Outside the Beltway

The OTB gang give their best guess at the outcome of the 2012 presidential contest.

Making note of some of the predictions and such as we approach November 6th.

David Brooks tries to “describe what being a moderate means” in a way that most Americans would find puzzling.

A Bangladeshi man was arrested yesterday in New York for an apparent plot to bomb Federal Buildings. The entire plot was an FBI sting operation.

The Pew poll is no longer an outlier but the start of a trend.

Just as we saw in 2008, the conservative base doesn’t want to hear their nominee saying that the President is a basically decent man.

An important ruling on the Obama Administration’s contraceptive coverage mandate from a Judge in Colorado.

Major metropolitan areas are routinely shut down for presidential fundraisers.

Don’t look for an effort to enact new gun laws in the wake of the Aurora shootings.

The NCAA more than lived up to the hype of “unprecedented” sanctions.

The Catholic Church has fired a legal shot across the bow of the Affordable Care Act.

A Federal Court rejects an effort to significantly expand the application of a law designed to target computer hacking.

Shockingly, the “Springfield” in the long-running sittcom “The Simpsons” is Springfield, Oregon, near where creator Matt Groening grew up.

There will be no more GOP candidate debates. That’s not necessarily a good thing.

Worried the GOP might eliminate the filibuster if they gain control of the Senate? Don’t be.

Things aren’t all sunshine and roses for the Obama 2012 campaign.

There’s no perfect system for choosing a champion but we can do better than this.

Let’s ban robocalls.

Newt Gingrich last night declared that he would abolish the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The most disturbing part of Saturday’s debate came when most of the GOP candidates endorsed torture.

When the FBI essentially creates a terrorist in order to arrest him, have we really accomplished anything?

The FBI has been using some odd materials to train its counterterrorism agents.

Top Democrats are starting to voice public concerns about 2012.

51.5 percent of Americans disapprove of President Obama’s job performance. It’s still his race to lose.

The Maryland Terrapins upset the Miami Hurricanes 32-24 last night in college football’s opening weekend. But all anyone is talking about is the ugly uniforms.

State-level job approval numbers seem to suggest that the President could have Electoral College worries in 2012.

Former Oregon governor and long-time US Senator Mark Hatfield has died.

Some people have no sense of humor.

America’s physicians are becoming more liberal in response to changing working conditions.

A loud woman who was yapping loudly for hours on an AmTrak quiet car has been arrested after getting belligerent.

Public disclosure of campaign contributions makes it easier for incumbents to pressure backers of their opponent.

President Obama shouldn’t be criticized for picking his NCAA tourney brackets during wartime. But he shouldn’t get much credit, either.

The first wave of the tsunami caused by the Japanese earthquake is expected to strike Hawaii at 8:00am EST.

It’s not the size of your government that counts — it’s what you do with it that matters.

A commenter asks, “Why does Wisconsin have a quorum rule if not for situations like this?”