Outside the Beltway

Tuesday night’s running mate debate had lower viewership than any such encounter in sixteen years.

Polling shows that most Americans oppose Donald Trump’s plan to bar Muslim’s from immigrating to the United States, but Republicans are far more receptive to the idea.

Donald Trump’s plan to bar all Muslim immigration to the United States is being widely condemned by his fellow Republicans and others, but the proposal probably won’t hurt him politically in a Republican Party that is deeply bigoted against Muslims in general.

Much more so than in the past, the race for the Republican Presidential race has become a battle to define what it means to be a ‘conservative.’ Especially on issues like immigration and national security, one side seems to be winning the battle.

Republicans haven’t really moved beyond the legacy of George W. Bush’s failed Administration as much as they’d like to think, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting them very much.

In a new book, former President George H.W. Bush is highly critical of two of his son’s closest advisers in the White House.

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

To lose something one has to have it in the first place. (It is pretty basic logic).

Rand Paul is out with one of his more forceful attacks on Republican hawks to date.

Rand Paul bucks Republican orthodoxy on Iraq, Libya, and negotiations with Iran.

Rand Paul is the latest Republican to enter the race, but his path to even becoming a contender is a difficult one at best.

Rand Paul is one of the few Republicans who seems to be evaluating the new policy toward Cuba through something other than an outdated Cold War perspective.

Vice-President Cheney’s amoral defense of torture has come to define how most conservatives view the issue, and that’s a problem.

A dark and regrettable time in American history is finally seeing the light of day.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul continues to challenge Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy, and that’s a good thing.

Some on the left are saying that Hillary Clinton isn’t doing enough to help Democrats in 2014.

Rick Perry and Rand Paul are highlighting what looks to be a coming battle inside the GOP over foreign policy.

When it comes to Iraq, the media only seems to be giving Americans one side of the story.

My latest for The National Interest, “Neoconservatives, the Iraq Debate and Ad Hominem Attacks,” has posted.

The Kentucky Senator and former Vice-President are at the front of a battle that will unfold inside the GOP as we head toward 2016.

Some questions for the Republicans who would be President about the actions of the last Republican President.

Does the office of Vice-President serve any useful purpose anymore?

Tan, rested, ready, Biden in 2016?

Some on the American right have a very odd view of both Nelson Mandela and the Apartheid regime he fought against.

Even as it defies China’s illegal territorial claims with military flights, the Obama administration is urging US airlines to comply.

Some interesting taking of sides is already taking place in the GOP Senate race in Wyoming.

The military’s finance and accounting system has been dysfunctional for decades and is getting worse.

Outrage over leaks like those that Edward Snowden makes doesn’t exist when its politicians doing the leaking.

Even if you trust the current occupant of the White House to exercise the powers granted to the agencies operating in secret under him, do you trust all future Presidents?

A Fox News reporter may go to jail for refusing to reveal a source. Should journalists have an absolute testimonial privilege?

The Iraq War did significant damage to the legacy of the Republican Party.

Expectations are high for Paul Ryan heading in to Thursday’s Vice-Presidential debate. That’s not necessarily a good thing.

Mitt Romney is a deeply flawed candidate, but that doesn’t mean the President is any better.

The Romney campaign infighting is becoming public.

The front page of Sunday’s NYT profiled Valerie Jarrett, the power behind the throne at the Obama White House.