Outside the Beltway

President Obama and Hillary Clinton top Gallup’s lists of Most Admired Americans.

The new year will bring major changes to the White House Staff.

The Presidency has lost the aura of mystique that used to surround it, and that’s a good thing.

Is calling Côte d’Ivoire “Ivory Coast” linguistic colonialism? Where do we draw the line when English names for countries go out of vogue?

There’s plenty of good news for Barack Obama in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Are Marco Rubio, Haley Barbour, and Mike Huckabee the favorites to win the White House?

One of the most active American diplomats of the past twenty-five years has passed away.

Republicans were largely silent during the Bush Administration as spending went out of control. Will they do that again?

Just weeks after voting for a broad ban on earmarks, Republicans are looking for ways to get money to their districts without calling it an “earmark.”

Gustavus Adolphus College librarian Barbara Fister explains why she loves getting rid of books.

Minor fluctuation in tax rates is not the most significant thing happening in the world’s largest economy.

Even though it will likely be unsuccessful, a primary challenge against President Obama could end up harming him enough to hand Republicans the White House in 2012.

President Obama’s press conference yesterday, bitterly railing against Democrats in the Congress for being “purist” and “sanctimonious,” is brilliant triangulation.

Joe Biden: “Obama: On the way to a failed presidency?”

According to a new Gallup poll, President Obama is not only less popular than George W. Bush, but the only president from the last half century less popular is Dick Nixon.

Would returning to indirect election of Senators really have a significant impact on the growth of the Federal Government? Probably not.

In her new book, Sarah Palin puts forward a view of the role of religion in politics that is in direct contrast with America’s own traditions.

Democrats are losing the debate over the extension of the Bush tax cuts, but when you look at the playing field it seems pretty clear that that they never had a chance.

Meghan McCain doesn’t know what a “blue blood” is but doesn’t want to be called one.

The prospective Republican field for 2012 is dismal. Then again, it always is.

President Obama’s response to the outrage that has accompanied new TSA screening procedures at America’s airports is incredibly non-responsive.

Rush Limbaugh is apparently not impressed with Barack Obama’s presidency. That doesn’t make him a racist.

Yet another sign that the GOP’s biggest nightmare may actually end up coming true.

While not inherently unconstitutional, lame duck Congresses have the potential for violating the spirit of the Constitution and create the potential for mischief on the part of Representatives who have been thrown out of office.

Former Congressman Bob Barr argues that the right should not be so eager to rehabilitate George W. Bush. He’s right.

While Tim Pawlenty and John Thune get high marks from insiders, they have next to no shot at winning the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

Rand Paul is taking some heat for remarks that may or may not indicate that he’s backtracking on his previous vow not to seek earmark spending for Kentucky. Yes folks, the phony war on earmarks is back.

Despite votes in the 2010 contest still being counted, polls for 2012 are already pouring out. They’re largely meaningless.

George W. Bush’s new memoir reveals that he briefly considered replaced Dick Cheney as Vice-President before the 2004 elections. His decision not to do so reveals much about the relationship between Presidents and Vice-Presidents in modern American politics.

If you’re looking for a reason why the GOP is likely to do very well tomorrow, voter response to the “right track/wrong track” question is a very good guide.

Pundits and partisans constantly overreact to the momentary mood expressed in a single election. The Republicans have already rebounded from 2008. The Democrats will recover from 2010.

Unnamed Republican leaders are lined up to ensure that anybody but the former VP nominee is the party’s 2012 standard bearer.

Another poll confirms that Sarah Palin continues to be viewed negatively by the majority of American voters, but that doesn’t seem to matter to supporters who seem have a degree of adulation usually reserved for celebrities than serious politicians.

Yes, I think that Palin is running in 2012.

Karl Rove unloaded what may be the beginning of the GOP Establishment’s effort to cut a Palin Presidential bid off at the knees.

Republicans are promising two years of gridlock and obstructionism if they take control of Congress, but is that really what the people who are likely to vote for them next week really want?

Mike Huckabee is the latest Republican to tack up the banner against the so-called “elites.”

Justice Alito said recently he won’t be attending the next State of the Union address. Sounds like a good idea to me.

A new law allows Presidential candidates to set up transition offices while they’re still running for election, perhaps providing an opportunity for shortening the 2 1/2 month interregnum between Election Day and Inauguration Day.

If Sarah Palin isn’t running for President, why is she comparing herself to Ronald Reagan ?

Thomas Friedman engages in some early speculation about a serious third party presidential run. As usual, such speculation ignores the basic structures of American politics.