Outside the Beltway

Vague reporting makes it hard to know whether the latest scandal is scandalous.

“If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or on second-rate imitations, then we’re not going anywhere.”

My contribution to a continuing debate.

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

Republicans who admit Joe Biden won the election fair and square are being driven from the party.

Assessing Republican strategic positioning (and the incentives in our system).

On fiscal policy and historical comparisons.

His partner in crime wrote it all down.

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

A laser focus on the pandemic and economic insecurity has him in good shape at the traditional check-in point.

Would a woman with his credentials be taken seriously?

Jimmy Carter’s Vice President and the 1984 Democratic nominee has died at 93.

An exceptional choice that breaks the recent tradition of politicos in the post.

A quirk in our system combined with shrewd gamesmanship will give them unprecedented power.

Overruling every case President Trump was involved in is getting silly.

It makes voting harder.

The media became the story but the President was the news.

We tend to focus on the wrong qualities in our early assessments.

The downfall of Andrew Cuomo shines a light on toxic workplaces and governance styles.

What at first blush appears a case of hypocrisy and cancel culture is a violation of professional ethics.

Nonhierarchical parties strike again.

An explanation to a question you likely weren’t asking.

On the one hand, true. On the other, so what?

A way-too-early assessment of how it’s going.

HR1 is a national approach to expanding voter access. State legislatures are trying to both expand and restrict the vote as well.

Yet another reminder about pathologies of US democracy.

What’s taking him so long?

There’s more than enough opinion journalism.

America’s institutions are undemocratic but only some of them are a product of the Constitution.

The distance in accountability between the highest and the lowest must be shortened.

Most agree that it was good theater. But it’s not clear what they’ve proven.

Could the Vice President end the filibuster herself?

Specifically: the former confederacy and Democratic dominance.

An opportunity for unity and a restoration of normal order.

It is not a tool to foster compromise. It is tool of obstruction, plain and simple.

Voting ourselves out of this mess is not so easy

The pivot point in the impeachment charges: two hours of silence.

The GOP, alas, is not going anywhere.

The bane of the Trump presidency is already thwarting President Biden.

A legally correct but maddening ruling.

American political parties are controlled by the primaries.

Policy wonks are seeing a refreshing return to the normal order. Some believe that’s a bad thing.

The hidden wokeness of our new Critical Theory-loving President.

143 at the 11th hour.

President-Elect Biden is planning a big first few days, Congress be damned.

Will there be in-fighting? Yes. A break-up? No.

So says Pew.

The 45th President will go down in infamy, setting a record that’s unlikely to be broken.

So. Much. Winning.