Outside the Beltway

Some questions to consider as you evaluate congressional leadership.

The octogenarian Speaker Emerita will not seek re-election.

Lee Drutman does the math.

None of this is good for the quality of our democracy (not that it was great to begin with).

Things are not operating as Madison intended.

This ain’t 1976.

Thoughts on the election and on the electoral rules used.

A reminder.

The country is not happy with Trump. Except for Republicans.

We are at least on the precipice.

Trump is less unpopular than ever.

Lying about hurricanes and stoking ridiculous theories about weather control are the latest examples.

A third (and hopefully final) post on the matter.

They’re apparently ongoing. Who knew?

The court amplified its power at the expense of the administrative state.

He’s doing better in all the swing states but one than in 2020.

Public perception is not aligned with the top level data.

Well, more than two…

Americans are concerned about very different things.

Americans look back more fondly on the Trump economy than they did in 2020.

Who could have seen this coming?

The politics of chaos.

The Top Two system has created perverse incentives.

Group dynamics and limited choices.

Trump betrayed his oath. That should disqualify him from office. That’s the whole point of section 3 of the 14th.

He appointed a third of the Justices but has the worst record before them in modern history.

Most no longer believe it’s possible to get ahead through hard work.

America’s weird system for choosing Presidents keeps getting weirder.

The NYT goes too far but not far enough.

I know it when I see it.

And, not surprisingly, about parties.

A satisfying but unlikely explanation.

The base is remaining loyal to the only candidate they think can beat Biden.

Wherein I finally reveal my answer (spoiler: it is hardly surprising). And, also, wherein despite the goal of brevity, I fail at that goal.

There’s an inherent tension in public education.

America survived a civil war and the turmoil of the 1960s. Can we rebound again?

The President is trying to change perceptions ahead of the election.

Young Americans are increasingly ruling out those of the other party.

Separating rhetoric from action.

A symbolic gesture is now highly impractical, if not harmful.

A hypothetical spoiler for 2024? (Stress on “hypothetical”).

“Red States” and “Blue State”

The lunatic fringe idea is both appealing and unworkable.

Tips for how to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Latin America’s answer to Donald Trump has his own insurrection attempt.

A moderate Republican almost diagnoses the problem.

The Supreme Court may revisit a controversial criminal justice ruling.

Democratic politicians are lining up behind the octogenarian President.

A reminder of how things (specifically the party system as a whole) have changed.

Looking at some historical data.