memeorandum: Why Merkley-Levin Is Necessary — A funny thing happened in June of 2007. (Mike/Rortybomb)

9:40 AM ET, May 19, 2010

Top Items:

Specter Defeat Signals a Wave Against Incumbents — WASHINGTON — Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who left the Republican Party a year ago in hopes of salvaging a 30-year career, was rejected on Tuesday by Democratic primary voters, with Representative Joe Sestak winning the party's nomination …

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Sestak, Paul score wins as Lincoln faces runoff — Upstart Senate candidates claimed two stunning victories in primary elections Tuesday night as Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak denied incumbent Democrat Arlen Specter renomination to a sixth term and Kentucky insurgent Rand Paul easily bested …

Discussion: CNN, Outside The Beltway, Questions and Observations, Taylor Marsh, Another Black Conservative, Scared Monkeys, Philly.com, Democratic Strategist, FiveThirtyEight, LewRockwell.com Blog and Hit & Run

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:

Is Rand Ron's Son? Or The Most Powerful Republican In The Woooorld? — Rand Paul is in the spotlight tonight. He's enjoying Scott Brown-like status as the Most Powerful Republican In The World. And look: he says he represents the Tea Party movement. So that must be the end of it, right?

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, PostPartisan and Hot Air

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Arlen Specter warns of tea party ‘take over’ — As voters considered his fate throughout Pennsylvania, Sen. Arlen Specter warned on Tuesday that without him Democrats may not be able to fend off a tea party “takeover.” — “What you see happening across the country is that the tea party organization …

Discussion: The Corner on National …, Another Black Conservative, CNN, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, Michelle Malkin, Tammy Bruce and Pundit & Pundette

Reuters:

Activists seize control of politics — For any politician with the usual instincts for self-protection, the lessons of Tuesday's primaries could not be more clear: This could happen to you. — Arlen Specter lost in Pennsylvania even though the party-switching Democrat was recruited and backed by a sitting president.

Discussion: Washington Post, Taegan Goddard's … and Commentary

Thomas M. Defrank / NY Daily News:

Sen. Arlen Specter's primary loss continues bad 2010 for President Obama, Democrats — WASHINGTON - Tuesday's balloting is a fresh reminder of what all the combatants have understood for months: It's a lousy year to be a Democrat, an incumbent or President Obama.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Washington Post:
Sen. Arlen Specter loses Pennsylvania primary; Rand Paul wins in Kentucky

Discussion: The Hill, The Fix, What's New, PostPartisan, Courier-Journal, The Plum Line, USA Today, The Faster Times and Wall Street Journal

Marc Levy / Associated Press:
Specter rejected by Pa. Dems in bid for 6th term

Discussion: Townhall.com, msnbc.com, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and SENATUS

NBC Philadelphia:
Sestak Knocks Out Specter

Discussion: Shakesville, Taegan Goddard's …, Pam's House Blend, skippy the bush kangaroo and Joe. My. God.

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
After 30 Years and Party Switch, Career Curtain for Specter

Discussion: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

ABCNEWS:
Tea Party Supporter Rand Paul Defeats GOP Favorite in Kentucky

Discussion: Associated Press, The Politico, Hot Air, Another Black Conservative and CNN

Jill Lawrence / Politics Daily: Sestak Beats Specter in Pa. Senate Primary, Paul Wins in Kentucky

Adam Nagourney / The Caucus:
Blogging the Primaries — Primary elections in three states today …

Discussion: Eunomia, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, New York Times and Daily Kos

The Politico:

The GOP's special failure — All the evidence pointing to monster Republican House gains this fall—the Scott Brown upset win in Massachusetts, the scary polling numbers in once-safely Democratic districts, the ever-rising number of Democratic seats thought to be in jeopardy—was contradicted Tuesday.

Discussion: Think Progress, Balloon Juice, The Corner on National … and Maggie's Farm

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

‘WHERE IS THE WAVE?’.... Arguably the most important election yesterday wasn't a primary race, but rather, the congressional special election in Pennsylvania's 12th — a contest to fill the vacancy left by the late Rep. Jack Murtha (D). — Observers in both parties considered the race something of a bellwether.

Discussion: CBS News, Discourse.net and ABCNEWS

Emily Goodin / Ballot Box:
Dems keep Murtha seat

Discussion: The Politico

David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:

Shays Watched as Blumenthal's War Claims Evolved — HARTFORD — Former Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, a Republican who says he is a good friend of Richard Blumenthal's, said in an interview Tuesday that he had watched with worry as Mr. Blumenthal gradually embellished his military record over the years.

