Outside the Beltway

Two months after seemingly promising to remain loyal to the Republican Party, Donald Trump is again refusing to rule out an independent run for the White House next year.

In the news from the campaign trail and in the polls, there are clear signs that Ben Carson’s days as a top contender in the GOP Presidential race are coming to an end.

Democrat John Bel Edwards scored an easy victory over Senator David Vitter last night in Louisiana, and Vitter announced that he’d be leaving the Senate after his term is up.

It’s Election Day in Louisiana again, and voters have the same crappy choices they usually end up with.

John Kasich wants the United States Government to create an agency to spread ‘so-called ‘Judeo-Christian values.’

To a large degree, the narrative you believe will govern the 2016 elections depend on which party you want to see win. But what’s the most likely outcome?

In the wake of the attacks in Paris, there’s a strong impulse to do “something,” but that doesn’t mean we should do something utterly foolish. And a no-fly zone would be utterly foolish.

Much more so than in the past, the race for the Republican Presidential race has become a battle to define what it means to be a ‘conservative.’ Especially on issues like immigration and national security, one side seems to be winning the battle.

The initial responses of the Republican candidates for President to the attacks in Paris are about what you’d expect, but it’s far too early to tell what impact the events of the weekend will have on the race for President here in the United States.

Increasingly concerned by the rise of Donald Trump and Ben Carson and the failure of any establishment candidates to click with voters, some top Republicans are reportedly turning their lonely eyes to Mitt.

A new poll shows that a near majority of Republicans agree with even some of Donald Trump’s most controversial statements on immigration.

Last night’s debate in Wisconsin was arguably the most substantive we’ve seen so far between the Republican candidates, and one that displayed quite starkly the policy differences between them.

Republicans haven’t really moved beyond the legacy of George W. Bush’s failed Administration as much as they’d like to think, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting them very much.

Meet Ted Cruz: Religious Bigot

A new poll shows that Democratic voters are less engaged in the 2016 campaign right now than Republicans are, but that probably doesn’t mean that much for next year.

Why Republicans nominate moderates for president and not other offices.

Forget about Congress, the real story going forward is likely to be Republican dominance of state legislatures nationwide.

Republican Matt Bevin picked up what comes as a surprise win to many observers, and that sets up a big fight over what had been a PPACA program that the White House has touted.

Republicans have apparently gone insane.

Representatives from most of the Republican Presidential campaigns met to discuss reforms to the debate process, but none of their ideas will actually improve the quality of debates.

A man with one of the more unique political and personal resumes in recent memory has passed away.

Marco Rubio has won the support of a top Republican donor and bundler, giving a much needed boost to his campaign.

In the wake of Wednesday’s debate, the Republican National Committee has suspended its partnership in a planned February debate with NBC News and Spanish language network Telemundo.

Marco Rubio’s performance in this week’s debate is once again leading to speculation about whether is about to have a breakout moment.

With only a handful of opposition, Paul Ryan was easily elected the 62nd Speaker of the House.

Republicans seem to be thinking that Hillary Clinton will be an easier General Election candidate than the evidence suggests she is likely to be.

A new poll shows that the Tea Party movement is more unpopular than it has ever been before, even among Republicans and conservatives.

Once the Republican frontrunner, Jeb Bush is now floundering and dealing with donors worried that they may be backing the wrong horse.

Two new Iowa polls show Ben Carson passing Donald Trump in the Hawkeye State, but that’s not necessarily good news for Republicans.

Instead of eliminating the Department of Education, Ben Carson wants to give it a new, bizarre, and dangerous mission.

With the top conservative caucus in Congress acquiescing to his candidacy, Paul Ryan is largely certain to become the next Speaker of the House.

Whether they like it or not, it’s becoming quite apparent that Republicans may have to get used to the idea that Donald Trump really could be their nominee next year.

Paul Ryan has never really wanted to be Speaker Of The House, but he’s take the job if House Republicans meet the conditions he’s set out.

A pair of new polls confirms that Republican hopes that Donald Trump would fade are failing to come true.

In addition to doing everything she needed to do last night, Hillary Clinton also destroyed whatever logic remained for a Joe Biden candidacy.

Paul Ryan has yet to say if he will run for Speaker of the House, but that hasn’t stopped the opposition on the hard right from forming already.

Rand Paul’s flailing Presidential campaign seems to be raising concerns about his Senate seat among some Republicans.

Yes, Ben Carson’s comments about the debt ceiling are silly, but it’s the fact that a lot of Republicans agree with him that’s dangerous.

Thanks mostly to Republicans unhappy with the Court’s decisions on same-sex marriage and the Affordable Care Act, public disapproval of the Supreme Court is nearing a new high.

Rand Paul’s fundraising in the just completed quarter is disappointing enough that it’s clearly time for him to consider calling it a day.

The man who will likely be the next Speaker of the House accidentally acknowledged the real motivation behind the Select Committee investigating, yet again, the Benghazi attack.

Congress will get a temporary funding bill passed in time to avoid a shutdown on Thursday, but it may just be delaying the inevitable.

John Boehner let loose on the “false prophets” on the right yesterday, and he’s absolutely right.

She’s where she’ belongs.

One week after the second Republican debate, Donald Trump is still at the top of the GOP field, and that doesn’t seem likely to change any time soon.

There was far too much pseudoscience in evidence during the Republican Debate on Wednesday.

With the exception of Rand Paul, the foreign policy discussion at last night’s debate was about as bad as you’d expect.