An earthquake still

I get the impression that people don't quite know what to make of yesterday's mini-Super Tuesday's results. So here's my take:

The CA-50 race is obviously and at first glance a disappointment, because this looked until the last moment like an outright victory for the forces of good. Certainly, we had the forces of darkness on the run; what with the NRCC spending $4.5 million on a race in a safe district, sending in volunteers, and still unsure until the last moment. The final results are: evil 49.5%, good 45%. This represents a swing towards Busby of 18% from the last general. Interestingly, the R candidate did not make 50%. If the general shift in our favor is 18% nationwide, the collapse of the extremist tyranny is at hand.

Certainly, the last-minute gaffe by Busby - "you don't need papers to help the campaign" - didn't help. That's not a crime, as per commenter Fool; it's worse than a crime, a mistake, in my book. Note to Rahm Emanuel: make sure your candidates stay on message.

I suspect the NRCC is glad to have dodged the bullet, and contemplating the 50+ competitive races around the country with some unease; they can't spend $4.5 million in every single one, nor can they count on every single Democratic candidate making such gaffes. The DCCC is tap-dancing, I hear. There's more number-crunching going on at The Stakeholder.

So all in all, I'm not ecstatic, but also not too disappointed.

Also in California, in the gubernatorial primary, Democrats managed to demonstrate that even in a state with 35 million people, sometimes you can't find a decent standard-bearer. Phil Angelides represents everything I don't like about the Democratic Party, and my sense is that he will get crushed. Too bad, really, because Ahnuld is weak in my view. On the other hand, perhaps California Dems need a Fernando Ferrer moment; that was, of course, the Democratic candidate in the New York mayoral whom even I couldn't bring myself to vote for.

In other news, Roy Moore, the dominionist candidate in Alabama, got crushed in the R primary by more than 2:1. That's a sign that even in the darkest corners of the country, the bible-thumpers are in trouble.

In Montana, Jon Tester won, also 2:1, over philandering DINO Morrison, adding to the worries of incumbent Conrad "Reptile" Burns.