Outside the Beltway

Now that Republicans have the House, wouldn’t they be better off playing nice?

Bipartisan seating at the State Of The Union is a pointless act of political theater. Then again, so is the State Of The Union Address itself.

The filibuster reform package that Senate Democrats unveiled yesterday has much to recommend to it. Unfortunately, it’s probably doomed.

President Obama and Chief Justice Roberts are calling for bipartisanship in the New Year.

The reaction to President Obama’s recent recess appointments provide us with yet another example of bipartisan hypocrisy.

For the first time in 35 years, the Senate may finally be on the verge of reforming the filibuster.

Did Obama’s tax cut deal demolish the Republican charge that he’s a radical? Not hardly.

Democrats are losing the debate over the extension of the Bush tax cuts, but when you look at the playing field it seems pretty clear that that they never had a chance.

The Senate rejected an effort to limit the extension of the Bush tax cuts based on income level. At this point, the only question is when Democrats will concede defeat on this debate.

Congress will vote on extending the Bush Tax Cuts in December, and new polling shows that the public agrees with Democrats that the cuts should be limited to the “middle class.”

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

At least one group of Tea Party activists seems to realize that their biggest mistake of the 2010 election cycle was backing candidates like Christine O’Donnell who turned out to be their own worst enemies.

The odds that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell will be repealed anytime in the near future are fairly close to zero thanks to the results of last Tuesday’s elections.

The New York Times has joined the mostly muted chorus calling on Democrats to select someone other than Nancy Pelosi as their new Minority Leader. In all likelihood, their call will go unheeded.

With Democrats set to maintain their majority in the Senate, some on the left are pushing for filibuster reform. However, it seems unlikely that Harry Reid has the votes to change a long-standing Senate rule.

When conservatives start attacking one of their own for pointing out the obvious, you really have to wonder if they want to win.

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

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.

Republicans either lost or barely won a whole lot of races because their vote was split with minor party candidates.

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.

Ezra Klein argues that Sarah Palin’s Twitter account isn’t very popular. But that misses the point.

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

Sharron Angle’s attorney is charging that “Harry Reid intends to steal this election if he can’t win it outright.” She touts various “shenanigans” in a fundraising letter.

Reports of voting irregularity in precincts across the country are threatening to further undermine voter confidence in the legitimacy of election outcomes. There’s a simple solution.

The numbers coming out of the first few weeks of early voting confirms the enthusiasm gap that pollsters have been talking about for months.

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.

At least in Nevada, there appears to be little evidence of an enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats, which is potentially good news for Harry Reid.

To the extent that these faux debates are a measure of competence to hold the office in question, Sharron Reid’s holding her own against the veteran incumbent demonstrated that she was up to the task. Or, at least, as up to it as Reid.

Last night’s one and only Nevada Senate Debate was an embarrassing affair all around, but it most likely sealed the electoral doom of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.