{"id":569499,"date":"2010-05-19T00:59:09","date_gmt":"2010-05-19T04:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/?p=85157"},"modified":"2010-05-19T00:59:09","modified_gmt":"2010-05-19T04:59:09","slug":"a-primary-day-in-search-of-a-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/569499","title":{"rendered":"A Primary Day in Search of a Theme"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_85158\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 490px\"><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/SestakHalterPaul.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-85158\" title=\"SestakHalterPaul\" src=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/SestakHalterPaul-480x320.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"320\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa., left) and Rand Paul (R-Ky., right) both won Senate primaries on Tuesday night, while Bill Halter (D-Ark., center) forced Sen. Blanche Lincoln into a runoff. (Zuma, Bill Halter for Senate)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The  results from Tuesday\u2019s much-watched congressional primaries are in. Now  the larger question remains: What\u2019s their significance?<\/p>\n<p>The  <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/85103\/pennsylvania-primary-results\">fall<\/a> of five-term Sen. Arlen Specter (D) in Pennsylvania marks the end of an  era; the <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/85088\/kentucky-primary-results\">rise<\/a> of ophthalmologist Rand Paul (R) in Kentucky lends both power and voice  to the ever-emerging Tea Party movement; and <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/85107\/arkansas-primary-results\">the  success<\/a> of Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter &#8212; who hung close enough  to Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a conservative Democrat, to force a run-off  contest next month &#8212; has drawn cheers from the liberal groups that  catalyzed his late ascendancy.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_3087\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"width: 140px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3087\" title=\"congress\" src=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/congress.jpg\" alt=\"Image by: Matt Mahurin\" width=\"130\" height=\"130\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image by: Matt Mahurin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"floatButtons\">\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/digg.com\/tools\/diggthis.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-bottom: 10px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"\n\tsrc=\"http:\/\/d.yimg.com\/ds\/badge2.js\"\n\tbadgetype=\"square\">\n\t<?php the_permalink(); ?><\/script><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-right: 10px;\">\n\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\ntweetmeme_source = \"TWI_news\";\ntweetmeme_service = \"bit.ly\";\n<\/script> <script src=\"http:\/\/tweetmeme.com\/i\/scripts\/button.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;\"><a name=\"fb_share\" type=\"box_count\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php\">Share<\/a><script src=\"http:\/\/static.ak.fbcdn.net\/connect.php\/js\/FB.Share\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> Yet the well-worn theme  going into the day\u2019s elections &#8212; that a nationwide storm of voter  unrest spells mid-term doom for &#8220;big government&#8221; incumbents,  particularly the majority Democrats &#8212; was hardly proven. Indeed, two of  the three high-profile races featured establishment candidates taking  on other establishment candidates &#8212; with the liberals coming out on  top. If any common message emerged from Tuesday&#8217;s results it was this:  Republicans, who have been hoping that the public&#8217;s discontent will  translate into big congressional gains in November, might want to  reconsider their strategy come Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Specter,  for example, was toppled by a more liberal Democrat in the figure of  Rep. Joe Sestak, whose late campaign push revolved around <a href=\"http:\/\/www.philly.com\/philly\/blogs\/cityhall\/Election_2010_Sestak_Ad_Links_Specter_To_Bush__Palin.html\">ads<\/a> linking Specter &#8212; a Republican from 1965 until he <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2009\/04\/28\/AR2009042801523.html\">switched  parties<\/a> last year &#8212; to George W. Bush. Sestak will now square off  against former GOP Rep. Pat Toomey, founder of the conservative Club for  Growth, in November.