Outside the Beltway

We won’t have Kevin to kick around any more.

Nearly two years into Republican control of Washington, the budget deficit is headed back up.

New polling in a bellwether Congressional District in Northern Virginia appears to signal bad news ahead for the GOP.

Senator Tim Kaine continues to maintain a huge lead over Corey Stewart in the Virginia Senate Race.

Nominating Corey Stewart is beginning to look like the biggest mistake Virginia Republicans have ever made.

Corey Stewart rose to become the Republican Party’s Senate nominee in Virginia with blatant appeals to racial division. Now his party fears they’ll be the ones who end up paying the price.

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

As usual, an attempt to explain congressional behavior brings us back to the issue of our basic institutions. The way we elect congress matters.

A new poll shows that the Tea Party movement is more unpopular than it has ever been before, even among Republicans and conservatives.

Congress will get a temporary funding bill passed in time to avoid a shutdown on Thursday, but it may just be delaying the inevitable.

Some Republicans are threatening a government shutdown over funding of Planned Parenthood, but a new poll shows that it would be a big political risk for Republicans.

Jeb Bush’s campaign has been in a rough patch for several weeks at least, and now he’s lost three top fundraisers.

It was a close vote, but Virginia’s Republican leaders did the smart thing yesterday in picking a primary over a convention in 2016.

Another tone deaf action from leading Republicans.

Judging by recent polling, the President’s executive action has hardened GOP opposition to immigration reform, making progress on the issue going forward much less likely.

The GOP added to its majority in the House, giving it the biggest majority it has had since Truman was President.

Despite conventional wisdom, there remains little incentive for the GOP to change its position on immigration reform.

The death of the Tea Party is greatly exaggerated.

Tea Party backed candidates may have lost most of the GOP primary battles, but they’ve won the war for control of the Republican agenda.

Despite a high profile effort to oust him, the most prominent libertarian Republican in Congress survived his primary challenge yesterday.

David Trott’s victory in Michigan’s District 11 Republican House primary marks the first time this year a Republican Establishment candidate has upset a Tea Party Incumbent.

The Tea Party v. “establishment” battle in the GOP has been pretty one-sided this year.

Republicans are dismissing talk of impeachment as a Democratic fundraising ploy, but it may be they are protesting just a bit too much.

Chris McDaniel and his Tea Party supporters are being very sore losers.

The people with the biggest voices in the GOP seem to be leading it to positions that most Americans disagree with.

Incumbency is a powerful advantage.

The House leadership elections turned out about as expected, but we may be doing this all over again in five months.

GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy of California won the vote to replace Eric Cantor as the new GOP House Majority Leader. The question is who replaces McCarthy.

Congressional elections have become “nationalized” to a far greater extent than they have ever been.

Brian Schweitzer has a reputation for saying things that most politicians wouldn’t, but that may be just what he needs to get attention if he runs in 2016.

There is no such thing as a consistent free market, limited government case in favor of restricting immigration, whether legal or illegal.

A new job for the Congressman recently filed by his own constituents?

Some Republicans apparently think the key to their future lies in the past.

There aren’t nearly as many “meta” lessons in Eric Cantor’s loss as pundits have been claiming.

The left-right divide is worse than it has been in decades, and we’re paying the price.

Get ready for a big GOP Leadership fight in the House.

An unknown Tea Party candidate unexpectedly beat the House Leader in today’s GOP primary.

Rumors are circulating again that the House GOP may make an immigration reform pitch before the midterm elections.

Boehner ready to pack it in?

Once again, the Tea Party wing of the GOP is talking about taking out John Boehner.

Don’t expect much out of Congress for the rest of 2014, or for the two years after that either.

Some on the American right have a very odd view of both Nelson Mandela and the Apartheid regime he fought against.