Outside the Beltway

When it comes to the unfolding conflict inside the GOP, Mitch McConnell seems to have fired an opening shot.

The state where the same-sex marriage battle began is just days away from legalizing same-sex marriage.

“If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it.” Well, not really.

Several conservative groups have jumped on the bandwagon of what appears to be a controversial Mississippi politician.

Will the GOP learn the right lessons from the just-concluded showdown? That remains to be seen.

The GOP’s approval numbers have fallen like a stone, but it’s unclear whether this will matter in 2014.

(And a Postscript on Recent Discussion of the South)

One of the dumber aspects of the current shutdown repeats itself.

Reports of the death of the Voting Rights Act have been greatly exaggerated.

A Federal Judge wasn’t very pleased when Administration lawyers told her that she doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit over the President’s drone policy.

The GOP’s chances to take over the Senate became much better over the weekend.

President Obama is rightly outraged by a wave of sexual assaults in the military. He unwittingly made them harder to prosecute.

Texas has become the latest state to attempt to restrict abortion rights, and North Carolina isn’t far behind.

The marriage equality battle is entering its next phase.

Thanks to archaic state laws, you can look at cars in a Tesla showroom, but in my states you can’t but anything there.

When Glen Coffee abruptly retired from a promising NFL career, most wondered what he was up to. Now we know.

As of today, John Dingell has been a Member of Congress for 20,997 days, a new record. That’s not something to celebrate.

A look at regional differences in American English.

The United States is as politically polarized as it was in 1865.

You can either have a career in a white shoe law firm or marry a military officer. Pick one.

Tragedy in Boston.

Election rules should be oriented towards increasing participation, not based on partisan calculations.

Chuck Hagel will be confirmed, but the campaign against him tells us much about the current state of Republican foreign policy

The GOP seems to be drawing all the wrong lessons from the 2012 elections.

Some proposed reforms just need to be ignored.

The attempted coup against John Boehner resembled something you’d see in a banana republic.

There are very rational reasons behind the current gridlock on Capitol Hill.

House Speaker John Boehner has purged the body’s key financial committees of members of his caucus that didn’t toe the line.

There’s been a bit of buzz of late about the fact that people in several states have filed petitions to secede from the Union. There shouldn’t be.

Barone tells some tales to make himself feel better.

If the Romney campaign looked shocked on Election Night, that’s because they didn’t believe the polls either.

Voters in four states endorsed marriage equality yesterday.

There are still votes to be counted, and the Romney campaign has yet to concede, but the race is over and Barack Obama has been re-elected.

Posting pictures of your ballot to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is a crime in some parts of America.