Outside the Beltway

Republican officials are running away from Donald Trump the way they’d run away from a horde of mosquitoes infected with the Zika virus.

Many pundits are arguing that the victory for ‘Leave’ presages good news for Trump in November, but there’s no reason to believe that.

Republican leaders and politicians continue to distance themselves from their party’s presumptive nominee.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals deals a setback to the gun rights movement.

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.

An increasing number of Republican politicians are finding reasons to skip the Republican National Convention.

Paul Ryan is declining to back Donald Trump for the time being, but other Republicans are making their own choices.

A Federal Appeals Court has reinstated the four game suspension imposed on Tom Brady over the so-called ‘Deflategate’ scandal.

Two Republicans who broke with their party to support hearings for Judge Merrick Garland have changed their minds and gotten back in line with the Senate GOP Caucus.

Putting Donald Trump at the top of the ticket would likely lead to an Electoral College disaster for Republicans.

There are some signs of hope out of Wisconsin for those trying to stop Donald Trump.

Conservatives are doing all they can to make sure Merrick Garland does not get either a hearing or a vote in the Senate, and it’s working.

It increasingly appears that the GOP is on the losing side of the argument over whether to hold hearings and a vote on the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.

If Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, the GOP may have more to worry about than losing the White House and the Senate.

A crack in the wall.

After stumbling in Michigan last week, Hillary Clinton picked up a string of solid victories last night that put her one step closer to winning the nomination.

A big night in the Republican race for President leaves Donald Trump as the only candidate realistically situated to be anywhere near a majority of delegates by the time the primaries end in June.

The alternatives to Trump vs Clinton are getting into the realm of fantasy.

By the end of the night, we’re likely to be in an entirely new phase of the race for both the Republican and Democratic nominations.

The coming political battle over President Obama’s effort to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia will likely be unlike anything we’ve seen before.

When all is said and done, Super Tuesday Part Two is likely to put Hillary Clinton significantly closer to being the inevitable Democratic nominee.

Less than twenty-four hours before voting starts, Donald Trump looks to do very well on what is arguably the most important day of the campaign.

Donald Trump has spent nine months encouraging his supporters to beat up protesters and calling the press “scum.” Words have consequences.

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

The eighth Democratic debate raises the question of whether we really need this many debates.

Less than a week before what may be the most important week of the campaign, Donald Trump is in very good shape. Marco Rubio and John Kasich? Not so much.

Hilary Clinton crushed Bernie Sanders in Mississippi, but was surprised by Bernie Sanders in Michigan. Nonetheless she still remains in control of the race.

Bernie Sanders was more aggressive in last night’s debate than he has been in the past, but it’s likely too little, too late.

Bernie Sanders won two of the three Democratic contests last night, but he fell further behind in the delegate count any way and isn’t very far from being mathematically eliminated.

As expected, Hillary Clinton won big last night while Bernie Sanders largely floundered, thus going further toward making Clinton’s victory inevitable.

It’s Super Tuesday, and both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are likely to go a long way toward securing the nominations of their respective parties.

There’s little doubt that Hillary Clinton will win today’s South Carolina Primary, the only question is how big a win she’s likely to score.

Notwithstanding polling that indicates the American public disagrees with them, Senate Republicans emerged from a meeting today largely united on the idea of not giving any Supreme Court nominee named by President a hearing, or even the courtesy of a meeting.

The American people do not seem to support the Republican position on whether President Obama’s expected Supreme Court nominee should get proper consideration by the Senate.

Conservatives are sending a message to Senate Republicans about the vacancy on the Supreme Court, and it may require them to initiate a suicidal game plan.

Donald Trump hasn’t hit the point of inevitability yet, but time is running short if Republicans are going to stop him.

Republicans are putting much on the line in their refusal to consider any Supreme Court nomination from President Obama.

The economy is booming. Except where it’s not.

After oral argument today in a high profile case, it appears likely that public employee unions are likely to suffer a major legal defeat later this year.

A new study suggests that being a national leader may shorten your expected lifespan.

The Justice Department has launched a widespread investigation into the operation of the Chicago Police Department in the wake of the murder of LaQuan McDonald.

The Supreme Court has declined to accept an appeal challenging a law barring certain types of so-called ‘assault weapons’ in a Chicago suburb.

The no-fly list is a flawed, arbitrary mess that has kept innocent people from flying for years. Using it to deny people rights recognized by the Constitution is, quite honestly, insane.

The probability that the shootings in San Bernardino were at least inspired by ISIS and/or other Jihadist terror networks is increasing.

The suspects in the San Bernardino shootings are dead, but that’s about all we know so far this morning.

The October 2014 shooting of 17 year old LaQuan McDonald is beginning to have a political impact in Chicago and could have national political implications as well.

For good reason, many Republicans are worried about the prospect that Donald Trump could end up winning the Republican nominee, but they don’t seem to have a plan to stop him.

To a large degree, the narrative you believe will govern the 2016 elections depend on which party you want to see win. But what’s the most likely outcome?

Syrian refugees have quickly become political footballs in the United States in the wake of the Paris attacks, and it’s become an exceedingly shameful display of pandering and fearmongering by a group of largely Republican politicians.