Outside the Beltway

So far, Beto O’Rourke’s campaign has been far more about image than substance.

The story is shifting, which makes me even more suspicious.

More pressures on a region already struggling.

Let’s just say that he isn’t impressed.

It’s still early in the 2020 cycle, but Democratic candidate are finding rally attendees focused on one thing. Beating Donald Trump.

The tone and content of President Trump’s 2020 campaign is already quite apparent.

Democrats in South Carolina seem to think they have a shot at beating Lindsey Graham in 2020. I wouldn’t be so sure of that.

Trump and company have a cartoonish view of immigration policy.

The 2020 debate on Twitter does not represent ordinary Americans. Does that matter?

Stephen Miller and others wanted to punish Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats by dumping detained migrants in their districts.

The US is reproducing below the replacement rate.

A shout-out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia.

Trump really has no plan about the border save for demagoging the issue.

A bipartisan bill will protect the tax preparation industry at the expense of the citizenry.

Says “He’s pulling the rug out from the very people that are trying to help him accomplish his goal.”

Are people fleeing blue states to avoid repressive taxes? It depends who you’re asking.

The Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez edition.

California Governor Gavin Newsome may have put the issue front and center for 2020.

Add DHS to the list of Departments being run by interims.

Sanders’ suggestion is not as outside democratic norms as one might think.

“We have to be careful in balancing big dreams and bold ideas with also recognizing that typically change happens in steps.”

As many states contemplate restoring voting rights to felons who have completed their sentence, a leading Democrat wants to go further.

A lesson from Puerto Rico and further reasons why the EC is a problem.

Bernie also faces disclosure pressures.

It’s a lot harder than it looks.

The law is not on the President’s side.

Very little of our vast landmass is densely populated with humans.

The Constitution’s invitation to struggle over foreign policy continues.

Princeton historian Sean Wilentz lays to rest a pernicious idea propagated by . . . Princeton historian Sean Wilentz.

A reminder that over 3 million citizens have no effective influence over the federal government.

It now appears that the Attorney General is keeping publicly-releasable information hidden away longer than necessary.

Senate Republicans are pushing for the end of minority obstruction—and the Democrats can’t wait.

Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris are leading the field and Pete Bittigieg is doing surprisingly well.

While polarization in our national politics gets the most attention, several states also face serious rural-urban tensions.

In 2016, a crowded Republican field yielded an unlikely nominee. Could history repeat itself in 2020?

Six weeks is a very long time in American politics.

After a flood of stories saying the former Vice President is unsuitable for the modern era, the inevitable pushback is happening.

He’s a national treasure who has been appropriately honored for a lifetime of service and sacrifice. But this seems different.

In some expert trolling, the Senate Majority Leader decries “mindless, undiscriminating obstruction for the sake of obstruction.”

The White House clearly doesn’t have a plan beyond attacking Obamacare to score political points.

Trump’s threat will not make things better (and the notion of actually closing the border is insane).

Note to the folks at Fox and Friends: Central America is not part of Mexico.

Trump declares he will end aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

The peril of not yet running for President include not yet having a campaign staff in place.

John Fund thinks I am afraid of Stephen Moore (and that I am an economist). He is wrong on both counts.

More simplism from the WH.

The early frontrunner for the Democratic nomination is drawing fire from multiple fronts. It may destroy his candidacy before it begins.

It’s increasingly challenging to discuss media coverage because we’re all consuming a hand-selected bit of it.

Scholars argue that the shifting media landscape is largely to blame for our political crisis.

Another demonstration that evidence doesn’t much matter in modern American politics.