LAND OF LINCOLN – AT 8:41 A.M. ET:  The Politico runs an excellent analysis of Blanche Lincoln's victory in the Arkansas Senate primary runoff.  It's likely that Lincoln will still be defeated by our side in November, but her primary victory gives some valuable lessons in political survival, if only temporary:

The takeaway? While the political currents may seem daunting and unnavigable, there is a safe passage this year. And despite the presence of once-in-a-generation political forces, deep hostility toward office-holders and a playing field that’s tilted against the status quo, some traditional tenets of electioneering still apply.

And...

Lincoln's overarching theme on the stump was the Natural State, and everything she talked about reverted back to Arkansas, whether the issue was the impact of card check legislation or farm bill spending.

"Whatever the administration is about, if it's good for Arkansas I'll be supportive of it. If it's not, I'm going to try to change it and make it better for Arkansas," Lincoln told reporters a few hours before the polls closed Tuesday.

Observing from afar, Florida Democratic strategist Steve Schale said Lincoln's ad campaign oozed genuineness and served to reconnect her to voters who are wary of anything tied to Washington.

"Sen. Lincoln took ownership of her own message, localized her race and spoke directly to the people of Arkansas about their frustration. She didn't run away from the anger," he said.

And...

Don’t forget who brought you to the dance. And choose wisely among the surrogates who can speak to them.

While President Barack Obama proved helpful by cutting radio ads for Lincoln, it was former President Clinton who showed up on the eve of Memorial Day weekend to gin up African American enthusiasm.

The former president and longtime Arkansas governor crystallized a message that would've been awkward for Obama to convey: Don't let outside forces strong-arm our senator for casting votes that reflect our state's centrist sensibilities.

As a result, Lincoln got a boost from African-American voters while Halter suffered from his play to the left.

Lincoln's opponent was the creation of forces outside Arkansas – the leftist Moveon.org, and public-employee unions out to punish Lincoln for her supposed disloyalty to their marching orders.  Resentment of outsiders is a classic theme in politics, and it played out in Arkansas.

Lincoln's victory should give us some heart that there are still some in the Democratic Party who will resist the leftist push of the party's coastal elites.  Americans are pragmatists, idealists rather than ideologists.  The attempt to make the Democratic Party into a junior version of European socialist parties is dangerous and wrongheaded. 

We'll still favor John Boozman, Lincoln's opponent in the general election, but we congratulate her for standing up to the leftist, isolationist crowd, and winning.  May it happen more often.

We also, by the way, congratulate Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman of California, a national-defense Democrat, who stood up to a challenge from the hard left and won renomination.  The California Democratic Party is a crazy institution in need of medication, and Harman provided several spoonfuls on Tuesday night.  She proved there is sanity even among some California Democrats, although not much.

June 10, 2010