I hope Senator Claire McCaskill’s paying attention to the Arkansas primary results last night – the one where play-to the-right-of-center Blanche Lincoln was forced into a runoff with progressive challenger Bill Halter – who came in only two points behind Lincoln.
According to the Washington Post, Lincoln even managed to improve on her standing with the state’s conservative Democrats, bettering her past performance by 10 points in the state’s most politically conservative northwest region. Unfortunately for Lincoln, it wasn’t enough to beat back an energized progressive turnout, eager to punish her for her DINO politics.
Of course, Missouri isn’t Arkansas, 2012 will be a presidential election year, which can affect turnout in quite different ways, and at this point it’s hard to imagine a credible primary challenger appearing to run against McCaskill. And to be honest, McCaskill’s tally book is not tilting as red as Lincoln’s did – it’s more of a pale lilac at this point – but still … she really ought to think about what can happen when politicians diss their base.