Interestingly enough, the Dems fared reasonably well in yesterday's multi-state primaries. The biggest news was the surging Rep. Joe Sestak's victory over Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary. The Dem machine in Pennsylvania as well as the Administration lined up behind Specter, but it wasn't enough to overcome Pennsylvania Dems' yearning for a fresh, reliably progressive candidate to face far right-wing Rethug candidate Pat "Loony" Toomey in November. Also, Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional district, one which Rethugs were counting on winning after Rep. John Murtha's death earlier this year, stayed Democratic, and not by a slim margin either.
More bad news for establishment Rethugs was the defeat of Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell's hand-picked candidate for Senate in Kentucky, Trey Grayson, who lost by a wide margin to tea bagger favorite and dispenser of 19th century policy prescriptions Rand "The Sprinklerhead" Paul (named after nutty author Ayn Rand). The Kentucky Dem primary produced a victory of a very attractive candidate, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway who is both charismatic and photogenic. It's noteworthy that Kentucky Dems came out in larger numbers than the Rethugs. Another mainstream media meme down in flames.
Finally, there's the runoff in the Arkansas Senate race between conserva-Dem Sen. Blanche Lincoln and Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who was supported by progressive groups and organized labor. It sends a message that, while tea bagging right wingers get a lot of notice for their influence over Rethugs, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is trying to steer their party back to its roots by rejecting "Rethuglican lite" candidates.
