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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.
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What Tuesday Really Meant — There were five races that we were tracking closely over the course of the evening — and I've already seen analysts drawing flimsy conclusions from each of them. — Pennsylvania — Democratic Senate primary — The results: Joe Sestak defeats Arlen Specter, 54-46.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, blogs.alternet.org, The New Republic, BuzzFlash.org, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, FrumForum and Real Clear Politics

‘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.


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 …
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Resultsblogging II: 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.


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.


Obama endorsements don't seem to help Democrats
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Pajamas Media, NY Daily News, NewsBusters.org, Sweetness & Light and Associated Press

Republican lesson from Pennsylvania 12 special
Discussion:
Riehl World View

More on Rand Paul — So is Rand Paul, on a personal level, just a deeply unlikeable guy? One of the weird things about his acceptance speech last night was that he held it at the local country club — to what looked uncannily like a members only crowd. This morning he defended the venue …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, Politics Daily, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, DownWithTyranny! and The Poor Man Institute
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Is Rand Paul Good For Civil Liberties? — Yesterday on Twitter, Radley Balko warned liberals, “Lefties: Before you start fringe-baiting [Kentucky Senate Nominee] Rand Paul, note that he's better on civil liberties than most Democratic senators. And Obama.”

Rand Paul — It is quite an understatement to say that I am not Rand Paul's target audience. Still, I couldn't help notice something about his brief acceptance speech and I'm curious to hear whether any of you had a similar take. I don't think I'd ever seen Paul speak at any length.


Reid to call financial regulation vote — With time running out for Democrats and Republicans to reach agreement on the final details of a Wall Street reform bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced on the floor Wednesday morning that he will call for a vote to end debate on the legislation at 2 p.m.
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Senate Republicans Call Reform Bill a ‘Takeover’ of Banking Industry
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Liberty Pundits Blog, Wonk Room, The Caucus, The Politico and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*


Slow learners at the 9th Circuit — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a stimulus package for the Supreme Court, which would rather not have one. The 9th Circuit, often in error but never in doubt, provides the Supreme Court with steady work: Over the past half-century …
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Dean: N.Y. Times story a ‘hatchet job’ — Howard Dean on Wednesday took the New York Times to task for running a “hatchet job” story on Democratic Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal misstating his service in Vietnam without acknowledging that the information came from a GOP campaign.
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Blumenthal's Vietnam Claims Grew in Time, Colleague Says
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Rahm's Son's Bar Mitzvah Irks Some in Israel — Israeli Activists Say They Will ‘Blow Up,’ Figuratively, Zach Emanuel's Bar Mitzvah — White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's plan to take his son, Zach, to Jerusalem's famous Western Wall for his Jewish coming-of-age ritual appeared to have run into serious trouble.
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The Death Of Independence — Analysts are pointing toward last night's primary results (the defeat of Arlen Specter, Trey Grayson, and the run-off for Blanche Lincoln) as - when combined with Bob Bennett and Alan Mollohan's defeats - proof of anti-incumbency and anti-Washington establishment.
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MEXICAN PRESIDENT KNOCKS ARIZONA LAW FROM WHITE HOUSE LAWN — ABC News: Mexican President Felipe Calderon took the unusual step Wednesday morning of criticizing an American law while visiting the White House, saying cooperation is needed to fix the US-Mexican immigration issue but …
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Key senator says hold off on 'Don't Ask' repeal — A key U.S. senator has told the Blade that he opposes repealing “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” at this time. — In a brief exchange on Capitol Hill, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Tuesday he would vote against an effort next week to overturn the law.


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.”

Theater J pulls Madoff play after objections from activist Elie Wiesel — Bowing to objections from Elie Wiesel, the author, human rights activist and Holocaust survivor, Theater J has canceled its first production of the coming season — a play in which Wiesel is a character.

Why Are Incumbents Faltering? Check Out The Election Night FinReg Massacre — Yesterday's results in the election showed what has now become conventional wisdom: an “anti-incumbent mood,” something the media will parrot from now to November. Have they explored why?

Scandals in the House Republican Class of 1994 — When was it, exactly, that the Republican revolution merged with the sexual revolution? — With each passing year, the class notes for the famous House Republicans Class of '94 get more lurid. The latest entry was submitted Tuesday morning by Rep. Mark Souder (Ind.).

Who woulda thunk it: Fact-checking is popular! — Has anyone else noticed that the Associated Press has been doing some strong fact-checking work lately, aggressively debunking all kinds of nonsense, in an authoritative way, without any of the usual he-said-she-said crap that often mars political reporting?
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog


Why We're Having an Everybody Draw Mohammed Contest on Thursday May 20 — Author's Note: This article includes three images that clearly denigrate Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. So there is absolutely no question about the provenance of these images, I would like to direct all readers …


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:
Booman Tribune, naked capitalism, Balloon Juice, Clusterstock, The Glittering Eye, Suburban Guerrilla and DealBook


Global Cooling Is Coming — and Beware the Big Chill, Scientist Warns — Contrary to the commonly held scientific conclusion that the Earth is getting warmer, a scientist who has written more than 150 peer-reviewed papers has unveiled evidence for his prediction that global cooling is coming soon.