Democrat Artur Davis has lost his bid to become Governor of Alabama. I don't know anything about his challenger, Ron Sparks, but I'm glad Davis lost. Back in 2008, when his name was mentioned as a possible Attorney General pick for Obama, I researched his record and found it terrible on crime. He was a total crime warrior.

Some snippets below: [More...]

Matt Yglesias writes a couple of interesting posts. First on Mark Critz's special election win in PA-12:

Former John Murtha staffer Mark Critz’s win in the PA-12 House election is just straight-up embarrassing for Republicans. The Democratic strategy was straight out of the 2006/2008 playbook. Find a moderately conservative House district and run a somewhat heterodox Democrat. [. . .] Add up a shifting coalition of such members to the big block of solid House liberals, and Nancy Pelosi can put an effective governing agenda together.

Hmmm. In terms of issues, was this strategy a winner for progressives? As opposed to Dems? In the other post, Yglesias wrote:

Sen. Arlen Specter's long career as a U.S. Senator is ending.

Mr. Specter won just three counties, including Philadelphia, but not by the huge amounts needed to offset the wins by Representative Joe Sestak everywhere else in the state.

Mr. Sestak’s campaign focused relentlessly on Mr. Specter’s party switch, saying that it symbolized his opportunism and that he was out for himself. Mr. Specter may have sown the seeds of his own destruction when he readily admitted that he changed sides to keep his seat.

Is this a sign of rage against incumbants others will feel in November? I doubt, as Governor Rendell is quoted in the Times article, that Specter lost because of the rain in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

“The rain killed Arlen,” Mr. Rendell said dejectedly. “Whatever chance he had went down with the rain.”

How great would it be to have John Mellencamp, champion of the farmer and the little guy, in the U.S. Senate? There's a grass roots effort underway in Indiana to draft him.

Above is a video I took of him singing "Our Country" at a John Edwards event during the Iowa caucuses in December, 2007.

I hope he says yes. Maybe it's finally time to rock the vote for real. [More...]

Like Charlie Crist in Florida, Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln looks like electoral toast. Given her performance today in President Obama's "Question Time" with the Dem Senate Caucus, it seems fair to speculate whether she is planning on switching parties. The Hill reports:

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) on Wednesday asked arguably the most contentious question during a discussion between Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama, hitting at conservatives and liberals. Lincoln [. . .] asked Obama to push back against "people at the extremes" of both parties, especially against Democrats "who want extremes." She also took a swipe at Obama's White House, referencing a constituent who "fears that there's no one in your administration that understands what it means to go to work on Monday and make a payroll on Friday."

Mitch McConnell would have been pleased. Obama responded to her as if she were a Republican:

Too soon?

Andrew Cuomo is ready to run for governor. [. . .] [A] source close to Cuomo told The News, "He will make an announcement at the end of March. And what he will say is that he intends to run for governor. ... He thinks there are a lot of problems in the state and he thinks he can help solve them."

If I were Cuomo, I would announce on the last possible day for filing. There is not a person in the state who does not know Cuomo is running. But there is no need to unnecessarily antagonize any supporters Governor Paterson may have left. The article claims Cuomo is ready to run against Paterson, but I'm sure he would prefer NOT to run against him unless he has to. The longer Cuomo waits, the more likely, Paterson will step aside. No doubt Cuomo would crush Paterson, but no need to make enemies when you do not have to.

Speaking for me only

The AP has called the Massachussetts senate race for Scott Brown. Coakley called Brown to concede at 9:19pm ET.

Let the post-mortems and blame begin. (For me, it's relief, since I wanted her to lose, based her prosecutorial and crime warrior record.) BTD , who wanted Coakley to win, should be landing soon and will provide his analysis.

For me, it's back to American Idol (did you know Scott Brown's daughter was a semi-finalist?) She's been campaigning for her dad.

The Dems have some work to do between now and November. [More...]

Update 9:30 pm: AP calls the race for Brown. 84% in, Brown with 53%. Post-mortem thread here.

Update: 9:19 pm: 1435 of 2168 precincts reporting - 66% of vote -- Brown still 53%, Martha 46%. CNN's 9:15 story. 9:21 pm: 1494 of 2168 precincts reporting - 69% of vote, Brown still at 53%. Do we call the race for Brown yet?

Update: 9:07 pm ET: Brown's lead widens to 53% with 57% of the vote in. (1234 of 2168 precincts reporting.) Coakely's got a good lead in Boston, Lynn, and Lexington.

Update 9:04 pm ET: 52% of the votes are in, including some from the eastern part of the state. Brown is still ahead 52% to 47%. (1119 of 2168 precincts reporting.)

Update 8:52pm ET: More than 1/3 of 2168 precincts are in, 38% of vote is in. Still Brown 52%, Martha 47%. But it's the Western part of the state coming in, not Boston, where Martha should do better.

Update 8:35 pm ET: 192 precincts, 9% of vote in: Brown 52%, Coakley 47%.

Update 8:29 pm ET: 146 precincts in (7%), Brown 51%, Martha 48%. CNN pundits are already doing a post-mortem for the Dems. They think Brown will win. [More...]

Make your prediction in this thread.

The only political cult I was ever in was the Wes Clark for President cult of 2003-2004. Via Spencer Ackerman, via Kagro, it may be time to put that cult back together:

There is chatter in Democratic circles about possible interest from Wesley Clark as a candidate for retiring Democrat Vic Snyder’s congressional seat. [. . .] A credible source says that an internal discussion is taking place, and that Clark is giving it serious consideration.

I'm in. Where's my kool-aid?

Speaking for me only

This is for all the volunteer campaign workers of both candidates in Mass., trying to get out the vote for their candidate.

While BTD wants Coakely to win, I want Coakely to lose. She's too big a risk. The thought of another career prosecutor bent on the old law and order, crime warrior model, is a bigger threat to me than the possibility of losing the House version of the Health care bill. I'm resigned to the health care bill -- a bill that after all the compromising, bears little resemblance to what we progressives initially envisioned. I am not resigned to a Senator who will arrive in DC with alliances already formed with crime bill pushers like DiFi, Joe Biden, and every victims rights group in the nation. How long till we see a crime bill co-sponsored by Coakely and Jeff Sessions? [More...]