Outside the Beltway

Current attempts to take power away from the state executive branch illustrates a lot of what I have been writing about for years.

Moscow continues using information warfare to sow division in Western society.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the U.S, Attorney for the Southern District of New York have filed sentencing memos that directly implicate the President in a series of felonies.

There’s yet another rumor that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly could be on the way out.

The economy is in good shape for the moment but there are storm clouds on the horizon.

Trump has reportedly told aides that he doesn’t really care about reports of an approaching crisis of the budget deficit and national debt because he’ll be out of office before it becomes a problem.

Republican lawmakers in Michigan and Wisconsin are responding to their party’s losses at the Gubernatorial level by attempting to restrict the powers of the incoming Democratic Governor.

Notwithstanding the temptation to do something, both the United States and NATO need to resist the temptation to get involved in the latest conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The 2020 campaign is already heating up, and California Senator Kamala Harris could be one of the first serious candidates for President to throw her hat in the ring.

After initially saying no, Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke is now reopening the door to the idea of running for President.

Mia Love, recently narrowly defeated in her bid for re-election, has some parting words for her party. They probably won’t listen, but they should.

President Trump has canceled a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the recent confrontation between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea.

In the end, the race between Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy was not even close.

Preliminary figures indicate that voter turnout in the 2018 midterms was higher than it has been for any midterm election in fifty-two years.

Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has made several mistakes since Election Day, but she’s likely to win tomorrow’s runoff election.

A confrontation at sea between Russia and Ukraine is increasing tensions in a long-simmering conflict.

A bad look for all concerned.

Some examples from 2018 of the problems with single seat districts.

The European Union has approved the final Brexit deal negotiated with Theresa May’s government, but the final chapter has yet to be written.

The current economic recovery is nearly ten years old. It isn’t going to last forever, though, and that could pose a problem for the GOP in 2020.

The evidence that the GOP lost the midterms because of public repudiation of President Trump is overwhelming. The GOP will either accept this and learn from it, or they will not.

Sherrod Brown pulled off the only statewide Democratic victory in Ohio on November 6th. Because of that, he’s being looked at as a potential 2020 candidate for President.

Once again, Republicans in California find themselves looking up and seeing a lot of desolation. They need to find a way to bounce back.

Yes, there can be real problems with election activities, but that does not excuse POTUS’ lies about fraud.

The Governor’s race in Florida is over, and the Senate race isn’t far behind.

Now that the election is over, President Trump and his sycophants in the right-wing media seem to have completely forgotten about the “invading” “caravan” of Central American asylum seekers.

Election Day 2018 saw Republican representation in the New Jersey Congressional Delegation nearly entirely decimated.

While the outcome in the Florida Governor’s Race is clear, the Senate race remains up in the air and headed for a hand recount that, in the end, is unlikely to change the outcome of the race.

Senator Jeff Flake is threatening to vote against President Trump’s judicial nominees unless he gets a floor vote on a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Theresa May’s government is barely hanging on to power thanks to Brexit negotiations that clearly seem to be headed for disaster.

Donald Trump is engaging in another round of baseless and bizarre conspiracy theories about alleged voter fraud.

The economy may be doing well, but that didn’t help Republicans in the midterms.

It would be a rather quixotic effort, but Jeff Flake isn’t ruling out challenging the President for the Republican nomination in 2020.

Trump, Scott, and their allies are not doing America any favors.

Losing the midterms is not going over well with the President.

With their House majority secure, Democrats must now select their leadership team for the next two years. It’s not going smoothly.

CNN fires back in the Administration’s ongoing war with the news media.

The next head to roll in the Trump Administration appears to be frequent Trump target DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Democratic pickups in several state legislatures could impact redistricting after the 2020 Census.

Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema appears to be headed toward victory.

Over the weekend, it was confirmed that the man once referred to as Vladimir Putin’s favorite Congressman was defeated in last week’s midterms.

One hundred years after the end of World War One, the forces that led to it are waking up from a long slumber.

The NYT is trying to start a conversation.

Claiming it was because of the weather President Trump chose to skip a visit to a cemetery at the site of one of the bloodiest battles involving Americans in World War One.

Florida has begun the recount process in both the Senate and Governor’s races. Where it goes from here is anyone’s guess.

Beto O’Rourke should consider running again in 2020, but not for President.

The issues are different than in Florida or Arizona, but the Georgia Governor’s race remains unresolved as Stacey Abrams hopes to find enough votes to force the race into a runoff.

With the election over, New York’s junior Senator seems to have changed her mind about running for President.

Somewhere, Tim Russert is smiling.

Whether as candidates or as voters, Democrats can thank women for many of their victories on Tuesday.