Outside the Beltway

With two former Republican governors running under its banner, is there such a thing as a “Libertarian Party”?

Top officials of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have taken jobs in the industry they were regulating.

The rise of Trump and Sanders has resurrected a debate as old as Western civilization.

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s fate lies the hands of the Supreme Court.

Another big night for Hillary Clinton, and more bad news for Bernie Sanders.

In a huge step forward for criminal justice reform, Virginia’s Governor has restored voting rights for some 200,000 people who have paid their debt to society.

The business of the media is business. Business is not good.

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.

How much command of detail should we demand of presidential candidates?

Bernie Sanders swept the Western Caucuses on Saturday, but Hillary Clinton remains in control in the delegate count.

With President Obama becoming the first American President to visit Cuba in 88 years, a new poll finds majority support for his changes in Cuba policy.

Primary turnout is not predictive of general election outcomes.

Given the stakes headed into the latest version of ‘Super Tuesday,’ last night’s Republican debate was surprisingly subdued.

It seems increasingly apparent that the only way to stop Donald Trump now is by trying to force a contested convention. It also seems clear that such a plan probably wouldn’t succeed.

With time running out, the top three candidates for the Republican nomination picked up right where they left off last week.

All of which leads to a discussion of electoral rules.

David Brooks has articulated a frustration many of us share.

Is President Obama planning a Checkmate move in the SCOTUS nomination fight?

This year’s Nevada Caucuses are a good argument for why there should not be any more caucuses.

Dare I say: hate the game, not the players?

With the Vermont Senator holding a seemingly insurmountable lead in New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders and HIllary Clinton clashed last night in their most contentious debate yet.

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discrepancies in the counting of ballots in the Democratic Caucus in Iowa reveal yet again why the caucus process is outdated and ought to be abandoned.

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.

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

There have been many arguments that polling has over-stated Donald Trump’s actual level of support among likely Republican voters, but there’s also a good argument that they are understating it and that Trump may do better when people start voting than many think.

Marine Le Pen suffered setbacks in the second round of regional voting on Sunday, but the party still seems likely to become more popular in the coming years.

Should Donald Trump be classified as a fascist?

The quadrennial fantasy of a brokered convention, which American politics has not seen since 1952, is rearing its head again, and it’s no more likely now than it was when we talked about this four years ago.

The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in a case that could have big implications for redistricting, and the make-up of state legislatures and the House of Representatives.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The United States and Europe are giving everything the perpetrators of the Paris attacks hoped for.

After thirty years in Federal Prison, Jonathan Pollard is a free man. Make no mistake, though. Pollard is not, and never has been, a hero and he deserves to be remembered as nothing but the criminal that he is.

John Kasich wants the United States Government to create an agency to spread ‘so-called ‘Judeo-Christian values.’

Ben Carson displays incoherence and ignorance on foreign policy issues that disqualify him from being considered a serious candidate for President of the United States.

Why Republicans nominate moderates for president and not other offices.

Forget about Congress, the real story going forward is likely to be Republican dominance of state legislatures nationwide.

Today, many states and municipalities are having elections that will mostly attract Democrats.

So close, and yet so very, very, far.

To the surprise of nobody who was actually paying attention to political reality, Vice-President Biden announced today that he will not be a candidate for President.

If pre-election polling is to be believed, Stephan Harper and Canada’s Conservative Party seem likely to lose power after Monday’s elections, but there are several reasons why this may not end up being the case.

In addition to doing everything she needed to do last night, Hillary Clinton also destroyed whatever logic remained for a Joe Biden candidacy.

California has become the second state to provide for automatic voter registration for all eligible voters when they obtain or renew a driver’s license.