<\/p>\n<p>In Arkansas, Halter rode the  wave of an enormous ad campaign <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2010\/05\/10\/AR2010051002126.html\">bankrolled<\/a> by some of the nation&#8217;s most predominant liberal groups, including  MoveOn.org and a number of labor unions, who have been critical of  Lincoln&#8217;s opposition to climate change legislation and an idling labor  reform bill. And while Halter&#8217;s name isn&#8217;t well known on a national  stage, the lieutenant governor is also no political outsider. As the  Guardian\u2019s Michael Tomasky <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/commentisfree\/michaeltomasky\/2010\/may\/18\/us-politics-primary-day\">wrote  Tuesday<\/a>, a Halter win \u201cwould not represent primary voters  manifesting some bestial urge to tear the flesh of the establishment.  He&#8217;s a member of the establishment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/rundown\/2010\/05\/lincoln-and-halter-to-face-each-other-in-runoff-in-arkansas-primary.html\">run-off  election<\/a> between Halter and Lincoln is scheduled for June 8.<\/p>\n<p>More  evidence that the anti-establishment backlash remains unproven arrived  Tuesday in western Pennsylvania, where Democrat Mark Critz, a former  aide to the late Rep. Jack Murtha (D), defeated Republican Tim Burns in a  special election. The result was a blow to Republicans, who&#8217;d viewed  Murtha&#8217;s seat as low-hanging fruit in a conservatvie district amidst an  unemployment crisis. \u201cIf you can\u2019t win a seat that is trending  Republican in a year like this, then where is the wave?\u201d former GOP Rep.  Tom Davis (Va.) <a href=\"http:\/\/thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com\/2010\/05\/18\/blogging-the-primaries\/\">told<\/a> The New York Times before the outcome of the race was known. \u201cIt would  be a huge upset not to win this seat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not that there  hasn&#8217;t been good evidence of a conservative backlash against incumbents  in some districts. Sen. Robert Bennett (Utah), for example, a faithful  conservative, was unseated in a primary earlier this month by an  opponent who attacked him for supporting Bush&#8217;s bailout of Wall Street.  And Paul&#8217;s win in Kentucky came at the expense of Trey Grayson,  Kentucky&#8217;s secretary of state who&#8217;d won the endorsement of no less an  entrenched Republican than Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).<\/p>\n<p>Yet Tuesday&#8217;s primary results indicate that there&#8217;s  more at play than a simple backlash against establishment figures.  Another wild card on display Tuesday was the extent of the Obama  administration&#8217;s willingness to throw its weight behind longtime  incumbents. Newsweek&#8217;s Howard Fineman <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.newsweek.com\/blogs\/thegaggle\/archive\/2010\/05\/18\/the-philadelphia-democratic-machine-is-mad-at-obama-for-ditching-arlen-specter.aspx\">noted<\/a> that Specter, for example, was abandoned by the White House in the  lead-up to his defeat Tuesday. Fineman pointed to a report by NBC&#8217;s  Chuck Todd indicating that the administration, after endorsing Specter,  actually preferred Sestak.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The fact that White House  political spin doctors would say this to Chuck Todd in time for him to  go on the air with it at 5 p.m. Eastern, on a popular political show  hosted by Philly native [Chris] Matthews, with the polls open until 8  (!), enraged [Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Robert] Brady. &#8220;I guess  that&#8217;s the White House&#8217;s idea of loyalty,&#8221; he snapped. &#8220;They&#8217;re gonna  hear from me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steny  Hoyer (D-Md.) predicted Tuesday that the creation of jobs &#8212; if it  continues \u2013 will, come November, overcome the current attitude of voter  discontent against Democratic incumbents who pushed through the party\u2019s  economic stimulus bill and an overhaul of the nation\u2019s health care  system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmericans are pretty smart people,\u201d Hoyer told  reporters at the Capitol Tuesday. \u201cIf they see this continued success, I  think they\u2019re going to say, \u2018Well, I was doubtful, but it seems to be  working, and we will stay the path.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whether he&#8217;s right or not  remains to be seen. But Tuesday&#8217;s results are no indication one way or  the other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa., left) and Rand Paul (R-Ky., right) both won Senate primaries on Tuesday night, while Bill Halter (D-Ark., center) forced Sen. Blanche Lincoln into a runoff. (Zuma, Bill Halter for Senate) The results from Tuesday\u2019s much-watched congressional primaries are in. Now the larger question remains: What\u2019s their significance? The fall of five-term [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4315,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-569499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4315"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}