All Politics Voices

House Republican leaders had a plan to talk about the Iran deal and their legislative accomplishments over the August recess. Instead, they have to answer the question about whether to fire Speaker John Boehner. 

A new poll shows Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential field in the Sunshine State. It's only the second poll in Florida since Trump entered the race and could be prove to be an outlier. But it fits national trends.

The glow around Bernie Sanders these days fits the media horserace narrative to speculate about the possibility, however improbable, that Clinton will stumble and Sanders will step in to steal the nomination. It's not happening.

Red states offer lower housing costs, lower taxes, and less regulation than blue states. That's why so many blue-state voters are moving to the West or South.  In the short term, the red states gain power. in the longer term, they change.

Since the Senate went nuclear in 2013, senators have learned that you can change nearly any Senate process if you can find a nondebatable motion. Senate conservatives could use this method to try to scuttle the Import-Export bank. 

'I am confident that...' is one of those terms with some 'wiggle room.' It is also often used to subtly express exasperation and seize the political high ground. But it stops short of absolute certainty.

Donald Trump thrives in the realm of snap judgments on issues like immigration and trade. Logic takes more time, and his GOP rivals won't have much of it in a debate. He thrives on anger, too. What's left is mockery. 

We need more common-sense regulations and less paperwork. We're all gun-shy from the financial crisis, but there’s a balance here somewhere, and we have to find it.

The sooner journalists begin evaluating Donald Trump on the details of his policies and his governing expertise, rather than on his deliberately provocative comments, the sooner his political bubble is likely to burst.

'Full stop' is sort of a younger cousin to 'at the end of the day,' which also began as a Britishism. The term is on the rise on Capitol Hill and at home in the Obama White House.

Education policy in American has been episodic, driven mostly by paranoia that the average American student is falling behind the rest of the world. This paranoia is especially intense during wartime or shortly after it.

The current presidential campaign offers 'true believers' a wide range of candidates, each claiming awesome powers. The Comic-Con folks eventually realize that they are dealing in fantasy. A lot of the political true believers never do.

Guns are important because many voters have no opinion of Sanders, whereas opinions of Clinton aren't likely to vary much at this point. Clinton includes gun-control laws in her stump speech, albeit without mentioning Sanders by name.

Bernie Sanders didn't support the Brady Bill or several other gun-control measures. For at least some in the Democratic Party base, that could be a showstopper. But, as a politician, he is representing the preferences of many of his Vermont constituents.

Relaxing tough sanctions amounts to declaring peace with the Iranian regime. For Israelis and Saudis, fighting proxy wars against Iran in the region, that's a betrayal. Both have considerable power in the US and may use it to scuttle the deal. 

As political acronyms go, WHINOs is creating some buzz. It's a insider term of derision for those who would marginalize Republicans deemed not conservative enough. With the GOP presidential field growing apace, it's sure to find a use.

Despite what many conservatives think, the immigrant vote is up for grabs. But if we continue to bash immigrants, à la Donald Trump, it won’t be up for grabs for long.

As he draws massive crowds in his bid to seize the Democratic presidential nomination from Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders makes for an easy comparison to McCarthy and his insurgent presidential run in 1968.

Over years of dispute, backers and foes of same-sex marriage switched views on whether the issue should be left up to the states, confirming Miles's Law: 'Where you stand depends on where you sit.'

Christie won't pander to the far right, beat up on gays, or bash immigrants. He will be making it easier for the eventual Republican nominee to be similarly restrained.