Outside the Beltway

Even for political junkies, the thrill seems to be gone.

Less than two weeks after entering the race, Florida Senator Marco Rubio is at the top of the GOP field in a new poll.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is now appealing to the worst aspects of economic populism on the right.

WaPo’s “Top Christie ally defects to Bush” buries the lede.

The GOP race remains tight, but some candidates have benefited from their entry into the race more than others. Overall, though, Hillary Clinton continues to dominate.

And the fun part is that his main motive for running appears to be the opportunity to troll Rand Paul.

The “racism” debate brought about by Barack Obama in 2000 is getting a spin-off.

After declining to run in 2012, Mike Huckabee’s entry into the 2016 race seems fairly certain.

Five years after it became law, the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act appears to be over.

Pundits and political scientists agree that, if the 2016 presidential election were today, we’d have a much better idea who would win.

The confirmation of a new Attorney General has been held up nearly six months for what amounts to no legitimate reason.

Like nearly all of his fellow Republicans, Jeb Bush has adopted the disastrous foreign policy views that typified his brother’s Presidency.

Another step forward for U.S.-Cuban relations.

Some thoughts on a column by Roger Noriega on the Obama administration and Latin America,

Marco Rubio is the first Republican in the race who actually has a plausible chance to win the nomination, but it’s not going to be easy.

His poll numbers are down, the GOP base is not hospitable, but Chris Christie still seems to be thinking about running for President.

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

The political media is breathlessly reporting on every event in a campaign that is just beginning, and voters aren’t really paying attention to it at this point.

The Iranian nuclear accords are barely 24 hours old and some people have already made up their mind about them.

Jeb Bush is leading the latest poll of the 2016 Republican race and Ted Cruz has surged since he entered the race, but the race is just beginning.

We’re down to debating whether bigots should have to sell cakes to gay people.

Carly Fiorina seems to be inching close to a Presidential run for some reason.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio is getting ready to jump into the race for President, but he has an uphill fight ahead of him.

More than ever before, even mild criticism of Israel seems to be verboten among Republicans.

The Republican frontrunner claims he doesn’t read America’s most important newspaper.

Ted Cruz kicks off with the first of what is likely to be a string of candidates getting into the 2016 race in the coming month.

Two weeks after the email story broke, there’s no sign that Hillary Clinton is losing ground in the 2016 race.

The 2008 runner-up has scared off all serious challengers for 2016. Why?

Despite the ongoing email controversy, Hillary Clinton remains well positioned heading into 2016.

What reporters see as stonewalling may be shrewd clock management.

Just as his political star is rising among conservatives, Scott Walker is walking back his previous support for immigration reform.

Rand Paul is carrying on a family tradition, winning the CPAC straw poll won many times by his father Ron.

Lest there be any doubt, Barbara Bush wouldn’t mind a third POTUS in the family.

Scott Walker surged to the top of a new poll of Iowa Republicans, but Iowa is not a very good predictor of success in the race for the GOP nomination.

So what?

Mitt Romney is set to make an announcement at 11 Eastern today. [UPDATE: He’s out!]

With no real opponents in the race for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton has no reason to rush getting into the race.

Advantage: Hillary.

The Tea Party may be the most vocal wing of the GOP but most Republicans seems to favor candidates that aren’t quite so right wing.

He’s tan. He’s rested. And, apparently, he’s ready. Mitt Romney seems very interested in 2016 all of a sudden.

Over the weekend, Mike Huckabee took another step that suggests that he is indeed planning on running for President in 2016.

Two potential candidates for the Republican nomination in 2016 traded barbs this week over the President’s new policy toward Cuba.

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.

The fate of Cuba policy in Congress is far from certain, but what is certain is that following through on President Obama’s historic and necessary changes will face resistance.

The former Florida Governor announced that he’s taking the first step towards running for president in 2016.

Even leaving aside the fact that it is far too early to be making such assessments, the idea that Rand Paul is the front runner for the Republican nomination in 2016 fails the logic test.