Alaska – Primary
Arizona – Primary
Florida – Primary
Vermont – Primary
Some interesting races!
How effective will the support of Sarah Palin be? In Alaska Palin’s pick, attorney and political unknown Joe Miller, seems to have gained little traction against Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. In Arizona, Palin has backed Sen. John McCain, who faces a challenge from former Rep. J.D. Hayworth. McCain has said whatever anyone wants to hear, taken whatever stance might garner votes and become much less than the man he once was in his pursuit for reelection.
In Florida there are highly contested primary races for governor and senator, and early voting has already begun to decide which Republican runs for governor, and which Democrat takes on Gov. Charlie Crist, the former Republican, and Marco Rubio, the actual Republican, for a seat in the United States Senate. Proving money can only go so far, real estate billionaire Jeff Greene and healthcare multimillionaire Rick Scott, held double-digit leads over their opponents in July but slipped steadily as their rivals turned the spotlight on the newcomers’ business dealings and character.
Vermont has a crowded Democratic primary race for governor. The Democratic voters are in a bind: They like all of them, want one of them to win the November general election against Republican Brian Dubie. After months of campaigning, no candidate has emerged as the clear favorite. The candidates themselves and political observers agree almost anything can happen as the most extensive and expensive primary race in Vermont history culminates in today’s voting.
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
— Call it the McCain Stimulus. The Arizona Republican dropped $21 million on his campaign to fend off conservative radio personality and ex-Congressman J.D. Hayworth.
— All over the Lower 48, politicos have been watching how the candidates endorsed by Sarah Palin fare. Going into Tuesday’s primaries, 16 out of the 26 candidates with the Palin stamp of approval won their primaries. But Palin has a personal score to settle in her home state. She’s backed Fairbanks lawyer Joe Miller in his challenge of incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. There’s some bad blood between Palin and the Murkowski family, one of the state’s ruling clans. Palin’s standing in Alaska is far from secure, and Murkowski is expected to withstand Miller’s challenge. What remains to be seen is whether a loss of prestige at home will affect Palin’s political fortunes outside Alaska.
— Americans love a good political dynasty—but mostly to root against. Arizona’s 3rd District provides a perfect opportunity in the figure of Ben Quayle, the 33-year-old son of former Vice President Dan Quayle. Having never held higher office, Quayle is hoping to fill the seat of retiring Republican Rep. John Shadegg. The operator of a raunchy adult-themed website says Quayle was a long-time commenter. Quayle’s camp denies the charge, but it may be enough to keep him off the ballot in November.
— The Florida governor, who’s running as an independent, has benefited greatly from the division on the Democratic side of the Sunshine State’s Senate campaign. While the party is lukewarm on the prospects of Kendrick Meek, a sense of purpose should kick in following Tuesday’s vote. If the party apparatus moves squarely behind the congressman, will Crist’s slim lead over Republican candidate Marco Rubio grow slimmer? Surely, Democrats would prefer to vote for one of their own to take Mel Martinez’s seat, even if the candidate hasn’t excited the party faithful.
A funny thing happens when voters go to the polls: they can really mess with the Tea-Party-triumphant, throw-the-bums-out storylines reporters have been crafting for months. This is supposed to be the Year of the Outsider. Except, on Tuesday it won’t be, if insiders like John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, Kendrick Meek, and Bill McCollum carry the day. But have no fear. That storyline can be easily recycled come November 3.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-08-23/ben-quayle-john-mccain-and-other-primary-storylines/?cid=hp:mainpromo1
Join the Lottery:
How long before the first disgusting Pompeo ad arrives?
I’ll go for 2 weeks- into Sept.
Do they consider Goyle a threat? Maybe they’ll stick to tweets that aren’t intentional. It would be more difficult to deny an ad.
