Outside the Beltway

Thoughts on how we think.

The difference is politics, not reason.

The system is not defensible.

An interesting podcast conversation.

The two-time Pulitzer winner is considering a career change.

The College Republican National Committee Chairman elections shows the lessons taught by the national party.

Another R/D cleavage?

More in a series of ongoing observations about the GOP primaries.

This time: the Alaska GOP.

Thinking about party evolution and behavior going into 2022.

One party is divided on how to govern and the other is united in not governing.

Cries that American democracy is in jeopardy are not hyperbole.

The GOP is actually pretty healthy at the moment, despite some public rhetoric to the contrary.

A quick lesson about American parties.

The President used his first speech to Congress as an attempt to unite the country.

It’s undemocratic and we should get rid of it. But doing so isn’t a panacea.

With an appearance by Caitlyn Jenner’s choice of party.

A new poll from Texas give us a chance to think about parties and nominations in the US.

A problematically wide-open election in difficult times.

Appoint more Asian American and Pacific Islanders. Or else!

Nonhierarchical parties strike again.

The lack of common understandings and shared assumptions makes political conversations challenging.

Yes, partisanship is real. And it influences more than just voting behavior.

Making it harder to vote in Iowa.

The talk radio megastar has died, aged 70.

Its founders are laughing all the way to the bank.

Some political history,

The Republican Party is not really a thing.

American political parties are controlled by the primaries.

Competing priorities.

Gridlock doesn’t mean government stops. It just shifts who is governing.

A myriad of possible explanations.

The President’s claims have no merit.

More on a dangerous and disturbing incident in Texas

Injecting data into the conversation.

A fundamental building block of our system makes it nearly impossible to fix.

This is not even close to the worst it’s ever been.

If you are wondering why masks are political, look no further than 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

States can punish Electors who substitute their judgment for those of the voters.

The GA14 House race.

This is more about structural conditions than it is about the GOP.

It’s difficulty to have have a conversation with an albatross hanging over it.

What if instead of the unit rule, states doled out electoral voter based on the proportion of votes each slate of electors received?

SCOTUS and “faithless electors.”

The erstwhile Tea Party Republican is making a run for President.

Cable news “experts” frequently aren’t.

On presidents

(At least the removal part)

The Republicans are playing a different game.