Outside the Beltway

Might Rudy do better in 2012 than he did in 2008?

Sarah Palin waded into the foreign policy pool today with a piece about Iran, and it was about as empty as most of the other ideas on Iran that we’ve heard over the last six years or so from everyone else.

Red States should gain 10 seats while Blue States should lose eight.

Geno Auriemma and his UConn Huskies should rightly be enormously proud of their accomplishments. But comparing them to John Wooden’s is embarrassing.

The new health care law’s individual mandate was the subject of another bruising court battle yesterday, but the real question in the room was what, if any, are the limits on Congressional authority?

The most walkable cities in America are also the most successful.

Are the interests of a given state different than the interests of the people living in that state?

Another Federal Judge dismisses a Constitutional challenge to the health care reform law, and demonstrates just how unlikely it is that any of the lawsuits against the law will be successful.

Richard Quinn, a business professor at the University of Central Florida, got suspicious after a historically high grade distribution on the midterm for his capstone course and decided to scare his students.

Some Republican Senators-elect are imploring Harry Reid not to consider any treaties during the lame duck session.

A Florida courthouse illegally saved 35,000 images from security scanners.

The incoming freshman of the 112th Congress say that they won’t repeat the mistakes that Republicans made when they gained power sixteen years ago, but some of the advice they’re getting virtually guarantees it will happen if they aren’t careful.

A ten year old case out of Texas raises yet more doubts about the justice of the death penalty.

As the counting of write-in ballots in Alaska continues to go in Lisa Murkowski’s favor, the Miller campaign is getting more desperate in its ballot challenges.

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.

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.

Last night’s election results stand as a mixed verdict on the Tea party and its impact on the Republican Party.

The enthusiasm for Tea Party candidates likely helped the House Republican wave. But it also likely cost the GOP four Senate seats that it would otherwise have won — and thus the majority.

Who are the Tea Party candidates and who will be the Tea Party office holders?

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

Former President Clinton tried to convince Kendrick Meek to drop out of the Florida Senate race, because Democrats know that Charlie Crist had chance to win and Meek did not.

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.

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

Politico says 99 Democratic House seats are “in play.” They’re not. But dozens are.

An English instructor commenting at Balloon Juice takes issue with my characterization of taxation as “confiscating” income.

Today’s college students are 40 percent less empathetic than they were thirty years ago. Is our political culture to blame?

Sarah Palin is at the center of a divide within the GOP that could become larger even as the GOP comes closer to regaining control of Congress.

A Federal Judge in Florida has handed a significant, albeit procedural, victory to the opponents of ObamaCare.

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

As widely rumored, Fredi Gonzalez has been hired to manage the Atlanta Braves, following the retirement of the beloved Bobby Cox.

Republicans are suddenly targeting — and Democrats in some cases are conceding — House seats that were until recently considered out of play.

Are we facing a Sharia take-over?

If Sarah Palin isn’t running for President, why is she comparing herself to Ronald Reagan ?

The new health care law’s individual mandate has survived it’s first legal challenge, and that’s not really a surprise.

Thomas Friedman engages in some early speculation about a serious third party presidential run. As usual, such speculation ignores the basic structures of American politics.