Outside the Beltway

And yes, Trump fits the definitions all too well.

Republicans want him but do they really, really want him?

It’s quite the week for politicians with generic names nobody has ever heard of.

As memory of the Cold War fades, so does support for American primacy.

Is that right? If so, is it reasonable?

A conversation in two parts.

Rural-urban is now a bigger divide than North-South.

The annual gathering showed us what the Republican Party would become years ago.

The two parties learned different lessons from the last contested election.

After just two months, Mark Sanford is dropping his challenge to the incumbent President.

A conservative columnist argues the legitimacy of our system is in question.

John Kasich hasn’t shut the door completely, but recent comments seem to make it clear he’s not likely to take on the President for the Republican nomination.

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has ruled out what would essentially be a quixotic primary challenge against President Trump.

Larry Sabato lays out a quite plausible path.

Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld has officially joined the race for the 2020 Republican Presidential nomination

The consolidation of Super Tuesday makes the current system even more broken than before.

Republicans face a choice in the coming days. Do they support the Constitution, or do they support Donald Trump? You can count on them making the wrong choice.

Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld is preparing for a primary challenge against Donald Trump. He won’t win, but he could still have an impact.

Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld has rejoined the Republican Party, leading many to wonder if he’s considering a challenge to President Trump in 2020.

Could Maryland Governor Larry Hogan be just the kind of Republican to challenge Trump in 2020?

It would be a rather quixotic effort, but Jeff Flake isn’t ruling out challenging the President for the Republican nomination in 2020.

Three new polls show that Republicans basically agree with the leader of their party when it comes to the issue of Russian interference in American elections.

We’re a long way away from the start of the 2020 election cycle, but Democrats are already maneuvering for support and money.

Several former candidates for President are emerging as potential candidates for Senate.

One professor is suggesting that Bernie Sanders played a role in 2016 similar to the one that Ralph Nader did in 2000. It doesn’t pass even cursory examination.

The idea that Donald Trump has gotten his racialized rhetoric from libertarians is simply errant nonsense. The libertarian view, broadly speaking, is not defined by Murray Rothbard, Llewellyn Rockwell, and Ron Paul and those who share their views. This is but a small and even fringe group of what could be called the libertarian community.

A precursor to modern cable political news with an interesting past has passed away at the age of 89.

Donald Trump started out his campaign by telling us that the American dream is dead, and he returned to those dark and pessimistic themes in his acceptance speech last night.00

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

Chris Christie has gotten the endorsement of the biggest newspaper in New Hampshire, but it’s not clear that this will have any impact on the race.

Two new Iowa polls show Ben Carson passing Donald Trump in the Hawkeye State, but that’s not necessarily good news for Republicans.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus suggested that Iowa and New Hampshire shouldn’t get used to their place at the top of the primary calendar. He’s right, but fixing the crazy system that put them there isn’t going to be easy.

Trump remains in the lead, but he has been steadily falling over the month of September. (And this triggers, as these things do, musings about institutions and our party system).

The longer this race goes on, the hard it becomes to deny the truth about Donald Trump.

In 1992, an eccentric billionaire ran an independent campaign against a Bush and a Clinton. It could happen again.

The New York Times really, really wants a horse race for the Democratic nomination.

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.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle like to tell people they’re just “average Americans,” but they’re lying and the American people seem to have figured out that they’re lying.

CNN’s effort to bring back a show that had outlived its prime years ago has, predictably, failed.

Bill Scher examines “How Republicans Lost the Culture War.”

An award for breaking a campaign promise.

In retrospect, and in comparison with other recent Presidents, George Herbert Walker Bush’s four years in office were pretty darn good.

The bizarre conservative love affair with Vladimir Putin continues.

A certain wealthy man with good hair is doing very well in a meaningless poll.

Vladimir Putin seems to be getting a lot of love from cultural conservatives in the United States.

Some conservatives don’t seem too troubled by Vladimir Putin’s repression.

CNN is reviving the Crossfire shoutfest with Newt Gingrich, S.E. Cupp, Stephanie Cutter, and Van Jones as hosts.

Ann Coulter: a blonder version of Pat Buchanan

The Canal made a number of impressions.

Are two-term Presidencies the new normal?