Outside the Beltway

Mitch Daniels got the unenviable task of responding to the State Of The Union Address last night.

Barring a disaster, Mitt Romney is going to win the New Hampshire Primary, but who comes in second is still up in the air.

Watching last night’s debate, you would have been surprised to learn that Mitt Romney has any real opponents in the Republican race.

Executive summary: She’s a kook unfit to serve as dog catcher, much less leader of the free world.

Has Iowa “blown its special claim as the first state” in the nomination process? No, it never had any special claim in the first place.

The final candidate clash of 2011 didn’t lead to the sparring that some expected.

So, how did we get to the point where a fat, condescending, serial adulterer who left office in disgrace twelve years ago is the latest challenger for the conservative mantle?

Doug Feith’s replacement is prettier and softer spoken.

CBS accidentally admits that they are giving less attention to some of the Republican contenders.

The venerable conservative columnist once endorsed Romney as a “good option for the Right” but now calls him “the pretzel candidate”

Jon Huntsman’s campaign has never really gotten off the ground. Will conservatives start taking him more seriously?

What exactly does George Will want out of the GOP?

George Will reminds conservatives to look in the mirror if the prospect of a President Romney dismays them.

Would Republicans really be crazy enough to nominate Herman Cain?

Mitt Romney played it safe on a controversial issue again.

Rick Perry’s tax plan isn’t very impressive.

Mitt Romney’s health care plan subsidized health care for illegal immigrants.

Are we placing far too much importance on how someone does in a two hour so-called “debate”?

That a popular two-term governor of Utah is being rejected by likely Republican primary voters as insufficiently conservative shows just how extreme American politics has gotten.

America’s pundits have never met anyone who didn’t think Tim Pawlenty would be a good nominee.

Does Ron Paul’s second place showing at Ames mean the media should take him seriously as a contender? No, it doesn’t.

Rick Perry may be much less than meets the eye.

Tim Pawlenty is out, to nobody’s surprise.

A good day for Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, and Rick Perry. A bad day for everyone else.

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

Time for the spinning of the straw poll results to begin.

Last night’s debate was definitely more combative than previous renditions.

Rick Perry’s entry into the race could quickly turn the 2012 GOP fight into a two man race.

The primary calendar is going to look very different next year.

I got your broken right here: the presidential nomination process.

Tim Pawlenty is rethinking his campaign strategy.

Condi Rice’s speechwriter thinks Huntsman can appeal to the Tea Party.

If Mitt Romney looked in the rear view mirror he might just see Rick Perry gaining on him.

The two Minnesotans in the Presidential race are starting to trade barbs.

He’s not in the race (yet), but Rick Perry is already a top-tier 2012 candidate.

A new Tim Pawlenty television ad is raising copyright issues rather than, as intended, bringing back memories of the 80s.

How much of an American can you be if you are willing to wreck the economy for political gain.

For the moment, the GOP race looks like a race between Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann, which should make Romney happy