Outside the Beltway

The Afghan Surge announced by President Obama in December 2009 is over. By any objective measurement, it was a failure.

Whether Republicans like it or not, Mitt Romney was the best candidate they had in 2012.

So, Mitt Romney opened his mouth again.

The Romney campaign is doubling down on bizarre foreign policy pronouncements.

Do fiscal conservatives realize they’re being sold a bill of goods?

The erstwhile CalPundit starts his second decade strong as ever.

Maybe the real problem this year isn’t that the campaign is unduly nasty, but that it’s incredibly petty.

At some point, however, using the bad actions of the past to justify worse actions in the present has to stop.

If a new Gallup poll is any indication, Paul Ryan was not a great pick.

Harry Reid is a scoundrel, not a hero.

Kevin Drum has been writing about his cat, Inkblot, most every Friday for the last decade. Sadly, he’s been missing since Tuesday night.

Two words spoken by a Romney aide have led to a ridiculous firestorm on the right, while the rest of their comments are being ignored.

By failing to respond adequately, Mitt Romney is letting his opponent define him for the voters. That could hurt him greatly in November.

Reporters covering the 2012 election are letting the campaigns control what they report to a disturbing degree.

If the GOP wins in November, there will be very few actual barriers in the way if they really want to repeal the PPACA.

We don’t know what the Supreme Court will have to say about the Affordable Care Act, but their decision is already being attacked.

Mitt Romney believes he could take America to war without Congressional involvement.

The Republican nominee gets some backhanded praise from an unlikely source, MoJo blogger Kevin Drum.

Did Joe Biden misspeak, or drop a hint that he shouldn’t have?

Parties are in politics primarily to win the vote of the median voter, not to join together and sing Kumbaya.

The arrival of Discovery in Washington D.C. has led to another lament about “national greatness.”

There are all manner of myths that are held by supporters of both parties. Debunking them is not the role for presidential aspirants.

Was Return Of The Jedi the best of all the Star Wars films? One writer thinks so.

Worried the GOP might eliminate the filibuster if they gain control of the Senate? Don’t be.

Requiring a religious institution to comply with civilian laws is not a violation of religious liberty.

Why are all the candidates for president so awful?

Let’s ban robocalls.

Welcome technological change, or crony capitalism?

Ron Paul is surging in Iowa. He’s in 3rd place in the national polls and has been for most of the race. He’s not Mitt Romney.

Do American courts throw people in jail for failing to pay their debts? No, they don’t.

Don’t believe the fear mongering about the coming decreases in the growth of defense spending.

Mitt Romney’s first television ad is built around a Barack Obama quote that has been cropped so that he’s saying the opposite of what he actually said.

Will we wind up with a backdoor mandate? Or a single payer system?

As the season changes, the Occupy Wall Street movement seems destined to peter out.

The prospects for real economic recovery are not good.