Outside the Beltway

With the nomination pretty much inevitable, it’s time to start thinking about Romney’s running mate.

The vetting process for a Vice-Presidential running mate will likely be very different with memories of the Sarah Palin debacle fresh in everyone’s mind.

The argument over contraceptive coverage mandates has not gone well for conservatives.

A new poll shows just how badly the GOP is doing among Hispanic voters.

Nominating Rick Santorum may be the best things Republicans could do to save their party, but not for the reasons Santorum thinks.

The Birthers have suffered yet another totally predictable loss in Court.

Mitt Romney seems poised for victory in Florida.

Two prominent Florida Republicans are warning their party about losing the support of the nation’s fastest growing ethnic group.

Members of Congress are responding to the protests against SOPA and PIPA by withdrawing their support for the bills.

Facing his own Tea Party challenge, Richard Lugar reminds Republicans of an uncomfortable truth.

How did Republicans get in this mess?

Treating entertainment as entertainment is one thing. Treating it as news and education is another.

Have Republicans been co-opted by the Big Government they claim to hate?

Rush Limbaugh, who three years ago said Mitt Romney embodied all three legs of the conservative stool today declared that Romney is not a conservative. He was right both times.

Pundits love to speculate about new candidates entering the race and spicing things up. This will all be academic quite soon because filing dates in key states are fast approaching.

Based on the numbers, Barack Obama is an immigration hawk.

Some pundits on the right can’t seem to quit Chris Christie.

Rick Perry took a stroll down the third rail of American politics last night.

More examples of fantasy Reagan.

Rubio may be wowing conservatives audience, but is his rhetoric grounded in reality?

Moody’s is on the right track. The current debt ceiling law has done more harm than good.

A space shuttle lifted off for the last time on Friday, and some people seem to think its the beginning of the end of America.

A few Republicans have picked up on John McCain’s criticism of critics of the Libya mission as being “isolationist.”

For the first time since the end of World War II, the GOP is wrestling with two diametrically opposed visions of foreign affairs.

A new poll finds that Republican policies on immigration are chasing Latino voters straight into the arms of the Democratic Party.

Is the only possible motivation conservatives could possibly have for calling out the lunatic fringe a desire for the acceptance of liberals?

Are Marco Rubio, Haley Barbour, and Mike Huckabee the favorites to win the White House?

At least one group of Tea Party activists seems to realize that their biggest mistake of the 2010 election cycle was backing candidates like Christine O’Donnell who turned out to be their own worst enemies.

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.

Despite votes in the 2010 contest still being counted, polls for 2012 are already pouring out. They’re largely meaningless.

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.

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

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?

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.

Former President Clinton tried to convince Kendrick Meek to drop out of the Florida Senate race, because Democrats know that Charlie Crist had chance to win and Meek did not.

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.