A Rundown Of Yesterday’s Big Election Results.

First off, in California, it was not a great day for conservatives although happily, down the ticket, birther queen Orly Taitz was trounced by Damon Dunn for Secretary of State. That’s the good news.

On the other hand, Meg Whitman soundly beat Steve Poizner for:  governor of California, 64% to 27%. I really don’t like Meg very much or think much of her skills as a politician; : so I was pleased when Poizner pulled even with her by taking a tough line on illegal immigration. But, at the end of the day, California is a huge state and Whitman had an almost unlimited amount of money to spend — she did — and it carried her through to victory. Now, she’ll get to go toe-to-toe with Jerry Brown, which, given the sorry state California’s in, is kind of like running for captain of the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.

As expected, Barbara Boxer easily won her primary with Mickey Kaus and Brian Quintana, but it was notable that poor Kaus finished in third place with only 5% of the vote. Guess the anti-union message went over…well, about as expected with Democrats.

On the Republican side, Carly Fiorina’s money and a Palin endorsement carried her to an easy win (56%) over Tom Campbell (22%) and Chuck Devore (19%). Chuck Devore was my guy in that race and I thought he ran a competent campaign, but unfortunately, he just never caught on. Campbell on the other hand, was the biggest RINO in the race, but he probably would have been more electable than Fiorina. Fiorina on the other hand, is a squishy, not particularly competent political novice who’s going to have to hope that money and a strong Republican tide can put her over the top against Barbara Boxer, who’s vulnerable, but won’t go down without a fight.

Going back to the other side of the country, in South Carolina, Nikki Haley, who’s been hounded with non-credible claims that she’s been sleeping with half the consultants in SC, cruised to an easy victory in her primary. Haley 48.8% vs. Gresham Barrett 21.8% vs. Andre Bauer 13.4% vs. Henry McMaster 12.5%. Because Haley didn’t crack 50%, there’s a runoff scheduled between her and Barrett in a couple of weeks. However, barring a major scandal — which is certainly possible given all the allegations — it’s going to be extraordinarily difficult for Barrett to pull it out.

Also, in SC’s 1st district, which covers Myrtle Beach, Tim Scott won a 9 man primary with 31% of the vote, but will be heading into a run-off with Strom Thurmond’s son, Paul, who got 16% of the vote. Although Larry Kobrovsky was my number two choice in that district, I like Paul Thurmond and would be content if he won, but I’ve been backing Tim Scott, who would be the first black man elected in that district. I’d also note that I’ve met Scott, heard him speak, and was EXTREMELY impressed with his charisma and his conservatism. The winner of the run-off will be the congressman from that very Republican district.

Flashing back across the country, in the Republican primary in Nevada, the Tea Party candidate won: Sharron Angle finished with 40% vs. Sue Lowden 26% vs. Danny Tarkanian 23%. The good news is that Harry Reid’s numbers looked absolutely terrible against all three candidates. The bad news is that all 3 of the candidates were conservative, but Angle:  is easily the least electable of the bunch. Expect to see this phrase repeated over and over and over and over, “She wants to abolish Social Security, phase out Medicare.” How well Angle handles that and other attempts to paint her as:  a:  wild eyed extremist will probably determine whether or not she wins the race.

Last but not least, in Arkansas, wildy unpopular Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln was being tormented in a run-off by this year’s version of Ned Lamont, Bill Halter. Happily this looked a lose/lose battle for the Democrats: Lincoln may be too unpopular to be reelected and Halter’s probably too liberal for the state. Well, Halter lost. Lincoln 52% vs. Halter 48%. This is especially delicious because the Left spent a tremendous amount of money to try to beat Lincoln. The netroots raised over 3.5 million and the unions poured in millions more. So not only did they waste an enormous amount of money on a losing effort, the Left’s knickers are probably going to be in a twist over the race, which hurts Lincoln’s chances even more. Just for the record, : folks, this seat has been held by the Democrats for 131 years. So, the times:  — : they are a changing.

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