A very interesting examination of the Alaska primary. Sounds like there is a strong possibility the ‘win’ (won’t be official until absentee ballots are counted) by Joe Miller over Lisa Murkowski helps the democrat in the general election this fall. Seems like democrats even voted for Miller because he would be easier to beat this fall. We’ll see in a short time. Do the Koch brothers buy another Senator, this one from Alaska or do the voters elect one of their own? Interesting.
Those tea party picks are some hum dingers! If they (Rand Paul, Sharron Angle, maybe Joe Miller…) win this fall I fear we’re in worse shape than we’ve ever known (I know that’s really saying something since we’re in awful shape now.)
Palin-Backed Joe Miller Poised to Overthrow Murkowski Dynasty – What’s Going On from an Alaskan Perspective
Well, after McCain buried JD(among other things, with a constant ad about Hayworth’s informercial for a really bad scam).
The more interesting question for those seeking an alternative to what McCain has become: who or what is Rodney Glassman?
He’s hyper-educated, but the rumor is that his campaign is being funded by his rich parents in Fresno (and McCain supporters, ironically, in 2008) who could pull the plug at any time. I call it a rumor because, well, it is. But the discomforting stories keep coming, racism to homophobia to a disturbing sense of privilege.
Which could all be bullshit. He has some big-league endorsements.
But then there’s this, from href=”http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/get-out-of-town/Content?oid=1074834″>Tucson Weekly, Dec. 18, 2003 :
Rodney Glassman
Socialite Rodney Britz Glassman offered last year to move from his frat-boy pad on the left bank of Rillito River–if the Board of Supervisors appointed him to fill Raul Grijalva’s term.
The young trust-funder volunteered to slum in a make-believe North Euclid Avenue rental in exchange for the chance to carry on for Grijalva, a Democrat who was leaving Pima County office after 13 years to begin his stacked run for Congress.
The supes didn’t buy. And Glassman, who has talked about running for everything from school board to mayor, didn’t have to rent.
There was an enticing aspect to Glassman’s offer–the word “move.”
Please, Rodney, leave. Pack up all your inflated resumes, your grandiose and unsolicited position papers, your boasts, your toasts, your roasts (The Rodney Glassman Gentleman’s Roast of Jim Click and Don Diamond? Give us a break, you world-class suck-up!), your lunches at McMahon’s Prime Steak House and your maniacal cell phone use–and get that Tahoe on Interstate 10 heading out.
Skaters and hockey players who have suffered under “Commissioner” Rodney at his family’s Gateway Ice Center will rejoice, because they won’t have to look at the giant portrait of Rodney in the lobby.
Grijalva, kicked out of town in a good way by voters, once called Glassman a “liability.” Then he hired the overgrown punk. Grijalva’s community service should be to station Glassman in his D.C. office full time.
–C.L.
Jim Click is local wealthy auto dealer (think Rusty Eck). And a high-profile Republican.
You get the idea. But he’s the Democratic nominee against John McCain.
So the question: Will he do a Bill Clinton circa 1996? (it’s been said he’s already been trying to reach out the the Tea Party people).
Or will this 30-something rich kid figure out that bigger things are at stake? And that he had better pay attention to the 65% percent of primary voters who didn’t vote for him, if he has any chance in Hell of defeating McCain.
Which probably ain’t happening. But we’ll see.
Zippy we always love your “Postcards from the West” to modify a phrase.
Good to hear from you.
Yes, we love every word we hear from Zippy out west, and every word we hear from PrairiePond up north too!
Thanks to both of you!
And I think the Pompeo/Goyle race will be a good litmus test on how much open racism is tolerable to Kansas Republicans.
“No malice”? Uh-huh.
Looks to me like the Koch brothers and the party activists who demand ideological purity are getting some Republican candidates that are so far from the mainstream that either our country is far more extreme than I realize or they’re giving democrats some breaks in states they should have lost.
I hope our country isn’t the likes of Rand Paul, Sharron Angle, Joe Miller, Rick Scott… Have we really become a country of wackos?
If these extreme candidates win will they march in lockstep like we’ve come to expect from Republicans?
