Other March 4 News

Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich both survived primary challenges to their House seats on Tuesday. Paul won easily, about 70-30 over his challenger, while Kucinich had under 52% at last check, but his opposition was split, so his margin was still nearly twenty points.

I don't recall if I mentioned it last month, but in Maryland's primaries, two incumbents lost (one from each party). This is exceedingly rare in a year that did not involve redistricting. I think three lost in 2006, but I'd have to double-check, and there were extenuating circumstances then (scandal, nutbag Cynthia McKinney). The Republican that lost is a RINO, but he's won enough times before that it's still surprising that he lost (in true RINO fashion, he's considering endorsing the dem in the general).

Speaking of RINO's, and going off on a tangent, the reason I refuse to donate money to the NRSC, Lincoln Chafee, is not only no longer a Republican, but he's endorsed Obama for president. Not only did the Republicans throw boatloads of money behind him in 2006, including against a more loyal primary challenger, after he refused to vote for George W. Bush in 2004 (he claims he wrote in George H. W. Bush), but he stayed a Republican for less than a year following the election, and won't endorse the "great maverick" John McCain for president. If you want to know why the national party is such a mess, it's because the grassroots don't trust it after it does damn fool things like that (not to mention several of the scandal-plagued incumbents it also spent millions defending in 2006).