Outside the Beltway

Big losses for proponents of Voter ID laws in two swing states.

Eight years after beating her for the Democratic Nomination, Barack Obama passed the torch to Hillary Clinton with a speech that sounded more like Ronald Reagan than anything we’ve heard from the Republican nominee.

Donald Trump completed his unlikely journey to the Republican Presidential Nomination last night, but he the party he now leads remains divided.

Turkey’s government appears to have rebuffed a coup attempt, but questions remains about the stability of the government going forward.

Well that took long enough.

Comments on a pro-Trump (well, sorta) column.

A massive attack hits Istanbul’s airport.

Americans have increasingly come to view their political opponents as not just wrong, but evil, stupid, and immoral. That’s not something that makes for a healthy representative democratic republic.

The Supreme Court has once again issued a ruling that further chips away at the protections of the Fourth Amendment.

The murder of Jo Cox, MP is looking more and more like a politically motivated assassination, and that’s causing some in Great Britain to look inward.

Donald Trump continues his war on freedom of the press and reporters who cover him critically by barring The Washington Post from covering campaign events.

Libertarian Party Presidential nominee Gary Johnson is doing quite well in the polls, when pollsters bother to include him.

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.

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.

All of which leads to a discussion of electoral rules.

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

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.

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

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 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!

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.

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.

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.

The seeds of the current peace deal date back to 2007-2008 (plus some longer-term background notes).

Joe Biden may want to run for President, but does anyone else? It doesn’t really seem like it.

Like many Republicans, Jeb Bush continues to be willfully blind to the truth about the Iraq War.

A Federal Appeals Court has dealt a setback to Texas in the battle over its Voter ID Law.

Public opinion on the Supreme Court has declined significantly, largely because Republicans don’t like the Supreme Court very much right now.

Greek voters rejected the latest bailout package, but that only seems likely to make things even worse for them.

SCOTUS has upheld the use of election commissions to draw Congressional district lines.

Debating the proper role of the judiciary.

Wherein I take the view that as our understanding of language changes, so too does our application of the Constiution.

The US Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Constitution contains a right to same-sex marriage.