Outside the Beltway

Republicans won the right to govern Wisconsin. What does that mean for Democrats?

Michael Medved wishes that conservatives would stop implying that the President of the United States wants to destroy the United States.

Newt Gingrich is very popular among young conservatives. But two ugly divorces will keep him from being a contender for the presidency.

A few thoughts/historical examples, as to why I am guarded in my optimism on Egypt.

Ellis Goldberg, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Washington and an expert on Egyptian politics, has a pessimistic view about the likelihood that the military is interested in democratization.

So, what are the constitutional provisions for presidential resignations in Egypt?

The media are wildly exaggerating the heckling at a gathering of conservatives.

One Republican Congressman is calling on President Obama to stand firmly behind our “friend” in Cairo, even though there’s little evidence we can trust him.

Today’s Foreign Desk includes comments on Brazil’s floods, developments in Ivory Coast, and Silvio Berlusconi’s sex scandal.

The American media and Sarah Palin have developed an odd symbiotic relationship, and it’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

A new book by President Reagan’s youngest son raises allegations that the former President was showing signs of Alzheimer’s Disease while still in office, and that’s led to a family feud between the two Reagan brothers.

150 years ago, President-Elect Abraham Lincoln was presented with a chance to avert Civil War. He passed it up, and we should be glad that he did.

One columnist argues that Sarah Palin’s response to the Arizona shootings mark the end of whatever political future she might have had. He’s probably correct.

President Obama and Hillary Clinton top Gallup’s lists of Most Admired Americans.

Is calling Côte d’Ivoire “Ivory Coast” linguistic colonialism? Where do we draw the line when English names for countries go out of vogue?

Just weeks after voting for a broad ban on earmarks, Republicans are looking for ways to get money to their districts without calling it an “earmark.”

President Obama’s press conference yesterday, bitterly railing against Democrats in the Congress for being “purist” and “sanctimonious,” is brilliant triangulation.

Meghan McCain doesn’t know what a “blue blood” is but doesn’t want to be called one.

The prospective Republican field for 2012 is dismal. Then again, it always is.

The over-hyping of President Obama’s lip getting cut while playing basketball is a bit much.

President Obama’s response to the outrage that has accompanied new TSA screening procedures at America’s airports is incredibly non-responsive.

While Tim Pawlenty and John Thune get high marks from insiders, they have next to no shot at winning the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

Rand Paul is taking some heat for remarks that may or may not indicate that he’s backtracking on his previous vow not to seek earmark spending for Kentucky. Yes folks, the phony war on earmarks is back.

Despite votes in the 2010 contest still being counted, polls for 2012 are already pouring out. They’re largely meaningless.

George W. Bush’s new memoir reveals that he briefly considered replaced Dick Cheney as Vice-President before the 2004 elections. His decision not to do so reveals much about the relationship between Presidents and Vice-Presidents in modern American politics.

If you’re looking for a reason why the GOP is likely to do very well tomorrow, voter response to the “right track/wrong track” question is a very good guide.

Unnamed Republican leaders are lined up to ensure that anybody but the former VP nominee is the party’s 2012 standard bearer.

Another poll confirms that Sarah Palin continues to be viewed negatively by the majority of American voters, but that doesn’t seem to matter to supporters who seem have a degree of adulation usually reserved for celebrities than serious politicians.

Yes, I think that Palin is running in 2012.

Mike Huckabee is the latest Republican to tack up the banner against the so-called “elites.”

Justice Alito said recently he won’t be attending the next State of the Union address. Sounds like a good idea to me.

A new law allows Presidential candidates to set up transition offices while they’re still running for election, perhaps providing an opportunity for shortening the 2 1/2 month interregnum between Election Day and Inauguration Day.

If Sarah Palin isn’t running for President, why is she comparing herself to Ronald Reagan ?

A new Gallup poll shows President Obama beating Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical 2012 Democratic nomination fight. Nobody should be surprised by that.

The Obama White House is asserting that the President has the authority to issue assassination orders against American citizens, and that no Court has the authority to review his decision. If that doesn’t worry you, it should.

For the moment, the Tea Party movement is helping pull the GOP out of a slump that seemed like it would continue for a long time. Will it last, or will the movement end up doing for Republicans what the left has done for Democrats ?

America’s mission in Iraq is shifting from an active combat role to a smaller security presence. But the war that gripped our attention for years is now off the radar screen.