Outside the Beltway

The first of a series of polls in anticipation of next week’s debate shows Donald Trump still at the top, with a surprise coming out of Ohio.

With just over a week to go, Republican candidates for President are fighting for the movement in the polls that could get them in to the August 6th debate.

His remarks about John McCain’s military service don’t seem to be hurting Donald Trump with Republican true believers.

Rand Paul’s Presidential campaign isn’t going so well at the moment.

Donald Trump stuck his foot in his mouth again.

Republicans have nobody to blame but themselves for the anti-immigrant Frankenstein in their midst.

Despite the clear language of the 14th Amendment, Texas is apparently refusing to issue birth certificates to some children born in the United States whose parents happen to be in the country illegally.

Donald Trump leads in a new national poll, but a deeper look at the numbers suggests that this Trump Bubble can’t last for very much longer.

In the end, the odds that Congress can actually stop the new deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program are pretty low.

Depending on who you listen to, it’s either peace in our time or an epic catastrophe.

The NYT paints the longshot senator as a happy warrior trying to win the White House by doing it his way.

In an era of incredibly polarized politics and 24/7/365 campaign mode, it’s refreshing to see politicians treat each other as human beings now and again.

Donald Trump has gotten almost nothing but negative press since entering the race for President, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting him very much just yet.

The Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality seems to have revived an idea that has been mentioned before, but as it has always been, the idea of “getting government out of marriage” is little more than a simplistic slogan.

Chris Christie is in the race for the Republican nomination, but it’s tough to see how he has a plausible path to relevance.

In an ordinary year, Ohio Governor John Kasich seems like he’d be a perfect candidate for Republicans in an era when winning the Buckeye State is essential to winning the White House. But things are far from ordinary in the GOP.

The reaction of many of the GOP candidates to the decision in Obergefell v. Hodges is about what you’d expect, but there are a few interesting surprises.

Republicans aren’t going to like this one.

As Governor Haley pushes the South Carolina legislature to take the Confederate Flag down, the movement moves beyond the Palmetto State.

The tide has turned.

Jeb Bush’s campaign launch seems to be going well so far, while Rand Paul and Ted Cruz (and Donald Trump) seem to be slipping.

The debate is ultimately academic.

With notable exceptions, most of the Republican candidates for President are refusing to take a stand on the propriety of South Carolina flying the Confederate Flag. That’s called cowardice.

It’s been obvious from the moment the news broke that the murders in Charleston were rooted in racism, but some Republicans have had trouble acknowledging that.

The murders in Charleston have revived a debate that should have been over a long time ago.

Whether Republicans are ready or not, Donald Trump is coming.

We live in a random and chaotic universe.

To nobody’s surprise, Jeb Bush has entered the race for President.

Obviously, most of these people are smart enough to realize they can’t possibly win, right?

Lindsey Graham is the latest entrant into the Presidential race, but it’s hard to see how he gets out of the bottom of the polls.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker isn’t officially a candidate for President yet, but he’s doing quite well in Iowa anyway.

The Iowa Straw Poll seems to be dying, and that’s a good thing.

Martin O’Malley is running for President for some reason.

The race for the Republican nomination is as tight as ever, and so far nobody seems to be emerging as a clear front-runner.

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

Hillary Clinton has admitted she made a mistake in supporting the Iraq War in 2002, but there are plenty of other questions she needs to answer when it comes to foreign interventions.

South Carolina’s Senior Senator is set to be the latest entry into the race for the Republican nomination.

Lindsey Graham says that, if elected president, he would summarily kill anyone thinking about joining ISIS.

The Republican debate stage in 2016 is going to be even more crowded than it was in 2012.

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry is going to be looking for that elusive second act in American politics.

For reasons only he can understand. South Carolina’s senior Senator will be entering the race for the White House early next month.

Mike Huckabee’s back, but the 2008 magic is gone.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are talking about fundamentally changing what it means to be an American, and it’s a bad idea.

Pot, meet kettle.

Marco Rubio is often described as one of the GOP’s leaders on foreign policy, but a close look reveals a decided lack of substance.

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

The terror attack in Paris seems likely to undercut GOP efforts to use the DHS budget to attack the President’s immigration policies.

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.