State shopping usually doesn't work out well for a hopeful pol, with carpetbagger charges writing themselves, and tenuous ties to a state are easy for opponents to attack. Read More

Tea Party groups hope the scandal at the IRS fires up their base the same way as heath care reform did in 2010, plus other political stories that are driving our day. Read More

The full Senate will now get to debate and vote on a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants. But a provision allowing same-sex couples to apply for visas for spouses or partners was dropped. Read More

Kentucky’s Sen. Mitch McConnell has seized on the IRS scandal as he heads into a 2014 reelection bid, a move that may help him shore up support on the right. Read More

The chief White House lawyer learned last month that the Inspector General at the Treasury Department had finished his audit of the IRS, and its heightened… Read More

The demand of Jim DeMint’s Heritage Foundation — or, more accurately, its political arm Heritage Action — that Congress focus exclusively on the IRS scandal to the exclusion of all else hides two personal vendettas. Read More

Acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller appears before the House Ways & Means Committee this morning to testify on the growing controversy surrounding the agency's scrutiny of conservative groups. Read More

The almost 100 pages of White House Benghazi emails have shown Republicans once again to have overplayed their hand. Read More

The 71-year-old senator is investing in a bold social strategy in hopes he can Tweet, Tumblr, and Harlem Shake his way to reelection. Read More

Are we gonna spend the next few months beating-up-on the IRS and the Bush-appointed former head of the IRS who was in charge when all of this happened? Or are we also gonna take the opportunity to try to figure out what exactly we should be doing to sort out this completely intractable mess in tax law created by Citizens United? Read More

Eight senators will not be seeking re-election in 2014, leaving open seats for aspiring candidates who don’t want to take on an incumbent. But in each case, both parties are looking to non-Hispanic candidates to run to take each senator’s place. Read More

"Ugh." That was the reported response of one progressive activist when he heard the news that the Justice Department secretly obtained phone records from the Associated Press. The latest "scandal" comes after last week's revelations that the IRS targeted conservative and Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status. Read More

"Mr. President, I've got some advice. This thing is going to demoralize the good people, give firepower to the far-out. So don't just talk about how 'outrageous' it is. Do something. Act!," says Matthews. Read More

With the Democrats’ likely best bet out, South Dakota is now inches the way of West Virginia for seats they must defend. Without a strong recruit in both of their most difficult states, these both may be increasingly lost causes for Democrats. Read More

The GOP has no shortage of issues to address as it works to rebuild the party brand. But does Republican policy on the economy and the environment appeal to the average American? Read More

Republican State Sen. Joni Ernst said she's "leaning forward" on a bid to succeed retiring Sen. Tom Harkin (D) and would likely make up her mind on running within the month. Read More

Conservatives are shouting “Benghazi!” the way Steve Martin once did “Oklahoma!” — and they’re making about as much sense. Read More

Gregory Hicks, a veteran diplomat who was the highest-ranking American in Libya after the attacks in Benghazi, testified before a Congressional panel yesterday that questions he raised about the attacks led to his demotion, which the State Department denies. Read More

The underlying problem for both parties: Democrats can’t convince their incumbents to stay, while Republicans can’t convince their candidates to run. Read More