americans on American soil.

A positive political climate for immigration reform.

Based on the polls, the odds of some changes to America’s gun control laws will become law. It’s unlikely they’ll accomplish anything, though.

The GOP’s image problems continue

Conor Friedersdorf contends “The U.S. Already Had a Conversation About Guns—and the Pro Side Won.”

If you’re a Member of Congress, the odds are pretty good that you’re going to stay one.

It’s okay to criticize military veterans–even if you never served in the military.

Republican opposition to same-sex marriage is costing it yet another demographic group.

Believing the maker/taker dichotomy.

There are some expected and unexpected results in Nate Silver’s review of pollster accuracy in 2012.

Wherein I get a bit petty (but to make a point and, maybe just because it amuses me).

If you’re a white Southerner who gets most of his information from Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, you probably don’t know a lot of people who voted for Barack Obama.

In a posting for New Atlanticist titled “Status Quo Election,” I note the near total absence of foreign affairs from a presidential campaign that’s mercifully coming to an end.

If we elected presidents by a national telephone survey using Gallup’s likely voter screen, Mitt Romney would be a happy man.