SEVEN PRIMARIES TODAY – AT 8:06 A.M. ET:  Today is the last of the major primary days for this election season.  Our great national nightmare is almost over.

The key primaries will be Republican, with tea partiers and the GOP establishment sometimes clashing.  The Politico reports:

WASHINGTON – The primary season is ending as it began, the Republican establishment on one side in state after state, and tea party activists on another.

The competition is particularly strong in Delaware and New Hampshire, where GOP senatorial nominations are the prize, and New York, where Republicans pick a challenger for an uphill fall campaign for governor.
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Maryland also hold primaries Tuesday, along with the District of Columbia.

Among incumbents, veteran Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York and Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty face particularly stiff challenges — one because of ethics charges in Congress, the other after conceding to voters he has behaved arrogantly over the past four years.

Rangel is opposed by Adam Clayton Powell IV, son of the late Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, who Rangel defeated for the Congressional seat in 1970, some 40 years ago.  Rangel faces serious corruption charges.  Powell is no Boy Scout either.  He's been accused of rape twice and was convicted of driving while impaired.  But, hey, it's New York.  Those are minor issues.  It isn't as if he was convicted of disobeying a party boss.

In Delaware, veteran Rep. Mike Castle, a moderate, vies with Christine O'Donnell for the nomination for a Senate seat. O'Donnell has the support of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as well as tea party activists. New Castle County Executive Chris Coons has no opposition for the Democratic nomination.

This is the major story of the night.  Castle is certainly no movement conservative.  He is from the old school of GOP moderates.  But, bottom line, if he's nominated, he's the overwhelming favorite to be elected. O'Donnell, an ideological conservative, is a lightweight, to put it mildly, with considerable personal baggage.  She would likelyu be defeated in the general election.  This is Joe Biden's seat.  I hope the GOP doesn't blow it over ideological purity.

In New Hampshire, Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes is unopposed for the Senate nomination, and Republicans are settling a multi-candidate race. Former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte campaigned with the support of the party establishment and Palin, while Ovide Lamontagne claimed backing from tea party activists. Bill Binnie and Jim Bender campaigned on the strength of their records as businessmen.

Again, Ayotte stands a good chance of saving this Republican seat, currently held by Judd Gregg, if she's nominated.  Her opponent stands virtually no chance in the general.  Sarah got this one right and went with Ayotte.

The election is seven weeks from today.  We have seven weeks to stop the train wreck in Washington.

September 14, 2010