Taking Back Washington

Yesterday, the continued feeling of anti-incumbency was certainly being felt in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and in a sense, Kentucky.

The first big piece of news came from the Bluegrass State where Rand Paul trounced Trey Grayson, carrying just under 60% of the vote. An outsider, Paul's name certainly helped him defeat Grayson, the highly-favored of the GOP establishment both in Washington and Frankfort. Paul will face Jack Conway, who pulled off a win against Lt. Gov. Don Mongiardo for the Democrat nomination. Paul is carrying the early lead he enjoyed against Grayson going into the general race.

In the Keystone State, the big anticipated upset has happened. Five-term incumbent Arlen Specter lost the Democrat nomination to two-term Rep. Joe Sestak. Specter, who switched from Republican to Spectercrat early last year, played a role while he was with the GOP by voting for President Obama's stimulus package. He also enjoyed the support of the President and DSCC (you can add Specter to list of Deeds, Corzine, and Coakley which are on the list of the the fallen thanks to Obama's support).

And despite Blanche Lincoln's upbeat (and somewhat arrogant) speech this morning, she is certainly feeling the heat of anti-incumbency as she now goes to a run-off against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. The winner of that race will face Rep. John Boozman, who won the Republican nomination handily, in November.