Outside the Beltway

The New York Times has joined the mostly muted chorus calling on Democrats to select someone other than Nancy Pelosi as their new Minority Leader. In all likelihood, their call will go unheeded.

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

Virginia Senator Jim Webb is the last of a dying breed of Democrats, but his party may need him if it wants to remain competitive anywhere outside of a Blue State.

A new Oklahoma law that bans Sharia law from being enforced in state courts may have some very unintended consequences.

With Democrats set to maintain their majority in the Senate, some on the left are pushing for filibuster reform. However, it seems unlikely that Harry Reid has the votes to change a long-standing Senate rule.

The two episode suspension of Keith Olbermann lends credence to the theory that the whole thing was a publicity stunt designed to support MSNBC’s assertion that its opinion shows are somehow more pure than the shows on FOX.

His career seemingly over after being trounced in an independent bid for the Senate, Florida Governor Charlie Crist is turning his attention to the pressing matter of three-decade-old conviction of a long dead pop singer.

When conservatives start attacking one of their own for pointing out the obvious, you really have to wonder if they want to win.

Keith Olbermann was reportedly suspended for failing to apologize for making political donations to Democratic candidates, but it really seems intended to serve to justify the illusion that MSNBC’s programming is not partisan.

They’ve won the elections, but Republicans still aren’t getting specific about exactly where they’d cut Federal spending.

While health experts warn Americans to cut the amount of fat in their diet, the Federal Government helps businesses like Domino’s and Taco Bell promote high-fat products to the public.

Those images on your Facebook page may come back to haunt you if you decide to run for office someday.

Taxpayer “watchdog” groups are urging House Republicans to cut Congressional pay as an act of symbolism. It’s symbolism all right, pointless symbolism.

As impressive as Republican gains in this week’s elections were at the national level, they were even more so in state legislative races. Which means Republicans are in position to consolidate and expand upon their recent gains.

72 percent of black babies are born to unmarried mothers today, compared to 17 percent of Asians, 29 percent of whites, 53 percent of Hispanics and 66 percent of Native Americans.

The race between Jeb Hensarling and Michelle Bachmann for Chair of the House GOP Conference is a microcosm for a battle that is likely to take place within the GOP for the next two years.

During the just concluded election season, eleven self-funded candidates spent a total of $ 286 million trying to win elections. Only two of them actually won.

Shockingly, Mitch McConnell and other Republicans are hoping to increase their numbers in Congress and take back the White House.

Peggy Noonan argues that Tuesday’s elections shows that Americans want to be led by accomplished grown-ups and will reject people who seem empty or crazy.

Vice-President Joe Biden’s motorcade has been involved in at least five crashes.

He’s the darkest of dark horses right now, but Gary Johnson stands as the heir apparent to Ron Paul’s surprisingly energetic 2008 run for the GOP nomination.

There’s some good news in the October jobs report.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner held a private, off-the-record meeting in comedian Jon Stewart’s office back in April. Speculation abounds.

Nancy Pelosi is strongly considering staying in Congress as Minority Leader. It’s her job if she wants it.

Rasmussen’s sample is biased because they’re polling on the cheap — using robocalls, which by law can’t dial cell phones, and otherwise cutting corners — rather than because of some agenda to propagandize for the GOP. The end result, however, is the same: Polls that can’t be trusted.

Politico runs this morning with the shocking revelation that Keith Olbermann is a Democrat.

Mitch McConnell made clear today that he’s targeting Barack Obama for defeat in two years.

“I’m terribly surprised that everyone everywhere on the political spectrum (here and there) is using Tuesday’s results as confirmation of the assumptions they’ve held all along.” – Josh Marshall

Now that the Republicans have control of the House, wheres the jobs? Why isn’t the economy fixed yet? Why do we still have a deficit? Why are we still in recession? Are Republicans secretly Muslim and trying to ruin our country?

The latest story being repeated by the conservative talking heads is the claim that President Obama will be spending $ 200 million per day on his upcoming overseas trip. The problem is that it’s not true.

Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina didn’t lose because of corporate baggage or resentment over how much they spent on their campaigns but because they were Republicans.

Will the incoming “Tea Party” caucus in the House and Senate force the GOP to reconsider its views on foreign policy? Don’t count on it.

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