In the other race I am following very closely, a PPP poll (PDF) has Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) up by 8. That's good news. This ad (Fiorina "Proud" Of Outsourcing Jobs While At HP) is no doubt helping:

You can donate here.

Speaking for me only

Need a sense of urgency? Russ Feingold is well down in his re-election race:

New PPP results for dkos, will post tomorrow -- Feingold down by double digits, MASSIVE intensity gap. W/o gap, it'd be tied race.

This should be the fight of the election for progressives (along with the Boxer race). I'm donating again. Feingold sends this video:

Fight for Russ. He fights for progressives.

Speaking for me only

Via Digby, that's how Alan Grayson refers to his opponent, Daniel Webster, in the reelection contest in his central Florida district. Are you fainting yet? Anyway, here is an interesting observation:

Grayson mobilizes and energizes his diverse base: African Americans, Latinos, Jews, gay men and lesbians, union members, pro-choice activists and younger “‘Daily Show’ Democrats,” who, like him, do not hesitate to criticize their party’s leadership for insufficient fervor and a promiscuous eagerness to compromise. Their enthusiasm and their commitment, Grayson says, can make up for their smaller numbers in the otherwise moderately conservative district. If he manages to win despite the expected GOP wave — regardless of his margin — the lesson for Democrats will be clear.

“If Grayson wins,” said Aubrey Jewett, associate professor of political science at the University of Central Florida, “and especially if many other congressional Democrats lose, the lesson for the Democratic Party will be clear: A winning strategy for Democrats in swing districts involves energetically advocating progressive positions rather than muddling policy differences for the moderate voters.”

Indeed.

Speaking for me only

Christine O'Donnell wouldn't have won in November anyway, but even conservatives won't like this one. She's already canceled two Sunday news show appearances.

From one of her 22 appearances on Politically Incorrect (this one is 1999.)

"One of my first dates with with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn't know it," she added. "I mean, there's little blood there and stuff like that. We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar."

New York is all but assured of having a Democratic Governor in November, thanks to Carl Paladino beating Rick Lazio in the primary. Cuomo is a lock. Keep going TeaPartiers, you're handing victory to the Dems. This is getting quite amusing.

Charlie Rangel also sailed to victory in the primary.

Here's Politico's map of primary results.

Christine O'Donnell wins in Delaware. The Republican party digs themselves into a grave.

In Colorado, Denver District Court Judge Will Hood ruled today third party candidate Tom Tancredo can stay on the ballot. The latest polls show Tancredo leading the Republican nominee Dan Maes. The impact: Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper will have an even easier time winning in November.

Kevin Drum:

I'm rooting for O'Donnell with no quiet mourning for Castle at all. I'm not sure at this point why [E.J.] Dionne still wonders "if" there's room in the modern GOP for guys like Castle, since that seems about as clear to me as anything could possibly be. The answer is no, and Castle's fate won't change that one way or the other. The die has been well and truly cast here for some time: the GOP is irrevocably committed to the undiluted Fox/Limbaugh/Drudge party line, and there's no going back.

I'm with Drum on this one.

Speaking for me only

Seven states and the District of Columbia are holding primaries today.

The storyline seems to be about the splitting of the Republican party into conservatives and those who are more conservative. I think of all Repubulicans as conservative, so I don't much care who wins their primaries. I care who wins in November, and I doubt any far-right radicals will win any traditionally Democratic states in November. That doesn't mean the Dems won't lose control of the House or Senate in November, but since they didn't do much while they had control, I'm not sure anyone will notice. That part is a shame.

As to Sarah Palin: She can endorse every winner at the Republican racetrack from now until doomsday and she still won't ever be elected to a position where she has a view of, let alone a seat in, the Oval office. That ship has sailed for her.

This is an open thread for today's primaries.

Russ Feingold is having a money bomb today. I am contributing to his campaign and I urge you to do the same.

Glenn Greenwald explains why you should:

Feingold is responsible for what is easily one of the most courageous political acts of the last decade, when he stood up on the Senate floor a mere six weeks after the 9/11 attacks -- in a climate in which almost nobody with a real platform was willing to dissent on anything, let alone anything significant -- and vehemently warned of the dangers posed by the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act. He then proceeded to cast the only Senate vote against that Orwellian-ly named bill, making it a 98-1 vote in favor. [MORE . . .]

Mike Castle, fighting for his political life in Delaware, pulls out the standard retort every challenged Establishment figure relies on -blame the "outside agitators:"

Rep. Mike Castle is blaming the influence of outsiders for the closer-than-expected GOP Senate primary he's locked in against tea party favorite Christine O'Donnell.

[. . .] "This has been a complete out-of-state operation, a political action committee from California, a couple people from Washington, D.C., and that's it. It's not been a local campaign. It's not had local donations," Castle told reporters in downtown Wilmington[.]

Of course only Republican voters in Delaware can actually deny Castle the Senate nomination. We'll see tonight if they do.

Speaking for me only

At Powerline, Paul Mirengoff defends himself from attacks from Mark Levin:

Earlier this week, Mark Levin responded to one of my posts about the Delaware Senate primary. In that post, I noted that, in 2006, leftist activists supported less than reliably liberal Democratic candidates like Ben Nelson and were rewarded for their flexibility with the passage of Obamacare. I then argued that, by supporting Christine O'Donnell in the Delaware Senate primary despite the likelihood (demonstrated by polls) that she would lose the general election, whereas her centrist opponent in the primary would likely win, certain Republican activists are being less astute than leftists like Markos Moulitsas were in 2006.

This battle stems from the possibility that Mike Castle will be defeated in the GOP Senate primary in Delaware by Tea Partier Christine O'Donnell, putting a lock GOP pickup with Castle into the likely Dem hold category. O'Donnell would join Sharron Angle in Nevada, Joe Miller in Alaska and Rand Paul in Kentucky, in putting races that would have been GOP walkovers into a much more competitive state. It's an interesting strategic dilemma for activists. After all, Mike Castle appears not to agree too much with the Tea Party movement. Why shouldn't they support the candidate espousing their views? The issue is Delaware - a blue state that is an unlikely place for a Tea Party triumph (strangely enough, the Tea Party celebrated Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts, even though Brown is pretty much where Castle is on the issues.) I'll discuss the activist strategy on the flip.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced today he won't seek re-election.

Rahm Emanuel, Compromiser-in-Chief, has said he's interested in the job. He doesn't see eye-to-eye with Obama's inner circle of advisers and it's long been rumored he only planned to stay with Obama through the mid-term elections anyway.

Run, Rahm, Run. Obama needs a new Chief of Staff -- one who's more concerned with a bill's details than capitulating on principles to get it passed. From the New York Times March, 2010 profile on Rahm:

Emanuel is far less concerned about the details of a bill than the ability to get it passed.

Please, Chicago, take him off our hands.