Outside the Beltway

The Republican debate stage in 2016 is going to be even more crowded than it was in 2012.

A five-time heavyweight champion has beaten a rich politician in a bizarre charity event.

George Stephanopoulos’ s ties to the Clinton’s have always raised questions about his objectivity. Now, there’s further reason to doubt that he can play fair when the Clinton’s are part of the story he’s covering.

Jeb Bush will not participate in this year’s version of the Iowa Straw Poll.

Congressman Darrell Issa says that America’s poor are generally better off than the poor in the rest of the world. While he’s correct, he’s also incredibly tone deaf.

Once again, only six or seven states are likely to matter.

Break out the sweater vests, Rick Santorum is getting ready to enter the race for the Republican Presidential Nomination.

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.

Mike Huckabee’s back, but the 2008 magic is gone.

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

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is now appealing to the worst aspects of economic populism on the right.

WaPo’s “Top Christie ally defects to Bush” buries the lede.

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

Pundits and political scientists agree that, if the 2016 presidential election were today, we’d have a much better idea who would win.

The scandal that will make everyone forget about Benghazi.

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.

Jeb Bush is leading the latest poll of the 2016 Republican race and Ted Cruz has surged since he entered the race, but the race is just beginning.

Harry Reid made outlandish claims about Mitt Romney during the 2012 election. He probably knew they were lies when he made them. And he doesn’t care.

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

A brutal assessment of Chris Christie’s presidential chances.

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

Do the nonprofit’s foreign donors create a conflict of interest?

Scott Walker surged to the top of a new poll of Iowa Republicans, but Iowa is not a very good predictor of success in the race for the GOP nomination.

After weeks of giving every indication that he’s running for president yet again, Mitt Romney has announced that he’s not a candidate for 2016.

Mitt Romney is set to make an announcement at 11 Eastern today. [UPDATE: He’s out!]

With no real opponents in the race for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton has no reason to rush getting into the race.

Advantage: Hillary.

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.

He’s tan. He’s rested. And, apparently, he’s ready. Mitt Romney seems very interested in 2016 all of a sudden.

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.

The former Florida Governor announced that he’s taking the first step towards running for president in 2016.

Rick Santorum looks to be getting ready to hit the campaign trail again, but it’s doubtful he can find appeal beyond the religious conservatives who supported him in 2012.

Rick Perry is sounding for all the world like a candidate for President, and says he’s a different candidate this time, but initial perceptions are hard to overcome.

The GOP donor class would like the 2016 race to be short and sweet, but that’s unlikely to happen.

Clearly, the Romney campaign didn’t get the point of social media.

Ben Carson is not a serious candidate for President, but he’s likely to get a lot of support from the GOP’s Tea Party wing.

After a disastrous campaign in 2012, Texas Governor Rick Perry appears to be gearing up for a new run for the White House in 2016, but questions remain.

The numbers don’t lie, Mitt Romney remains popular among Republican voters.

Columbus, Philadelphia, or New York City (well, Brooklyn really)?

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