Outside the Beltway

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.

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.

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

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.

A longish NYT postmortem titled “Democrats Outrun by a 2-Year G.O.P. Comeback Plan” attributes Tuesday’s Republican victories to a January 2009 PowerPoint presentation. But structural factors were more important.

An NBC analysis shows Tea Party candidates winning only 5 of 10 Senate races and 40 of 130 House races, a success rate of only 32 percent.

In yet another move designed to take the fun out of being a kid, San Francisco has banned the Happy Meal.

Despite the Democrats sweeping quite literally every statewide office in California, Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization ballot issue, lost by 10 points.

The governator has terminated the use of welfare cards at medical marijuana shops, psychics, bail bond establishments, bingo halls, cruise ships and tattoo parlors.

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson To Launch Presidential Bid In February?

A News Corporation donation to a group opposition a ballot initiative in California is casting doubt on the objectivity of reporting at Fox Business Channel

Newt Gingrich for President ? You might want to think twice about that, Republicans.

We’ve been talking about the 2010 elections since, oh, the day after the 2008 elections.   Now, it’s time for final predictions.

Once again, the political media is wringing it’s hands over “negative” ads. As usual, it’s all a bunch of nonsense.

Political columnist John Heilemann thinks he’s come up with a scenario that would put Sarah Palin in the White House, but his assumptions don’t add up.

There’s a trend toward using metrics to identify ways to stem the skyrocketing cost of higher education. The likeliest result is to devalue the “education” component.

Being a political blogger during election season is getting to be rather infuriating, especially if all you want to do is check your email.

While the displacement of poor blacks from their neighborhoods by affluent whites may be lamentable, it’s better than the alternatives.

Voters head to the polls in thirteen days, and current indications are that they’ll be handing a big victory to the Republican Party.

It’s looking less and less likely that the GOP will gain control of the Senate, but they’re going to come awfully close,, and that might be just as good from their point of view.

Polls show the Republicans easily retaking the House but falling short in the Senate. But 2006 showed us that wave elections can produce shocking outcomes.

Barbara Billingley of “Leave it to Beaver” and “Airplane” fame has died at the ripe old age of 94.

California voters are two weeks away from possibly legalizing marijuana, but the Federal Government doesn’t care.

Politicians are, by definition, a bit abnormal. However, this year we seem to have more than our fair share of the truly odd.

The skyrocketing cost of tuition makes it harder for students to justify getting a liberal arts education rather than training for a high paying job.

A Federal Judge in California has struck another blow to the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Now, the ball is in President Obama’s court.

Are we facing a Sharia take-over?

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife Virginia is under scrutiny ? Why ? Because she has a job.

Experts say 80% of all alcohol sales go to people with drinking problems. The mathematics of that are staggering.

Arnold Schwarzenegger predicts President Obama’s re-election. Historically, that’s the safe bet.

Governor Schwarzenegger has signed a bill making pot possession (at certain levels) the equivalent of a traffic ticket.

Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell has a history of embellishing her educational history.

Even with some key seats trending Democrat, Republicans are primed to take over both Houses of Congress come November 2.

Despite hopes that they could help reverse a 20 year trend, both Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman are beginning to lose ground in their races for statewide office in California.

A third of the Forbes 50 were born billionaires. Does that mean the game is fixed?

A new study suggests that laws banning texting while driving don’t actually have any impact on accident rates.

A new projection of Congressional reapportionment shows a dramatic shift to traditionally Republican states in the South and Southwest.

After several years in the wilderness, Dick Morris has returned as a Fox News analyst and, bizarrely, adviser to several Republican candidates for Congress.

While Congress continues to refused to act, another Federal Judge has struck a blow against the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.