Outside the Beltway

Pundits love to speculate about new candidates entering the race and spicing things up. This will all be academic quite soon because filing dates in key states are fast approaching.

Despite what the media keeps saying, there’s no real evidence that GOP voters are dissatisfied with the 2012 field.

Yet again, a state seeks to buck the primary calendar (and yet again it provides a chance to wonder why we have the nomination system we have).

Despite all the negatives going against him, Mitt Romney may yet be the inevitable Republican nominee.

Economists are beginning to wonder if this very slow economic recovery isn’t permanently altering the landscape.

Rick Perry has stumbled out of the gate, but he’ll be in this race for the long haul

Rick Perry’s immigration positions aren’t at all unreasonable, and that presents a problem for him inside the Republican Party.

Some pundits on the right can’t seem to quit Chris Christie.

Governor Jan Brewer says Arizona will hold its primary February 28, per state law. This violates Republican primary rules and will almost certainly set off a chain reaction.

Assuming that the President is easy to beat could cause Republicans to move too far to the right.

The Romney campaign may be finally starting to pay attention to Rick Perry.

Ron Paul is again making the argument that American foreign policy has contributed to terrorism. He’s more right than wrong.

Will 2012 be the Republican version of the 2008 race between President Obama and Hillary Clinton?

Ensuring the integrity of the voting process is a worthy goal, not evidence of discrimination.

Meet your new Republican frontrunner.

Some Republicans apparently still aren’t satisfied with the 2012 field.

It’s Rick Perry’s second day on the campaign trail, and he’s already trading barbs with the guy at the top of the field.

Rick Perry may be much less than meets the eye.

While most of the Republican field was at the Iowa State Fair, Rick Perry was in South Carolina shaking up the field.

By insisting on perfection in the debt ceiling debate, the Tea Party has made itself irrelevant to the process.

Once again, the primary scheduling race is getting ridiculous.

Jon Huntsman is sharpening his message, pointing to his accomplishments while denigrating those of Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty.

The result in the Casey Anthony case is leading, inevitably, to a host of new proposed laws.

When Tom Petty found out Michele Bachmann was using his “American Girl” to introduce campaign events, he issued a letter saying, in essence, “Don’t do me like that.”

The odds of history are against Michele Bachmann.

The first Des Moines Register poll is out.

On paper, Jon Huntsman looks like a great General Election candidate. The problem is it seems impossible for him to win the GOP nomination.

The GOP contenders are starting the regular ritual of decided how to navigate our rather odd nomination process.

As of June 17, Sarah Palin is a registered US trademark, serial number 85-170,226.

States are racing to put obstacles in front of voters in the name of fraud prevention.

After a decade, the Army is reversing the most hideous decision in its long history.

Desperate women are finding some horrific ways to terminate their pregnancies. Some are being arrested for it.

Cynthia Tucker regrets her support for majority-minority districts.