Eli Lehrer

Almost a decade after the law requiring them passed Congress and two years after the original deadline for announcing them, the Department of Justice has, at last, come out with mandatory, nationwide standards to prevent rape in detention facilities. The standards, decent although flawed, are a first step...

If Mitt Romney wants to win the election and become president, he should come out and support gay marriage. Doing so will work not so much because it's consistent with conservative principle (which it is) and generally popular (that too) but because it will fracture Obama's base.

Let's start...

I think the world of Senator Marco Rubio. In personal style and political positions, he ranks among my favorite senators. I supported his insurgent campaign personally and financially from its earliest days and think he's the future of the conservative movement. When and if he forms a 2016 or 2020...

In a country struggling with record budget deficits, feeling outraged about a federal agency that spent almost $900,000 on a lavish booze-soaked conference and Secret Service agents who visited prostitutes while on a taxpayer-funded trip seems natural. And the reactions will be just as natural: Congress will hold hearings, the...

As a conservative, I'd pick the two Joes -- Manchin and Lieberman -- as my favorite members of the Senate Democratic caucus. Both have certain conservative leanings and even vote for Republicans sometimes. Lieberman famously supported John McCain in the 2008 elections (and was almost his running mate) and, late...

There's little doubt about it: Republicans -- my party -- are probably going to try to make gas prices an issue in the next election. On its surface, the issue has some plausibility: gas prices are nearing their pre-recession highs -- even if they've peaked -- probably aren't...

It's now clear that the Republican Party will nominate Mitt Romney when its delegates meet in Tampa, Florida in August. And, as a loyal Republican, I will almost certainly cast a ballot for him in November. But, like anyone challenging an incumbent, he has an uphill battle. Although it isn't...

There's a lot for people to dislike in President Obama's healthcare plan: it will raise health care costs for most, cut some types of Medicare subsidies, and make individuals more dependent on the government for healthcare. Although I like a few of its features -- cuts to the wasteful, ineffective...

With Mitt Romney nearly certain to be the Republican Presidential nominee, more than a little speculation has begun to develop around his likely pick for the vice presidential slot. Every pundit who gets asked offers a different way of looking at things and a different theory about the...

Every presidential election is different. Rules-of-thumb about election winners and losers -- "no president has ever been reelected with an unemployment rate as high as Obama has," (often repeated in conservative circles, but not true) -- rarely survive scrutiny. And bromides about the presidential nominating process don't stand up any...

Like nearly all Republicans who voted on Super Tuesday, I have no plans to cast a ballot for Barack Obama in November. Indeed, I struggle to think of a single major domestic policy position of the president's I support. The country needs new leadership. But we probably won't get it....

With Rick Santorum's campaign surge continuing the very real possibility that the former Pennsylvania Senator could end up as the GOP's standard-bearer in November. Despite his appeal to many parts of the Republican Party, Santorum's nomination would be a disaster for the GOP. It's not simply that a Santorum ticket...

As much as any other candidate, I think that Rick Santorum shares to my values: he's pro-life, pro-gun, pro-Israel, wants to cut government, and opposes higher taxes. I've had the opportunity to work directly with Santorum and his staff. Far from the uptight, almost asexual robot of late-night comedy shows,...

Later this week, the Conservative Political Action Conference, a three-day conservative gab-fest, will take up most of the Marriott Wardman Park here in Washington, D.C. Like a lot of other D-list political pundits with right-of-center politics, I'll be speaking at the conference. And in three days of receptions, lectures, and...

Republicans like me are always happy to wage war on the legion excesses of the federal regulatory state. There's no doubt that federal regulations -- literally millions of them -- overwhelm small business, dictate what individuals do in their own backyards, and hamper innovation. But for all the whining Republicans...

It's quite clear to me that President Mitt Romney's healthcare plan has been and will continue to be a disaster for the country. Like all other progressives, I'm planning to do everything within my power to assure the election of a president who will repeal and replace Romneycare this coming...

The media loves a horse race. The always-quotable Newt Gingrich makes for great copy. His victory in the South Carolina primary gives the former House Speaker momentum. But, whatever fireworks erupt now and then, there's little reason to doubt that Mitt Romney will be the party's chosen candidate when GOP...

President Barack Obama may have, for once, made a request that Republicans in Congress can't refuse: he wants powers -- possessed by all presidents between Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan -- that let him reorganize the executive branch on a "fast track" in order to improve efficiency. Obama...

As the race for the Republican nomination heads towards its endgame, every GOP candidate has redoubled efforts to cloak himself in the mantle of Ronald Reagan. Consider: Jon Huntsman kicked off his campaign in the same location as Reagan; Mitt Romney's signature economic proposal is a "Reagan Economic Zone"; Rick...

With Rick Santorum emerging as the latest "anybody but Romney" flavor-of-the-month for Republican voters, it's inevitable that other GOP candidates will unleash a barrage of negative ads targeting the former Pennsylvania Senator. One of the first anti-Santorum ads, produced by a Ron Paul affiliated SuperPac, produces a few...