Jaime Fuller takes a look at the results of last night’s primaries and concludes that the Tea Party is losing, and losing badly.
Meanwhile, our nation’s most famous witch, comes to a different conclusion:
I have to side with Christine O’Donnell here. The best you can say for the Republicans is that last night could have certainly been worse.
In Kentucky, almost a hundred thousand more people turned out to vote for Alison Lundergan Grimes than turned out to vote for embattled Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. About 50,000 more Democrats turned out than Republicans, despite the fact that the Republican race was the only one that was seriously contested. That’s partly a reflection of the Democratic Party’s registration edge in the Bluegrass State, but it’s still a surprisingly weak performance for the GOP.
And, while it might be true that the Democrats were hoping to see a closer result in McConnell’s race, that hardly matters. Grimes will have to deal with McConnell’s brutal slash-and-burn campaign tactics, but she’d rather run against him and all his money than against a fresh face. Let’s remember that thirty-eight percent of Kentucky Republicans agree that McConnell has been in Congress for too long, and that he has an overall 34%-56% approval rating that is scarcely better than the president’s numbers.
In Georgia, the Republicans probably nominated to two least-objectionable candidates, but they still have their problems. Both Jack Kingston and David Perdue ran far to the right to ward off their crazier opponents. Perdue is inexperienced and gaffe-prone. And Kingston has been in Congress for two decades. Plus, they will now begin savaging each other for the next nine weeks while Michelle Nunn has the field to herself.
Out in Oregon, the Republicans nominated a pro-choice woman to take on Jeff Merkley, but apparently she’s a stalker who has freaked out both an ex-husband and an old boyfriend. It’s not clear to me how badly these revelations will hurt her, but this is not what the Republicans were envisioning when they recruited her.
In Pennsylvania, the Republicans cannot be encouraged by the performance of Tom Wolf, who won the Democratic gubernatorial primary in a walk. Governor Tom Corbett appears to be among the walking dead.
I’d also note that the latest poll out of Mississippi shows Tea Party challenge Chris McDaniel leading longtime incumbent Thad Cochran.
It’s not all good new for the Democrats, but their Senate candidates are tied or leading in every race outside of South Dakota and West Virginia. Regardless of how the Tea Party fared last night, things don’t look quite rosy for the GOP.
