Outside the Beltway

If the Republicans win back Congress in November, it will be largely unearned. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no incentive for change in American politics.

Once again, Washington is abuzz with rumors that Hillary Clinton will be replacing Joe Biden as the Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee in 2012.

If the Bush TARP initiative saved the economy at no cost to taxpayers, we have the odd situation of Republicans nonetheless angry it happened and Democrats who thought it a good idea annoyed that it worked.

A new Gallup poll shows President Obama beating Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical 2012 Democratic nomination fight. Nobody should be surprised by that.

Among the unintended but not unforeseen consequences of the new health care law is that companies who were previously offering some health coverage may stop altogether. In some cases, that’s just as well.

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.

Tonight’s topics: Democrats’ infighting, the continued Tea Party “takeover” of the GOP, the Obama administration’s following of its predecessor’s lead on executive power, and the degree to which America’s economic competition is fair.

Support for the Tea Party is at record levels but that movement does not have a coherent policy platform. Can the energy be harnessed to good use?

If South Carolina’s Jim DeMint has his way, the Senate won’t be conducting any business unless he approves of it.

Vice-President Biden has a message for the Democratic base — stop complaining and just support us already.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is leaving his job at week’s end to run for mayor of Chicago.

Under what conditions might we see filibuster reform?

A newly released poll on the Kentucky Senate race may not be an accurate measure of what’s actually going on in that race.

If the 2012 election were held today, President Obama would be in serious trouble. Luckily for him, he has two years to go.

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

President Obama’s approval is at its lowest point to date, matching President Clinton’s in 1994. It’s 14 points higher than his predecessor’s.

Public trust in Congress is at an all time low, again, and the public doesn’t trust either party to fix things.

Shepard Fairey, the artist behind the iconic HOPE poster, is disappointed with President Obama.

The Democratic Party seems to have decided that the best way to begin the final leg of the midterm election campaign is with a legislative cave-in of epic proportions.

This November, California could become the first state in the nation to completely legalize the possession and sale of marijuana. And the battle over the ballot initiative is having an impact on other statewide races.

The Republican Leadership is treating Lisa Murkowski very differently than the Democrats handled Joe Lieberman in 2006.

The effort to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell suffered a setback in the Senate today that likely delays any further moves on the issue until after the midterm elections.

While she continues basking in the glory of her surprise victory, Christine O’Donnell is still dodging questions about potentially serious violations of the law.

Jon Stewart’s response to Glenn Beck is taking place on the weekend where party leaders usually conduct their big get out the vote push.

For the moment, the Tea Party movement is helping pull the GOP out of a slump that seemed like it would continue for a long time. Will it last, or will the movement end up doing for Republicans what the left has done for Democrats ?

While Sarah Palin is viewed unfavorably by half of likely voters, they nonetheless think her views are more like their own than President Obama’s.

Christine O’Donnell’s victory in Delaware Tuesday has made it less likely that the GOP will be able to take control of the Senate, but they still have an excellent shot of making substantial gains that will transform Congress’s Upper House.

The prospect of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell before the November elections is in doubt thanks to a threatened filibuster led by Arizona’s John McCain.

Sarah Palin had a very good track record in her primary season endorsements, but it’s not at all clear that she will have much of an impact on the 2010 General Election.

At least one Christine O’Donnell supporter thinks that Republicans who aren’t jumping on are bandwagon are doing so because of her gender.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine thinks all his party’s problems will be solved with this new web site. Yea, that’s the problem you guys have this year, bad web design.

Last night’s celebration in Wilmington is sure to be tempered just a bit by news that Christine O’Donnell is sixteen points behind her Democratic opponent.