Outside the Beltway

The white, Southern Democrat is a dying breed.

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.

Joe Miller is suing to ensure that only write-in votes that correctly spell “Lisa Murkowski” count rather than allowing voting officials to guess at voter intent.

Republicans are making some big promises to try to lure West Virginia Senator-elect Joe Manchin to cross the aisle.

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

As impressive as Republican gains in this week’s elections were at the national level, they were even more so in state legislative races. Which means Republicans are in position to consolidate and expand upon their recent gains.

During the just concluded election season, eleven self-funded candidates spent a total of $ 286 million trying to win elections. Only two of them actually won.

Peggy Noonan argues that Tuesday’s elections shows that Americans want to be led by accomplished grown-ups and will reject people who seem empty or crazy.

Nancy Pelosi is strongly considering staying in Congress as Minority Leader. It’s her job if she wants it.

Rasmussen’s sample is biased because they’re polling on the cheap — using robocalls, which by law can’t dial cell phones, and otherwise cutting corners — rather than because of some agenda to propagandize for the GOP. The end result, however, is the same: Polls that can’t be trusted.

“I’m terribly surprised that everyone everywhere on the political spectrum (here and there) is using Tuesday’s results as confirmation of the assumptions they’ve held all along.” – Josh Marshall

Now that the Republicans have control of the House, wheres the jobs? Why isn’t the economy fixed yet? Why do we still have a deficit? Why are we still in recession? Are Republicans secretly Muslim and trying to ruin our country?

Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina didn’t lose because of corporate baggage or resentment over how much they spent on their campaigns but because they were Republicans.

Ok, what strategy should Speaker Boehner pursue?

A longish NYT postmortem titled “Democrats Outrun by a 2-Year G.O.P. Comeback Plan” attributes Tuesday’s Republican victories to a January 2009 PowerPoint presentation. But structural factors were more important.

If you believe that the United States is built on Judeo-Christian principles, why would you oppose the redistribution of wealth?

Congressional Republicans and President Obama both held press conferences today that included talk of bipartisanship and working together. Don’t believe it.

Three of the Justices who ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in Iowa have been removed by the voters. That strikes me as the beginning of a dangerous trend.

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

Rasmussen polls were biased toward Republicans by 3 to 4 points. Rigged results? Or screening error?

The Republicans are currently up 60 seats and, Jim Geraghty notes, “We’re still waiting on official calls or concessions in 11 House races; all of them feature Democrat incumbents.”

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

Democrats won the governorship, all 10 House seats, and all statewide races in Massachusetts.

The 2010 electorate was whiter, older, and more conservative than that of 2008.

In my home state of Virginia, which has two Democratic Senators and went for Barack Obama in 2008, Republicans are poised to take four House districts held by Democrats in the last Congress.

In my former home state of Alabama, Republicans won every major contest, save the one House seat specifically drawn to ensure a Democratic victory.

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.