Discussion: Unfogged, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, Vanity Fair, Newsweek Blogs, The Eye, PostPartisan, Hot Air, The Fix, Commentary, AmSpecBlog and Ballot Box

James Hohmann / The Politico:
VFW leader rips Blumenthal

Discussion: Mudville Gazette, Gateway Pundit and RedState

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Uh oh: Media not rallying to Blumenthal's side after press conference

Discussion: Breitbart.tv and New York Times

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Richard Blumenthal will survive

Discussion: Hot Air, Newsweek Blogs, NewsReal Blog, New York Times, Betsy's Page, The Atlantic Online, Daily Kos, The Daily Beast, Scared Monkeys, Washington Monthly, The Corner on National …, PostPartisan and DISSENTING JUSTICE

Sean J. Miller / Ballot Box:

Lincoln and Halter head to runoff in Arkansas — Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D) forced Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) into a June 8 runoff after both failed to win a majority of the vote in Tuesday's Senate primary. — Lincoln led Halter 44 to 42 percent with more than half the state's precincts reporting.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Politico and CNN

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
EpicFail: Blanche Lincoln Turned Away From Home Polling Place This Morning

Discussion: theblogprof, Blue Arkansas, Wonkette, Gateway Pundit, The Swamp, Swing State Project, Newsweek Blogs and Taylor Marsh

Associated Press:
Lincoln, Halter Go to Overtime in Arkansas Senate Race

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Brady Dennis / Washington Post:
Dodd offers compromise on derivatives deadlock

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Taegan Goddard's …, TPMDC, Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Open Left, The Corner on National … and The Hill

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:

PA-12 LIVE Election Results; UPDATE: Democrat Wins; Burns Concedes — Election results online here. — 11:30 p.m. ET: Well, everybody else has gone to drown their sorrows, but I've still got to hit a late deadline for The American Spectator. A defeat is always harder to report than a victory.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, alicublog, Right Now and Conservatives4Palin.com

Smitty / The Other McCain:
PA-12: Shoe Leather Update. Burns Victory? …

Discussion: Big Government, National Review and American Spectator

Sean Trende / Real Clear Politics:
2010: Anti-Incumbent, Anti-Liberal, or Anti-Democrat?

Discussion: Right Now, The Confluence, Politics Nation, Questions and Observations and Wall Street Journal

Patrick Gavin / The Politico:

HOUSE PASSES BEER RESOLUTION — While most of Washington was focused on Tuesday's election results, the House was busy doing something else: Passing a resolution about beer. — House Resolution 1297, sponsored by Rep. Betsy Markey, supports “the goals and ideals of American Craft Beer Week.”

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY and Don Surber

Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:

Campbell Brown Leaving CNN After Network Grants Release From Contract (UPDATE) — Mediaite has learned CNN has granted anchor Campbell Brown's request to be let out early from her contract. — She has agreed to stay on and anchor the 8pmET hour until a replacement is found. Updated with statements.

Discussion: New York Times and Wonkette

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
Campbell Brown to Leave CNN

Discussion: Mediaite and Romenesko

Chris Bowers / Open Left:

Crotchety Progressive Rant — I am outraged by this, because this is outrageous. — And yet, where are the street protests in response to this outrage? No, not those protests—we need bigger ones. There should be hundreds of thousands of people out there protesting this. Every day.

Discussion: TalkLeft

J.P. Freire / Beltway Confidential:

DOJ Voting Rights attorney resigns over Black Panthers stonewalling — A trial attorney with the Department of Justice's Voting Rights Section has resigned, citing concerns about the government's refusal to prosecute a case involving voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party.

Discussion: Commentary and Main Justice

Bloomberg:

Conspiracy of Banks Rigging States Came With Crash — A telephone call between a financial adviser in Beverly Hills and a trader in New York was all it took to fleece taxpayers on a water-and-sewer financing deal in West Virginia. The secret conversation was part of a conspiracy stretching across …

Discussion: naked capitalism, Clusterstock and DealBook

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Election Night Homethread (5/18/10) — 9:45 PM [Nate]. Sestak officially takes the lead. And 2/3 of Philly has been counted. How can Specter win? He probably can't. — 9:44 PM [Nate]. The Democrat Critz leads big — 58 to 39 — in PA-12 special election so far. — 9:40 PM.

Discussion: Swing State Project, The Atlantic Online, The Politico, Daily Kos, Guardian and The Mahablog

New York Times:

Clients Worried About Goldman's Dueling Goals — “Questions have been raised that go to the heart of this institution's most fundamental value: how we treat our clients.” — Lloyd C. Blankfein, Goldman Sachs's C.E.O., at the firm's annual meeting in May — As the housing crisis mounted …

Discussion: Gothamist, naked capitalism, Washington Post and Balloon Juice

O.Kay Henderson:

Biden “embarrassed as hell” about the BFD — Vice President Joe Biden campaigned for Iowa Governor Chet Culver in Cedar Rapids over the noon-hour. In the midst of his speech, Biden was talking about steps Culver had taken to spur the wind energy industry and he incorporated his new, um, catch phrase.