Outside the Beltway

Two Republicans who broke with their party to support hearings for Judge Merrick Garland have changed their minds and gotten back in line with the Senate GOP Caucus.

Five months after becoming Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan seems to be running into some of the same difficulties that John Boehner did.

Conservatives are doing all they can to make sure Merrick Garland does not get either a hearing or a vote in the Senate, and it’s working.

The alternatives to Trump vs Clinton are getting into the realm of fantasy.

The effort to stop Donald Trump seems likely to set off a civil war inside the Republican Party.

David Brooks has articulated a frustration many of us share.

Two new polls show that Americans are basically split equally on the question of who should appoint the Justice that will replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.

Ted Cruz won, Marco Rubio surged into a stronger than expected third place, and Donald Trump was humbled just a little bit, but he was hardly a “loser.” The race for the GOP nomination has begun for real.

Many analysts are making the argument that Marco Rubio is the GOP’s best hope to win the General Election in 2016. That may be true, but before he can get there he needs to find a way to win the GOP nomination.

With mere days until voting starts, the possibility of Donald Trump running the table in the February primaries and caucuses, or nearly doing so, is more and more likely.

With less than a week to go before voting starts, Donald Trump continues to dominate the GOP race, with Ted Cruz the only candidate even close to looking like a viable challenger.

Rick Perry is endorsing Ted Cruz for President, leading to the question of why Ted Cruz thinks an endorsement from Rick Perry has any value whatsoever.

The flagship of the American right is leading the charge against Donald Trump, but it’s not likely to work.

Sarah Palin is back, and she’s endorsing Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for President.

Governor Abbott may claim he seeks to restore the constitutional order, but in fact his proposals have a lot in common with those who opposed the documents ratification in the first place.

We will have a two party system for the foreseeable future.

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

In a new Gallup poll, Republicans say they want a “conservative” as their Presidential nominee, but they may regret what happens if they get the kind of hard-right conservative they seem to be thinking of.

The first post-debate polls of the GOP race have more good news for Donald Trump.

The final spending bill for the 2016 Fiscal Year sailed through Congress today, marking the end of a very successful first two months in office for Speaker Paul Ryan

Marco Rubio has been getting a lot of love lately from both conservatives and so-called ‘establishment’ Republicans, but his seemingly meager ground game in early states is raising doubts about his campaign.

A pair of new national polls shows a new trend in the GOP race heading into the final debate of 2015.

Should Donald Trump be classified as a fascist?

Notwithstanding the hopes of many Republicans, Donald Trump continues to be the person to beat in the race for the party’s 2016 Presidential nomination.

A new poll appears to show that a majority of Republicans support Donald Trump’s plan to bar Muslims from immigrating to the United States.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have mostly avoided attacking each other, but if the polls are any indication that detente may be about to come to an end in the Hawkeye State.

Given his rhetoric, it’s fairly clear that Donald Trump is drawing from a poisonous political well. So there’s no point in failing to acknowledge reality.

Polls are quite useful in the right circumstances, but knowledge, complexity, and timing all have to be taken into account in determining what they are telling us.

Happy Thanksgiving! Don’t forget to start a political fight with your family!

The economy performed a little better than previously reported over the summer. It’s not great, but it’s probably enough to convince the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month.

Another poll shows Ted Cruz rising and Ben Carson falls in the Hawkeye State. The only question is who attacks who first, Donald Trump or Ted Cruz?

Much more so than in the past, the race for the Republican Presidential race has become a battle to define what it means to be a ‘conservative.’ Especially on issues like immigration and national security, one side seems to be winning the battle.

A new Gallup poll shows public approval of Congress once again approaching historic lows, but it means far less than anyone thinks.

Republicans haven’t really moved beyond the legacy of George W. Bush’s failed Administration as much as they’d like to think, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting them very much.

Fluctuations continue, but the Republican Presidential field appears to be sorting itself out as we near the beginning of a new phase of the campaign.

Republican Matt Bevin picked up what comes as a surprise win to many observers, and that sets up a big fight over what had been a PPACA program that the White House has touted.

Marco Rubio’s performance in this week’s debate is once again leading to speculation about whether is about to have a breakout moment.

While it did draw 14 million viewers, last night’s CNBC debate had the smallest audience of any Presidential debate so far. That was probably a good thing for CNBC considering how bad the debate was.

With only a handful of opposition, Paul Ryan was easily elected the 62nd Speaker of the House.

Yesterday, Paul Ryan spoke out against the procedure under which the new budget deal was negotiated. Today, he announced that he’ll vote for it anyway.

Compromise is simply necessary for the country to function.

Paul Ryan is blasting the process that led to the new budget deal between the GOP and the White House, but one suspects he’s secretly quite pleased with the fact that it makes his job-to-be a lot easier.

A new poll shows that the Tea Party movement is more unpopular than it has ever been before, even among Republicans and conservatives.

The Department of Justice has informed Congress that its investigation has found no basis for criminal charges arising out of the targeting of conservative organizations by IRS officials evaluating applications for tax-exempt status.

Once the Republican frontrunner, Jeb Bush is now floundering and dealing with donors worried that they may be backing the wrong horse.

Two new Iowa polls show Ben Carson passing Donald Trump in the Hawkeye State, but that’s not necessarily good news for Republicans.

With the voting now seemingly a mere formality, the question becomes what kind of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will become.