Below The Beltway

Shortly before the 2006 elections, the Cato Institute published a study that argued that libertarian-oriented voters were abandoning the Republican Party due in large part to the war in Iraq, the Bush Administration’s reckless fiscal policies, and a War on Terror policy that showed little regard for civil liberties. That hypothesis seemed to be confirmed [...]

While we wait for John McCain and Barack Obama to announce their Vice-Presidential running mates, Matthew Yglesias argues that maybe we should think of getting rid of the Office of Vice-President:
When you think about it, it’s exceedingly odd. The Vice President has no formal role in the conduct of government to speak of. And yet, [...]

According to two Republican strategists, the GOP may be on the verge of a General Election disaster comparable to Franklin Roosevelt’s trouncing of Herbert Hoover in 1932:
Two Republican strategists, David Johnson of Strategic Vision in Atlanta and Holly Robichaud of Tuesday Associates in Boston, have penned a memo of advice for Republicans in the U.S. [...]

The Washington Post reports today that former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld tendered his resignation to President Bush one day before the 2006 elections, even though it wasn’t announced until the day after the election:
CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 15 — Donald H. Rumsfeld, who came to symbolize the Bush administration’s problems in the war in Iraq, [...]

Congressman William Jefferson, he the man who had nearly $ 100,000 in his freezer, has been re-elected:
NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 9 — Voters looked past a federal bribery investigation of Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) and reelected the eight-term congressman in a runoff election Saturday.
Jefferson grabbed a commanding lead over state Rep. Karen Carter, a fellow [...]

Members of the Republican Class of 1994 reflect on the GOP loss in 2006:

WASHINGTON ? Republicans who helped capture control of Congress 12 years ago blame the party’s leaders for this year’s debacle at the polls.
Architects of the 1994 “Republican revolution,” as well as current and former lawmakers elected that year, say the GOP repelled [...]

Chester Finn, a former Assistant Secretary of Education under President Reagan sums up quite nicely what’s wrong with the Republican Party today:
What?s gone wrong with the GOP? Let me start by quoting a friend who is both gay and conservative (yes, I know several such): ?I?m for low taxes, strong defense and limited government. Why [...]

It’s been barely a month since the November elections, and the Democratic majority is already breaking campaign promises:
It was a solemn pledge, repeated by Democratic leaders and candidates over and over: If elected to the majority in Congress, Democrats would implement all of the recommendations of the bipartisan commission that examined the attacks of Sept. [...]

Will the Republican losses in the November election reinvigorate the fiscal conservative wing of the party ? That’s what this article in The Washington Post argues:
In Congress, the minority life is mostly talk and little action, and yet for advocates of minimal spending and low taxes, that may not turn out to be so bad. [...]

It took three weeks, but Virginia has officially declared Jim Webb the winner of the 2006 Senate race:
RICHMOND, Nov. 27 — The Virginia State Board of Elections on Monday certified Democrat James Webb as the winner of one of the closest U.S. Senate races in state history, making official what his opponent, Republican Sen. George [...]