Outside the Beltway

An initiative that would have purported to split California into three separate states has been barred by the California Supreme Court from appearing on the November ballot.

The midterm elections are still four months away, but Democrats are already making moves to prepare for the race for their party’s Presidential nomination in 2020.

California’s Democratic Party endorsed “progressive” upstart Kevin de León over Senator Dianne Feinstein, but this is unlikely to stop Feinstein from winning election to a sixth term in office.

The Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has issued indictments against twelve Russian intelligence officials for election-related hacking, and in the process has shown most of the arguments made by the President and his surrogates regarding the Russia investigation are nonsense.

The Democratic National Committee is one step closer to adopting a rule change that would make superdelegates largely irrelevant to the party’s nomination process.

At least in these early days, Democrats appear to lack a coherent message, or a coherent strategy, to propel any effort to block Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

A new poll lends credence to the suggestion that Democrats should be careful about rallying behind the call to “Abolish ICE.”

Democrats are rallying around the “Abolish ICE” slogan in response to the Trump Administration’s immigration policies, but it could end up backfiring on them.

The calls to “Abolish ICE” are spreading to potential candidates for the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination.

Democrats are on the verge of reducing the power of superdelegates to the point where they will essentially become meaningless in the nomination process.

Virginia Republicans nominated arch-Trumpist Corey Stewart for the Senate three weeks ago. His campaign appears to be going about as well as expected.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that public sector unions cannot force employees to pay membership fees.

Joe Crowley, widely considered in line to replace Nancy Pelosi as party leader in the House, has been defeated.

Turkey’s authoritarian leader is going to be around for a long time.

The former New York City Mayor is prepared to spend $80 million to help Democrats take back Congress this year.

A federal trial court has ruled the practice an unconstitutional infringement on suffrage.

Democrats have decided to move up the date of their 2020 Convention.

The GOP and Donald Trump are indistinguishable now. But it’s not clear what that means.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s celebrity challenger doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.

Democrats have adopted a new rule requiring future candidates for President to certify that they are Democrats, but it seems largely unenforceable.

Has the party paid too big a price to attract suburban voters?

Democrats on Capitol Hill are objecting to the proposed changes in the role of superdelegates in the party’s nomination process.

After a period where Republicans seemed to be closing the gap, Democrats may be widening their lead heading into November.

It isn’t a primary and it is an illustration of how electoral rules affect behavior.

The rules of American journalism haven’t caught up with the reality of this Presidency.

President Trump has issued another controversial pardon.

Three Executive Orders signed ahead of the Memorial Day holiday has government employees scrambling.

As he has in the past, Bernie Sanders will seek the Democratic nomination for Senate in Vermont but won’t accept the nomination if he wins.

The DNC is backing centrist candidates in a bid to win traditionally Republican districts. Party activists are not happy about it.

Joe Manchin looks to be facing a strong challenge from Patrick Morrisey.

The Generic Congressional Ballot has tightened in some recent polls, but on average the battle for control of Congress continues to favor Democrats.

A new lawsuit seeks to have the 2012 DACA program declared unconstitutional.

The lawyer who met with President Trump’s oldest son and other top Trump campaign officials is now admitting that she is a Russian informant.

With just over six months to go before the 2018 elections, the storm clouds are starting to gather for the Republican Party.

The Democratic National Committee has filed a lawsuit alleging a wide-ranging conspiracy to influence the 2016 election. As a legal document, it appears to be little more than a political stunt.

If we’re going to have a death penalty, he was its poster boy.

Republicans have been hoping that the tax bill passed in December would help them in the midterms. That’s appearing to be less and less likely by the day.

We’re set to return to the era of trillion dollar budget deficits, and Republicans won’t do a thing about it.

The woman who lost the 2016 election is apparently not going to go away.

As suspected, Cynthia Nixon is not shaping up to be much of a challenge for Andrew Cuomo.

If the polls are any indication, Democrats may fall short in their bid to take back the House in November.

A famous name enters the race to challenge Andrew Cuomo, but it’s unlikely she’ll have much of an impact.

Will Bunch wildly exaggerates the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Things are looking good for Democrats in 2018, but there’s some speculation that Nancy Pelosi’s position at the head of the party in the House could be in danger.

Conor Lamb’s win in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District has set off an inevitable debate inside the Democratic Party about how to approach the upcoming midterm elections.

Republicans are claiming that Conor Lamb won Tuesday’s Special Election in Pennsylvania because he campaigned as a conservative. These people are either deluded or lying.

After six months, Angela Merkel has apparently succeeded in forming a coalition government.

Under Nelson Mandela’s leadership, the country made a smooth transition from apartheid. Now it’s going the way of Zimbabwe.

The Obama Administration called and wants its foreign policy back.