(Results of) four races to watch on Semi-Super Tuesday
UPDATE, 5/19, 6:23a: Results:
Obama: 0-4 (has now lost endorsed races in MA, NJ, VA, PA)
AR Democrat US Senate primary: Incumbent Blanche Lincoln faces run-off against Bill Halter, since neither got 50% of the vote
KY Republican US Senate primary: Tea Party-supported Rand Paul beat establishment-supported Trey Grayson
PA Democrat US Senate primary: Joe Sestak defeated Obama-supported incumbent Arlen Specter
PA run-off to replace Congressman Jack Murtha: Democrat Mark Critz, Murtha’s former district director, trounced Republican Tim Burns…
5/18, 9:23a: There are likely more important races to watch today on Semi-Super Tuesday, but 4 I’ve got my eye on are in AR, KY, and PA.
Which primary and special election races are important and why? According to Family Research Council:
Both parties have haggled over the price tag of the new health care law, but the real cost may be in congressional seats. Voters have waited 2 months to tell Washington what they think of its “reforms,” and tomorrow, folks in AR, KY, OR, and PA will finally get their say. In a series of interesting primaries, at least 3 races have keen national significance. Two of them feature Democrats who made career-threatening decisions to back ObamaCare over their states’ objections.
In AR, Sen. Blanche Lincoln [pictured left] (D) isn’t getting any help from the Left-wing of her party in a campaign against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D) and D.C. Morrison (D) – a race so heated that it may take extra innings to decide. If that happens, Sen. Lincoln’s fate wouldn’t be decided until a June 8 run-off.
Her colleague in the Keystone State knows how it feels to be squeezed on all sides. Last year, in an act of desperate self-preservation, the Pennsylvanian fled to the Democratic Party.
What do you get when you cross an elephant and a donkey? Sen. Arlen Specter [pictured right] (D-Pa.) hopes the answer is “reelection.” Hoping to avoid a showdown with Republican Pat Toomey in November, Sen. Specter will be lucky just to get to the general election. He’s fighting for his political life against Rep. Joe Sestak (D), who could topple the once-Republican disappointment and end the senator’s 5-term reign.
Whether these leaders can survive anti-incumbency fever will provide some important clues as to how Congress will fare in its ultimate performance appraisal this November.
Meanwhile in KY, new blood is the name of the game. There, the tea party faithful are hoping to take another political scalp by beating the GOP’s Establishment pick, Trey Grayson (R) with Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-TX) son, Rand [pictured right].
There’s one more race I’m watching, as detailed by TalkingPointsMemo.com:
One of the top races to watch will be the special election for the Johnstown-area district formerly held by the late Rep. John Murtha, who passed away in February. The TPM Poll Average gives Republican businessman Tim Burns [pictured below right] an edge of 43.0%-42.4% over Democratic candidate and former Murtha aide Mark Critz.
And a final reminder from FRC to VOTE if your state is having a primary today!
Although voter turnout is traditionally low in primary season, polls are giving the enthusiasm edge to conservatives. Last week’s NBC/Wall Street Journal poll said Republicans had a commanding lead (65%) over Democrats (46%) in campaign interest. Can conservatives win on outrage alone? That’s for us to decide. Our leaders don’t get to Washington on their own. We put them there. If you’re disgusted about Capitol Hill’s war against life and liberty, go out there and do something about it! On Tuesday, those of you living in AR, KY, OR, and PA have an opportunity to exercise a right that people in the world are literally dying for.
Not only our soldiers but preborn babies will literally live or die depending on the outcome of some and the sum of these races.
[Top graphic via FRC]

I am also rooting today for Sam Rohrer for governor of PA! I am a Constitution party member so I can’t vote but I am praying praying praying!
Pennsylvania has a closed primary and I’m an Independent, so I can’t vote either. It stinks, doesn’t it?
Oh? The only race coming up I’ve got my mind set on is the Indianapolis 500 :)
Arlen Specter is a PA guy so when I saw my evening news saying he had lost I burst out laughing! That man was so totally arrogant. I never understood why he was a Republican in the first place. He flip flopped for votes and it didn’t work. HA HA HA HA HA!
With a 0-4 record…I’d like to see the grand poobah himself endorse the rest of his Democrats until November…
It’ll be a damned if you do and damned if you don’t kind of thing…
Can’t wait ’till November rolls in and see Obama squirm his way out of this one…
If democrats lose the House of Reps, how will Obama react?
All appropriations bills originate in the House, so who will fund his spending? And how will he react when daddy takes away his allowance?
He is such a crony quid pro quo politician. All of his power comes from kick backs to buddies. Without a democrat House to back his promises to his friends, how will it hold together?
Interesting how Critz had to campaign as a conservative to win. Why couldn’t he just campaign on the Obama agenda?
Specter should have learned a lesson from history. Remember how PL candidates suddenly “rethought” their position on abortion when when they fell for the propaganda that PA supporters would converge on the voting booths like the hoards of Genghis Kahn and toss out PL candidates?
They lost the support they had and didn’t gain anymore. Neither side trusted them. It took a while but they finally caught on as they were just handing the elections to their opponents.
When Spector switiched parties for his own expediency, he handed the election to a future opponent.