Outside the Beltway

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.

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.

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.

Who are the Tea Party candidates and who will be the Tea Party office holders?

Unnamed Republican leaders are lined up to ensure that anybody but the former VP nominee is the party’s 2012 standard bearer.

National Republicans are reportedly abandoning Joe Miller’s Senate campaign at the last minute out of fear that only Lisa Murkowski can stop Alaska’s Senate seat from falling into Democratic hands. That could have a serious impact down the road for relations between inside-the-beltway Republicans and the Tea Party.

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

The Alaska Supreme Court has approved the state providing a list of certified write-in candidates to voters who ask for help.

A Hayes Research poll has Joe Miller in 3rd place in Alaska. They’re the only ones showing that and have a very poor track record.

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.

The story about the private security guards who “arrested” a journalist at a Joe Miller campaign event just keeps getting stranger by the day.

Salon has video of the aftermath of the Hopfinger handcuffing. Plus: if we remove the partisan labels and just assess what happened, would we view this situation differently?

Don’t ask Senate candidate Joe Miller questions he doesn’t want to answer else his security team might cuff you.

Polls show the Republicans easily retaking the House but falling short in the Senate. But 2006 showed us that wave elections can produce shocking outcomes.

The Alaska Republican says he won’t answer questions about alleged misconduct as a public official, deeming it “personal.”

If Sarah Palin isn’t running for President, why is she comparing herself to Ronald Reagan ?

Thomas Friedman engages in some early speculation about a serious third party presidential run. As usual, such speculation ignores the basic structures of American politics.

Even with some key seats trending Democrat, Republicans are primed to take over both Houses of Congress come November 2.

Lisa Murkowski is the worst kind of sore loser candidate, willing to screw over her party’s voters and her own donors to keep her seat

Sarah Palin had a very good track record in her primary season endorsements, but it’s not at all clear that she will have much of an impact on the 2010 General Election.

At least one Christine O’Donnell supporter thinks that Republicans who aren’t jumping on are bandwagon are doing so because of her gender.

Despite conceding the primary race last week, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski is apparently still trying to find a way to get on the November ballot.

Christine O’Donnell has become the latest star of the Tea Party movement, and her primary battle with Mike Castle the latest battleground over the future of the Republican Party.

The nation’s 2nd smallest state is becoming the biggest battleground between the Establishment GOP and Tea Party insurgents.

Delaware’s September 14th Republican Senate Primary is shaping up to be the next battle between the Establishment GOP and the Tea Party movement.

Lisa Murkowski’s one chance at political survival if she loses the ongoing vote count in the Alaska GOP Senate Primary has gone out the window.

Sarah Palin has done pretty well at helping Republicans win primaries this year, but her own political popularity isn’t any better than it was after she left office last year.

The Miller-Murkowski showdown is starting to get silly.

Up in Alaska, Lisa Murkowski and Joe Miller remain deadlocked and waiting for a vote count that could take two weeks to complete. In the meantime, though, the Senator is already considering other options for getting on the November ballot.