Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President is on vacation. The Veep is holding down the fort. He's doing an event on the Recovery Act's investment in science, meeting with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, then swearing in James Clapper as Director of National Intelligence.

It's primary day in Alaska, Arizona and Florida. In Alaska, Sarah Palin's endorsee, Joe Miller, is challenging incumbent Lisa Murkowski in the GOP Senate primary. Palin's endorsements aren't worth much in the lower 48, but we'll see if people in Alaska pay attention to her.

In Arizona, the GOP Senate primary has been a battle between incumbent John McCain and right-wing butthead JD Hayworth. McCain will win, but Hayworth pretty much set the agenda in the U.S. Senate this year. McCain swung hard to the right on a range of issues, flip-flopping to save his seat. (And, of course, McCain's lapdog, Lindsey Graham, did the same thing.) On the Democratic side, the two main contenders are Randy Parraz and Rodney Glassman. I like Parraz. He's smart, aggressive and will make McCain work for it.

In Florida, the GOP Senate primary fizzled when Charlie Crist became an independent. But, there's been a really ugly GOP gubernatorial primary between Attorney General Bill McCollum and anti-health care reform crusader Rick Scott, a billionaire with a shady past. In the Democratic Senate primary, Rep. Kendrick Meek is being challenged by Jeff Greene, also a billionaire with a shady past.

So, busy political day for late August.