Outside the Beltway

The first batch of email from Hillary Clinton regarding the 2012 attack in Benghazi have been released, and they don’t reveal anything we didn’t already know.

The Senate went home last night without passing a bill to renew the PATRIOT Act, which expires at the end of the month.

Hillary Clinton has admitted she made a mistake in supporting the Iraq War in 2002, but there are plenty of other questions she needs to answer when it comes to foreign interventions.

South Carolina’s Senior Senator is set to be the latest entry into the race for the Republican nomination.

For reasons only he can understand. South Carolina’s senior Senator will be entering the race for the White House early next month.

A new poll has some bad news for Jeb Bush in the Hawkeye State, which leads to the idea that maybe he shouldn’t waste too much time there to begin with.

Aides to Governor Chris Christie apparently think there’s still a way he can run a credible campaign for President, but it seems unlikely.

Marco Rubio is often described as one of the GOP’s leaders on foreign policy, but a close look reveals a decided lack of substance.

And the fun part is that his main motive for running appears to be the opportunity to troll Rand Paul.

After declining to run in 2012, Mike Huckabee’s entry into the 2016 race seems fairly certain.

Five years after it became law, the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act appears to be over.

Marco Rubio is the first Republican in the race who actually has a plausible chance to win the nomination, but it’s not going to be easy.

His poll numbers are down, the GOP base is not hospitable, but Chris Christie still seems to be thinking about running for President.

The Republican frontrunner claims he doesn’t read America’s most important newspaper.

Do we really want to put another first-term Senator with no executive experience in the Oval Office? Because beyond the mere legal requirements, it does not appear that Ted Cruz is qualified to be President.

Rand Paul is carrying on a family tradition, winning the CPAC straw poll won many times by his father Ron.

My latest for War on The Rocks, “IS OBAMA REAL(IST) CONFUSED?”

Pressure is building on the Administration to send military aid to Ukraine, but it would be a very bad idea.

John McCain is not a fan of Code Pink.

Conservatives finally seem to be waking up to the truth about Sarah Palin.

The Tea Party may be the most vocal wing of the GOP but most Republicans seems to favor candidates that aren’t quite so right wing.

Mitt Romney certainly seems to be running for president again. And he’s now on at least his third reinvention.

David Petraeus provided highly classified secrets to his mistress. Will he be charged?

The terror attack in Paris seems likely to undercut GOP efforts to use the DHS budget to attack the President’s immigration policies.

Over the weekend, Mike Huckabee took another step that suggests that he is indeed planning on running for President in 2016.

Also: charting the rightward shift in the GOP.

Judging by recent polling, the President’s executive action has hardened GOP opposition to immigration reform, making progress on the issue going forward much less likely.

A dark and regrettable time in American history is finally seeing the light of day.

The GOP Senate Caucus seems to be split on whether or not to reinstate the filibuster for Presidential and Judicial appointments.

The Obama Administration took some fire yesterday for recent Ambassadorial Appointments, but the President’s record has been consistent with those of his recent predecessors.

The abrupt departure of Chuck Hagel says much more about Administration policy than it does about Chuck Hagel.

Sen. Charles Schumer says Democrats made a mistake by concentrating on getting health care reform passed instead of on fixing the economy.

The fact that Republicans lack anything approaching a coherent immigration plan makes it hard to take their criticism of the President seriously.

Top Republicans worry that their party’s response to the President’s executive action will alienate Latinos. However, there’s little they can do about that.

An adviser close to Hillary Clinton is talking about expanding the Electoral College map in 2016, but even without such an expansion the GOP faces an uphill battle.

Republicans don’t really have many options if the President pulls the trigger on immigration reform via executive action.

Always as many military personnel identify as Independents as with the GOP.

Once again, reporters and pundits are arguing that Chris Christie’s “New Jersey style” won’t play well on the stump. I’m not so sure they’re right.

Republican Senate candidate Ed Gillespie picked an odd issue on which to start his closing argument to Virginia voters.

Despite conventional wisdom, there remains little incentive for the GOP to change its position on immigration reform.

Rich guys are backing organizations that are taking over traditional party functions. Is that a problem?

If the GOP wins the Senate in November, their majority could prove to be fleeting.

It has nothing to do with winning, but it does have a lot to do with the foreign policy debate inside the Republican Party.

After keeping his distance from them for three years, President Obama is placing much misplaced hope in the “moderate” Syrian rebels,

Congress seems ready to avoid having to vote on expanded attacks against the Islamic State