Outside the Beltway

Rick Perry is sounding for all the world like a candidate for President, and says he’s a different candidate this time, but initial perceptions are hard to overcome.

The GOP Senate Caucus seems to be split on whether or not to reinstate the filibuster for Presidential and Judicial appointments.

The next President will have a profound ability to shape the future of the Supreme Court, but that is unlikely to be the most important issue on voters minds in 2016.

After a disastrous campaign in 2012, Texas Governor Rick Perry appears to be gearing up for a new run for the White House in 2016, but questions remain.

Top Republicans worry that their party’s response to the President’s executive action will alienate Latinos. However, there’s little they can do about that.

A critic of the imperial presidency becomes an imperial president.

On substance, the President’s immigration actions aren’t very objectionable. How he is implementing them, though, is problematic and seems needlessly confrontational.

In the end, there appears to be very little, if anything, the GOP can do to stop or roll back the executive actions the President will announce Thursday evening.

Some of his party’s leaders want the president to save them.

If the President now believes he can act unilaterally on immigration reform, why did he spend the last five years saying that he couldn’t?

Republicans don’t really have many options if the President pulls the trigger on immigration reform via executive action.

The White House is now leaking out details of what seems like an inevitable decision by the President. How it plays out politically, though, is the big question.

A Presidential candidate’s health and fitness for office are legitimate issues. When it comes to bringing up Hillary Clinton’s age in the context of 2016,, though, Republicans need to proceed with caution.

The GOP’s big wins last week seem to be just guaranteeing that this year’s battle between the Tea Party and the “establishment” will continue.

Scott Walker argues that Governors tend to make the best Presidents. He’s largely correct, but he’s not the only Republican who fits that bill.

Despite the conciliatory language after Tuesday, it’s unlikely that much will change in Washington in the next two years.

Good news for two released Americans, but no clue what’s motivating North Korea’s latest actions.

Tuesday’s Republican wave didn’t change the fundamentals.

That word may not mean what you think it means.

Once again, reporters and pundits are arguing that Chris Christie’s “New Jersey style” won’t play well on the stump. I’m not so sure they’re right.

An idea whose time has come? Not really.

Mitt Romney 2016? Not as far as his wife is concerned.

Mike Huckabee is threatening to leave the GOP if the party backs down on same-sex marriage. He’s bluffing.

The nastiest campaign ad of the 2014 cycle is here, and Wendy Davis should be ashamed of it.

Individual polls are likely to be volatile, so don’t pay too much attention to them.

A desperation move by NBC News?

If the GOP wins the Senate in November, their majority could prove to be fleeting.

Could the GOP offer a positive governing agenda if they controlled Congress?

It has nothing to do with winning, but it does have a lot to do with the foreign policy debate inside the Republican Party.

While the battle for the Senate remains up in the air, the Republican majority in the House remains secure.

Speaker Boehner wants to delay a vote on the ISIS war until January, but any such debate will be meaningless because Congress has already abdicated responsibility.

Politics, the law, culture, and a very old language collide.

One of last members of President Obama’s original cabinet is stepping aside.

The sixth year of a presidency leads to some predictable commentary (and some comparative notes).

President Obama hits new job approval lows, while the GOP seems poised for success in November,

Self-described socialist Bernie Sanders is contemplating an independent run for the presidency.

And presidentialism encourages this kind of behavior.

One analyst thinks that the predictions of a Republican Senate in 2014 are wildly optimistic.

Some have argued that there is an historical bias against political parties holding on to the White House for more than two terms. As with most commonly held ideas, that simply isn’t true.

If Republicans win the Senate, what we’ve seen for the past three years could end up seeming tame by comparison.

The chattering class is chattering about the President’s vacation again. It really is quite tiresome.

Even with the passage of time, Watergate remains a singularly important event in American history