Outside the Beltway

Just more evidence of how our institutions help shape our parties.

Abigail Spanberger made history this afternoon.

And I read a lot of things.

Michelle Obama thinks so.

A bad night for Trump.

And what it means for 2024 and beyond.

Political scientists, however, are skeptical.

Grumpy old man grumps about democracy.

We need to be focused on the system, not fantasies about messages and organization.

As well as the politics that have followed.

A race a Democrat will definitely win will be the most expensive in US history.

The process that could chance Alabama’s congressional delegation begins.

The Commonwealth’s undemocratic political system is, shockingly, unrepresentative of the will of its people.

Cynthia Tucker regrets her support for majority-minority districts.

New rules for the 2012 primary open the door for a Tea Party candidate to take the GOP nomination.

David Brooks declares Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels, and Jon Huntsman the only serious candidates for the Republican nomination.

For the first time, Donald Trump is leading a poll for the GOP 2012 nomination. That’s bad news for the GOP.

Michele Bachmann raised more money in the First Quarter of 2011 than any other Republican. Which means that she’ll have to be taken seriously if she decides to run for President.

Republicans are starting to sour on Sarah Palin, meaning that they’re finally starting to catch up to the rest of the country.

Florida has again scheduled its primary ahead of the deadlines set by the Republican and Democratic parties.

New polling shows that Mitt Romney is well behind the Fox News candidates for 2012.

What’s up with McCain and DADT?

The Feds famously got notorious mobster Al Capone on tax evasion charges. Will WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be done in by sex crimes?

There are grumblings from within the Democratic caucus in the House that Nancy Pelosi may not be the best choice for Minority Leader. Unfortunately for Democrats, though, they don’t seem to have a viable alternative at the moment.

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.

In my home state of Virginia, which has two Democratic Senators and went for Barack Obama in 2008, Republicans are poised to take four House districts held by Democrats in the last Congress.

Exit polls reveal a shocking bit of information: voters aren’t happy with either party.

Yes, I think that Palin is running in 2012.

After months of media reporting on the Republican advantage in outside spending, NYT reports that Democrats retain a sizable advantage at the campaign level.

Thanks to races in as many six states that may be decided by absentee and write-in ballots, we may not know the outcome of the 2010 Elections for several weeks after Election Day.

No Senate candidate with a lead of more than 5.5 points in the polling average, with 30 days to go in the race, has lost his race since 1998: these candidates are 68-0.

Once again, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are at the top of the field in the GOP 2012 race, but that may not last forever.

Some thoughts on the Delware Senate race and the state of the GOP.

Ohio has long been a bellwethers state and, if a new statewide poll is any indication, it looks to be ready to hand the Democrats a very bad defeat in November.

Under pressure from the Feds, the NCAA is cracking down on colleges who put women’s games ahead of men’s games, which some say relegates them to “warm-up act” status.

Conservatives seem very eager for Hillary Clinton to get back on the campaign trial, but it’s not going to happen.

That attitudes towards gay marriage varies by state won’t surprise you. The degree to which it does just might.

The first in a multi-part series on the Electoral College.

Massachusetts becomes the latest state to join in the National Popular Vote initiative.

Republicans are looking at making some major, and interesting, changes to the primary calendar for 2012.