Outside the Beltway

The next six weeks or so will see Congress once again fighting over a self-created crisis.

Jeb Bush is the latest Republican to eschew GOP tax orthodoxy.

We may have Rick Santorum to deal with in 2016.

When will Santorum bow to the inevitable?

Last night’s debate may have been the last one. It was also the least informative.

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

A new Iowa polls shows Rick Santorum gaining support. Or does it?

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

The social conservatives seems to have won the battle over CPAC.

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

As the night of the State Of The Union Address approaches, the silliness in Washington has been taken up a notch.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.