Outside the Beltway

Ben Carson is running for President.

Less than two weeks after entering the race, Florida Senator Marco Rubio is at the top of the GOP field in a new poll.

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

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.

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

After declining to run in 2012, Mike Huckabee’s entry into the 2016 race seems fairly certain.

Ben Carson will be entering the race for President next month, but don’t pretend for a minute that he’s a serious candidate.

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.

Scott Walker’s response to the Iranian nuclear deal is perhaps the most irresponsible so far.

The Iranian nuclear accords are barely 24 hours old and some people have already made up their mind about them.

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.

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.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio is getting ready to jump into the race for President, but he has an uphill fight ahead of him.

Another setback for those opposed to Voter ID laws.

Two weeks after the email story broke, there’s no sign that Hillary Clinton is losing ground in the 2016 race.

Alec MacGillis argues for Slate that “Veterans Should Pay Taxes Like Everyone Else.” I agree!

A brutal assessment of Chris Christie’s presidential chances.

Wisconsin has become the 25th “right to work” state.

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

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

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.

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.

For some reason, Republicans want to change filibuster rules even though it’s unclear that they’ll still hold the Senate after 2016.

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.

The Republican National Committee is trying to bring some sanity to the Presidential debate process, but there’s no guarantee it can succeed.

As the second anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School approaches, a new poll finds that more Americans support gun rights than gun control.

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

For the fourth time in three years, a Federal Court has ruled that Florida’s law requiring drug tests for welfare recipients is unconstitutional.

How will Republicans react if, as many expect, the Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage across the nation?

You’ve got your playoff College Football fans, as imperfect as it was inevitably going to be.

A crushing but expected defeat for a veteran Democrat.

Texas has joined with 16 other states in a lawsuit against the Obama Administration over the President’s executive action on immigration. At first glance, it doesn’t appear to have much legal merit.

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

When push comes to shove, top Republicans may still try to make Mitt Romney happen.

Fresh off his third statewide win in four years, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker appears to be getting ready to run for President.

Based on the available evidence, there’s very little evidence that Voter ID laws had a significant impact on the midterm elections.

An adviser close to Hillary Clinton is talking about expanding the Electoral College map in 2016, but even without such an expansion the GOP faces an uphill battle.

The process that seems likely to lead to a Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage has begun.

Outdated rules? It sure seems like it.

After the 2010 elections, several newly Republican state legislatures flirted with the idea of changing the way their state allocates Electoral Votes. The outcome of last weeks elections raises the possibility that this could happen again.

The GOP’s big wins last week seem to be just guaranteeing that this year’s battle between the Tea Party and the “establishment” will continue.