Outside the Beltway

Rand Paul’s Presidential campaign isn’t going so well at the moment.

It’s all about the Benjamins.

He definitely wouldn’t appreciate it, but in some sense you can thank Robert Bork for the Supreme Court’s opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges.

The Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality seems to have revived an idea that has been mentioned before, but as it has always been, the idea of “getting government out of marriage” is little more than a simplistic slogan.

The Supreme Court ruled that police are not entitled to access to a hotel registry without a warrant.

So much for freedom of speech.

The Senate returns tomorrow to try to pass an extension of the PATRIOT Act before it expires, but it may not be able to do so.

Lindsey Graham says that, if elected president, he would summarily kill anyone thinking about joining ISIS.

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

The GOP race remains tight, but some candidates have benefited from their entry into the race more than others. Overall, though, Hillary Clinton continues to dominate.

Rand Paul is the latest Republican to enter the race, but his path to even becoming a contender is a difficult one at best.

Some Republicans are trying to move their party in the right direction on marriage equality, but it’s unclear if they will succeed in the short term.

Rand Paul has been cozying up to social conservatives lately, but he risks alienating the people most likely to support his campaign for the White House.

We’re down to debating whether bigots should have to sell cakes to gay people.

Indiana is about to become the latest state to grants special rights to religious business owners.

Ted Cruz kicks off with the first of what is likely to be a string of candidates getting into the 2016 race in the coming month.

By refusing to stay the legalization of same-sex marriage in Alabama, the Supreme Court has sent the strongest signal yet that it is ready to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.

Even leaving aside the fact that it is far too early to be making such assessments, the idea that Rand Paul is the front runner for the Republican nomination in 2016 fails the logic test.

A critic of the imperial presidency becomes an imperial president.

There’s more to life than politics. Unfortunately, there are many Americans who don’t seem to recognize that fact.

Trying to explain one of the biggest surprises of Election Night 2014.

An unsurprising ruling from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that only seems to bring closer the day when same-sex marriage will be legal nationwide.

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

Time to look into the crystal ball.

Rebranding alone isn’t going to fix what’s causing the GOP to lose ground among a whole host of demographic groups.

Two states and the nation’s capital could have legal marijuana after Tuesday’s elections.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul continues to challenge Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy, and that’s a good thing.

Things are looking good for the GOP to take over the Senate, but there are still several right races that could tip the balance one way or the other.

There’s at least a 50-50 chance we won’t know who controls the Senate until weeks after Election Day.

Could Alison Lundergran Grimes be surging? Maybe, but we’ll need more evidence to be sure.

Third-party candidates in several states could end up having a big say in the battle for control of the Senate.

A number of factors unique to 2014 make it likely that control of the Senate could be up in the air for months after Election Day.

Kansas’s highest court heard argument today in a legal dispute that could play a huge role in deciding who controls the Senate after November 4th.

Republicans still have an advantage, but Democrats seem to be holding their own in the battle for Senate control.

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

Another Federal appellate Court has struck down state law bans on same-sex marriage, but the only thing that matters now is the Supreme Court.

A political earthquake in the Sunflower State that could have a big impact on the battle for control of the Senate.

So far at least, there is no evidence that 2014 will be a “wave election.”

Despite a high profile effort to oust him, the most prominent libertarian Republican in Congress survived his primary challenge yesterday.

Later today, President Obama will sign an Executive Order barring Federal Contractors from discrimination based on sexual orientation. But that’s not even the most controversial part for some conservatives.

The current Congress is on course to be the least productive in decades.

A Federal Appeals Court has struck down a D.C. law requiring tour guides to get a license and pass a test.