Outside the Beltway

For the second election cycle in a row, and after a contentious floor fight, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is the Libertarian Party’s nominee for President.

With Republicans in Trump-induced disarray, Libertarians are meeting to pick their nominee and the hope that 2016 could be the year their party finally gets the attention it has craved for four decades.

Even before the 2016 convention, Republicans are talking about possible rules changes to stop another Trump-like candidate in 2020 or beyond.

There are many aspects of the way delegates to the party convention are chosen that is “undemocratic,” but it’s unclear why this is a problem.

A treasure trove of documents from a law firm in Panama could prove problematic for a large group of international leaders.

February’s Jobs Report was relatively positive, but there are still shadows hovering over the economy as we head further into the year.

Ronald Reagan famously claimed, “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. The party left me.” I’m going through the process in reverse.

Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions became the latest prominent Republican to endorse Donald Trump, but there are a lot more Republicans who are starting to panic over what Trump could do to their party.

With one surprise endorsement, Donald Trump stole the post-debate news cycle from Marco Rubio.

Bizarrely, the Marco Rubio campaign seems to be telling donors that their candidate may have to hope for a brokered convention to win the GOP nomination.

Reports of discrepancies in the counting of ballots in the Democratic Caucus in Iowa reveal yet again why the caucus process is outdated and ought to be abandoned.

Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio have won the endorsement of the Des Moines Register, but it’s unclear how much this will help their respective campaigns.

We’re in another Presidential election cycle so it must be time to speculate about Michael Bloomberg again.

Americans don’t trust their government or each other. There’s no reason to hope it’ll get better.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had some praise for Donald Trump of all people.

Donald Trump’s plan to exclude Muslims from the United States is provoking condemnation, and confusion, around the world.

Europe’s anti-immigrant, xenophobic far right scored major victories in France yesterday.

Blaming political opponents for criminal acts they clearly didn’t commit or advocate isn’t a political argument, it’s demagoguery.

The election of an anti-austerity government in Portugal is raising some concerns.

The news that at least some of the men who were involved in the terrorist attacks in Paris were among the refugees who have arrived in Europe since the summer is likely to complicate an already complicated situation.

As Ben Carson rises in the polls, it’s worth noting his many examples of having what can only be called a very odd relationship with truth and the basic facts of history.

Jim Webb’s campaign for the Democratic nomination has been largely forgettable, so now he’s apparently threatening to run as an Independent.

A political earthquake north of the border.

Trump remains in the lead, but he has been steadily falling over the month of September. (And this triggers, as these things do, musings about institutions and our party system).

There was far too much pseudoscience in evidence during the Republican Debate on Wednesday.

Polling shows that Republicans increasingly see Donald Trump as Presidential and trustworthy. The rest of America disagrees.

The 2016 election will be fought on a very small battlefield, and right now the makeup of that battlefield heavily favors the Democrats.

States who try to use loyalty oaths to keep Donald Trump off the ballot will be running afoul of the Constitution.

Trump illustrates the weak nature of our parties.

Relying on a particularly strained and incredulous legal analysis, the EEOC has ruled that laws against discrimination based on gender also bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Most Americans think that income inequality is a problem, but they don’t all agree on what to do about it.

Voters in Ireland have overwhelmingly approved a referendum legalizing same-sex marriage.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer suggests that his fellow Congressmen and Senators are underpaid at $174,000 per year.

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

Just as his political star is rising among conservatives, Scott Walker is walking back his previous support for immigration reform.

The State Of The Union Address was more of the same, and the same will be true of Washington going forward.

As expected, the Senate passed the so-called “Cromnibus,” but not before a self-aggrandizing maneuver by Ted Cruz ended up being exploited by Democrats to pass outstanding nominations.

Despite opposition from both Republicans and Democrats, the compromise budget resolution passed narrowly last night, but not without some last minute drama

Today is a day for turkey and football, not a day for politics.

Looking into uncontested and partially contest House districts from the 2014 cycle.

The GOP added to its majority in the House, giving it the biggest majority it has had since Truman was President.

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

Would increasing the size of the House of Representatives be the cure for what ails Congress?

There’s nothing wrong with choosing not to vote.

Important numbers in recent polling suggest big problems for Democrats on Tuesday.

Have digital books rendered the publishing houses obsolete?

Polls continue to show that most Americans are largely tuning the midterms out.