Outside the Beltway

The debate format was the biggest loser last night, but there were a few memorable moments in New Hampshire.

Left-wing religious groups are firing salvos against the Republican Party on the basis of Ayn Rand’s “anti-Christian” influence.

Is it appropriate for news organizations to decide that the people don’t need to hear from certain political candidates?

America’s physicians are becoming more liberal in response to changing working conditions.

Once again, Sarah Palin has made herself the center of attention in the political world.

The GOP doesn’t have a charismatic superstar waiting in the wings. That’s okay.

Fox News chairman Roger Ailes has come to regret the direction he took the network after the 2008 election.

Wall Street says raise the debt ceiling. The Tea Party says no. What will the GOP do?

Newt Gingrich says the coming presidential election will be the most important since the Civil War.

Can one effectively run for the presidency if one’s spouse doesn’t want to be in the spotlight?

For the first time, a majority of Republicans support creation of a third political party. Does it really mean anything?

In a column about American Exceptionalism, a newspaper columnist makes a bizarre historical analogy.

Last night’s Presidential Debate in South Carolina was interesting, but, in the end, not very important.

The Pew Center is out with a new political typology.

A study shows that most national columnists and talking heads are about as accurate as a coin flip.

Will the successful action against Osama bin Laden cause people on the right to stop believing crazy things about the President? Don’t count on it.

An aide’s compliment about the president “leading from behind” has generated controversy.

Why are many of the top Republicans are sitting out the race despite a seemingly vulnerable incumbent?

If you look at the Tea Party’s impact on state politics, you see it really isn’t much different from the Religious Right.

Charles Krauthammer called Donald Trump the “Al Sharpton” of the GOP presidential primary contest

We’re approaching the point where those job approval numbers start to matter, and President Obama’s are heading down again.

For the first time, Donald Trump is leading a poll for the GOP 2012 nomination. That’s bad news for the GOP.

Whenever I despair at the current state of the Republican Party, I remind myself that things aren’t much better across the aisle.

A government shutdown is not just a hypothetical in a debating contest. It will affect real people.

Can a candidate appealing enough to the base to win the Republican nomination beat Obama?

Rather than fighting over the remnants of the FY 2011 budget, the GOP should make a deal and get ready for the bigger, and more important, battle ahead.

The next week promises to be a battle between John Boehner and the Tea Party over whether or not compromise is a good idea.

Is asking to see a professor’s e-mails a legitimate open records request or is it an attempt at silencing a critic?

With minor exceptions, all of the potential candidates for the GOP nomination in 2012 seem to have accepted the idea that defense spending, and the Bush-era interventionist foreign policy, are off the table when it comes time to talk spending cuts.

Republicans are starting to sour on Sarah Palin, meaning that they’re finally starting to catch up to the rest of the country.