Storm Ahead

The one message that stands out from all the others after Tuesday's primaries: The ideology that has dominated the Democratic Party for decades is set for a whuppin' this fall. Some might be tempted to spin Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln's unexpected victory in the Democratic primary runoff against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter as a sign that the Democratic establishment is not in that much trouble after all. But consider: The White House is noting that the loser was the candidate of Big Labor. An Obama official made a point of pointing out to the Politico's Ben Smith that "organized labor just flushed $10 million of their members' money down the toilet on a pointless exercise." The losing Halter had the big backing of the AFL-CIO, the SEIU and other major unions. The senior staffer went on to claim that "if even half that total had been well-targeted and applied in key House races across this country, that could have made a real difference in November." Could it? Ask Republican Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts or New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie about the effect of this president supporting their opponents — and both their races were before the bottom really fell out of President Obama's popularity...more