Outside the Beltway

Feeling abandoned by the Republican Party, former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson is weighing a Libertarian Party bid for president.

Don’t confuse modest bumps in a polling trend with actual changes in the thing being polled.

Herman Cain is leading Mitt Romney in two respected polls.

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.

Somebody has an odd idea of “inspirational.”

If you don’t eat your peas you’ll grow up to be a Congressman!

On this day in 1990, President H.W. Bush broke his “No new taxes” pledge.

The First Lady is coming under fire for hypocrisy in her meal choices.

Florida Today’s Jeff Parker offers this take on President Obama’s Afghanistan “drawdown,” which will culminate in getting American forces down to Bush era levels by the end of 2012.

Nate Beeler titles his latest cartoon “The Duffer.”

Republicans tired of the current slate of presidential candidates can rest easy: Thaddeus McCotter may offer up his services.

Once again, an American President thinks he can bring peace to the Middle East.

Nate Silver argues today’s polls “have a reasonable amount of predictive power in informing us as to the identity of the eventual nominee.”

Newt Gingrich on Libya: “This is as badly executed, I think, as any policy we’ve seen since WWII, and it will become a case study for how not to engage in this type of activity.”

Mike Huckabee apologized for saying Barack Obama grew up in Kenya, explaining only that he meant that the president isn’t a Real American.

Christopher Lee abruptly resigned from Congress mere hours after news broke that he was advertising for sex on Craigslist. Apparently, he was looking for trannies.

Rick Santorum is upset that a Google search for his name produces a string of unflattering material. You should be, too.

Polls matching President Obama against potential Republican contenders are entertaining but not informative.

Jon Huntsman is running for president. Who the hell is Jon Huntsman, you say?

Joe Lieberman will not run for a fifth term in the U.S. Senate.

Mitt Romney has hired my wife’s boss as his pollster.

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

Only 46 percent of Americans know that Republicans will have a majority only in the House when the new Congress convenes in January.

Republicans are making some big promises to try to lure West Virginia Senator-elect Joe Manchin to cross the aisle.

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

The biggest outside spender in 2010 isn’t the Chamber of Commerce but the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

President Obama is reportedly avoiding a visit to India’s Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, for fear that he’ll be accused of being a Muslim.

The last name of Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney (G) is misspelled as ‘Whitey’ on electronic-voting machines in nearly two dozen Chicago wards — about half in predominantly African-American areas.

Support for the Tea Party is at record levels but that movement does not have a coherent policy platform. Can the energy be harnessed to good use?

The Democrats are pulling a trick from the Reagan playbook for the fall campaign. They might want to rethink that.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s approval numbers are now exactly the same as Gray Davis’ numbers in August 2003, two months before he was recalled by California voters.