The primary results are in and the hyperventilating has begun. “Political Revolt” trumpeted the Huffington Post. “Incumbents Out, Upstarts In,” said the Washington Post.
Really?
Yes, Senatorial icon Arlen Specter was defeated in the primary. But the winner, Joe Sestak, is a two-term Congressman who spent his career working his way up to an Admiralty in the Navy. Since when does a lifetime in the military and then four years in the House make you a Washington outsider?
Out in western Pennsylvania, the late John Murtha’s seat representing the 12th Congressional District was won by—Murtha’s District Director, Mark Critz. That’s as close as Murtha could have come to re-election, considering his current condition.
In Arizona—that beacon of conservatism—voters overwhelmingly approved an increase in the state’s sales tax that will hand over more than $900 million of citizens’ (legal ones only, of course) money to avoid massive cutbacks in government-funded services.
OK, professed Tea Partier Rand Paul did win the Republican Senate primary in Kentucky. On the other hand, he’s vying to replace retiring Republican Jim Bunning. As far as changing the vote balance of the Senate, that’s like replacing Tweedle Dee with Tweedle Dum.
As usual, the media loves drama and conflict, but it seems to me that the “revolution” angle is being overplayed. In any event, the real story won’t be told until general elections this fall and I suspect, whatever new faces arrive in Washington, our democracy will continue to be as chaotic, dim-witted, and slow moving as ever. That’s the way our Founding Fathers designed it, and that’s one reason why we’ve basically had 200+ years of political stability in the country.
Meanwhile, reminding us that some things never change, conservative and “family values” Indiana Representative Mark Souder resigned after admitting to cheating on his wife of 36 years with a female staffer.
Oh, well. At least he’s a politician finally telling the truth. Now that’s revolutionary.
