Columnists

Pittsburgh, PA - Inside mission control at Voyager’s North Side headquarters, where engineers will steer the Griffin lander to the moon. (Shannon M Venditti)

Pittsburgh’s moon shot

Salena Zito · November 6, 2026 12:55 pm

marco rubio and jd vance

In the GOP, a new 2028 race

Blue wave congress

America does the right thing after exhausting every other option

Ken Paxton election night watch party

The Red Wedding election

From left: Sen.-elect Troy Jackson (D-ME) celebrates his victory over Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in Portland, Maine, Nov. 3, 2026; Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-TX) celebrates in Austin, Texas, Nov. 3, 2026; and Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton (D-KS) thanks supporters at a victory party in Overland Park, Kansas, Nov. 3, 2026. (From left: Scott Eisen/Getty; Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty; Austin Johnson/AFP/Getty)

Character matters, unfortunately for Republicans

GOP presidential candidates have Hillary Clinton in their sights. Her polls advantage is beginning to disapear. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

GOP rivals see opportunity in Hillary weakness

Byron York June 4, 2015 10:58 pm

Chafee could take some hints from President Obama, who cleverly found a way to package the same Euro-envy in star-spangled rhetoric. (AP)

Chafee accidentally lets his Euro-envy show

Timothy P. Carney June 4, 2015 10:27 pm

In both his revolving door lobbying and his self-enriching land deals, Dennis Hastert embodied what ails Washington, and what has so much of the country so sick with Washington. (AP Photo)Â

Hastert’s self-enrichment indicts Washington establishment

Timothy P. Carney June 4, 2015 11:55 am

The current academic culture puts the onus on professors to tiptoe around tough subjects for fear that someone, somewhere will be offended. (AP Photo)Â

We’re in the midst of a college revolution — and liberals are leading it

Ashe Schow June 4, 2015 4:01 am

A Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll found that 57 percent of Iowa Republicans thought it would be a good thing if the former president George W. Bush advised his brother Jeb in the White House, suggesting Bush 43 might actually be an asset to his White House-seeking sibling. (Getty Image)

Republicans beware of Bush nostalgia

W. James Antle III June 4, 2015 4:01 am

Gun violence is up 60 percent in Baltimore so far this year compared to 2014. (AP Photo)

Are we in for another high-crime era after the response to Ferguson and Baltimore?

Michael Barone June 3, 2015 9:00 pm

SamÂ Tanenhuas lists Wisconsin Sen. Joe McCarthy and several obscure archconservatives as being the fathers of the modern Republican policy. (AP Photo)Â

The war about peace

Noemie Emery June 2, 2015 9:00 am

Palmyra is one of a handful of places on the planet whose presence can't easily be conveyed through a camera lens. (AP Chart)

Islamic State is destroying the common patrimony of the human race

Dan Hannan June 1, 2015 9:00 am

What is to be done? Citizens, says Murray, should be willing to violate laws that the ordinary person would instantly recognize as ridiculous. (Getty Image)

Is it time for civil disobedience of kludgeocratic bureaucracy?

Michael Barone June 1, 2015 9:00 am

Improved sharing of "threat indicators" between government and industry has been identified by major business groups and some security experts as the top priority right now for cybersecurity policymakers. (iStock Photo)

Information sharing is taking back seat to NSA reform

Charlie Mitchell June 1, 2015 9:00 am

Beach goers barbecue and gather around traditional beach bonfires on July 6, 2013 in Huntington Beach, Calif. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Congress’s shameful Patriot Act brinksmanship

Hugh Hewitt May 31, 2015 9:00 pm

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, like Huckabee and Santorum, frames some of his political agenda as an expression of his Christianity. (AP)

Three strains of Republican populism

Philip Klein May 29, 2015 1:06 pm