If Joe Miller wins in Alaska, I suspect it has more to do with people wanting to boot out Lisa Murkowski than to elect Miller. After all, Lisa was appointed to that seat – not elected.
As for Ben Quayle being linked to that porn site – why the big surprise that Republicans did not care about that?
I suspect there were more than a few of those good ol’ boys who were making the comment that they didn’t know he was really ‘one of them’. After all, the GOP family values and porn do go hand in hand – don’t they?
As a side note to Joe Miller winning the Senate seat. I wonder if Alaskans have thought about how much pork they stand to lose if Miller gets in?
I’ve read where Alaska takes $6 in for every $1 they put into the federal treasury.
I wonder if Palin and her Palinettes ever think or even care where that difference of $5 comes from? It comes from real working Americans – that’s who.
I’ll go even one further – I’ll vote for Palin in 2012 if she promises to NEVER allow any state to take one penny more than they put into the federal treasury.
I wonder if she would stick to the deal if she took it?
Palin doesn’t have it in her to ‘stick’ to anything. She doesn’t care about America’s economy, she cares about herself — period.
I think Miller’s win will have to do with the abortion issue which brought voters out for a primary election (there was an abortion issue on the ballots in Alaska). The Republicans would like us to believe this isn’t their important issue, they would even like us to ignore the issue completely because they still ?think? they can overturn Roe v Wade, and that would stop abortions… In other words they don’t think, they obsess.
This is tearing their party apart. And bringing some real wacko into the public eye.
Lisa was originally appointed to her seat but hasn’t she won an election already?
wiki says —
“Murkowski, while a member of the state House, was appointed by her father, Governor Frank Murkowski, to his own unexpired Senate seat in December 2002, which he had vacated after being elected governor. The appointment caused a furor in the state, and eventually resulted in a referendum which stripped the governor of his power to directly appoint replacement Senators.[7] She was subsequently elected to a full six-year term against former Governor Tony Knowles in the 2004 election, after winning a primary challenge by a large margin.”
Thanks for correcting me. I knew she had to have been elected since that time but I just forgot to post that part.
When I made that comment, I was thinking of how Lisa originally got that Senate seat and some people may not have liked that and have been waiting to get their revenge.
I also read where Palin and Murkowski family had bad blood between them – so on Palin’s part – what better revenge on the Murkowskis than to boot out the daughter?
And isn’t this how the game of politics usually works?
Presumably, Joe Miller’s projected win in the GOP primary in AK was due to one or more of the following:
1) Ballot Prop 2 (Parental notification by a girl 17 or younger of her intent to have an abortion);
2) Lisa Murkowski’s initial appointment to the Senate (she did win the subsequent special election);
3) The media blitz in the final two weeks by Miller funded by large donations from “out of state”;
4) The Palin endorsement;
5) Lisa’s failure to “bring home the bacon” in the quantities to which Alaskans had become accustomed;
6) Voting for him by Democrats and others with a view towards his being an easier opponent in the General election;
7) Or, some other reason.
The above list is my synthesis of various punditry about that primary I’ve absorbed over the past 36 hours or so.
Including no. 7 about covers all the possibilities… 😉
Yes, I’ve heard all those reasons too.
I also read this ”
*** Murkowski can’t pull a full Lieberman: If Murkowski ends up falling short, there’s speculation that she might want to pull a Lieberman or a Crist and run as an independent. But Murkowski really can’t pull a Lieberman if she ends up falling short after the absentee ballots are counted. Gail Fenumiai, director of Alaska’s Division of Elections, told First Read that the deadline for independents/no party affiliation candidates to file was June 1. But Murkowski still has a couple of potential options: 1) file as a write-in candidate or 2) get the Libertarian candidate Fredrick “David” Haase to step down and have the party name her as replacement.
As for Pompeo’s tweeting fiasco – of course they can claim it was an honest mistake. Who could prove them wrong?
But let’s see how the campaign continues – and then perhaps that will tell the rest of the story.