Outside the Beltway

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani tops the latest CNN poll of Republican presidential contenders.

Mitch Daniels, the candidate of George Will and a host of mainstream Republicans hoping for something better in 2012, has announced he will not be running for president in 2012.

With the customary hand-wringing over the low quality of the presidential field well underway, the corollary pining for other candidates to join the race is starting.

With the 2012 GOP field looking very underwhelming, GOP insiders are looking toward Indianapolis for a savior.

For as long as the notion of individual rights has existed, one of them has been the sanctity one’s home. As of Thursday, that’s no longer true in Indiana.

Can one effectively run for the presidency if one’s spouse doesn’t want to be in the spotlight?

If you look at the Tea Party’s impact on state politics, you see it really isn’t much different from the Religious Right.

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

Did the GOP toss social conservatives under the bus when it gave away the Planned Parenthood rider?

Michele Bachmann raised more money in the First Quarter of 2011 than any other Republican. Which means that she’ll have to be taken seriously if she decides to run for President.

The Supreme Court will decide whether states may jail parents who fail to make child support payments without providing them an attorney.

Mitch Daniels says that the GOP needs to get beyond its obsession with social issues if it’s going to survive. He’s right.

Wisconsin Republicans stripped state employees of collective bargaining rights without the Democratic senators who fled the state to prevent a quorum.

Opposition to marriage equality is no longer the wedge issue it used to be.

A new set of polls from Gallup show that President Obama is still looking good for re-election.

Neither side is covering themselves in glory in the battle over the Badger State budget.

Ron Paul has won the CPAC straw poll for a second straight year. But YAF has voted him off its board over his opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels made quite an impression last night at CPAC

It’s straw poll season already. First up, New Hampshire where things turned out about how you’d expect them to considering Mitt Romney lives there now.

Social conservatives are upset with CPAC again. This time, it’s because the conference they’re not attending has invited someone they don’t like.

The Republicans are increasingly the party of white America. That’s short term good but long term bad for the GOP.

The author of AZ’s SB1070 has a new idea.

Geno Auriemma and his UConn Huskies should rightly be enormously proud of their accomplishments. But comparing them to John Wooden’s is embarrassing.

The GOP is being urged to avoid social issues and concentrate on reducing spending, shrinking government, and economic freedom. It’s a good idea.

The immediate reactions from left and right to the proposals from the Chairmen of the Debt Commission are about what you’d expect.

Despite votes in the 2010 contest still being counted, polls for 2012 are already pouring out. They’re largely meaningless.

Republicans either lost or barely won a whole lot of races because their vote was split with minor party candidates.

Dan Coates has an ad that makes a claim that should make your head explode.

There’s a trend toward using metrics to identify ways to stem the skyrocketing cost of higher education. The likeliest result is to devalue the “education” component.

Polls show the Republicans easily retaking the House but falling short in the Senate. But 2006 showed us that wave elections can produce shocking outcomes.

Arnold Schwarzenegger predicts President Obama’s re-election. Historically, that’s the safe bet.

Even with some key seats trending Democrat, Republicans are primed to take over both Houses of Congress come November 2.