Primaries!

Is it just me or are the primaries in Wisconsin a lot sexier this year than they have been in the past?

They really shouldn't be. The outcomes of just about every primary aren't in much doubt, but the details are still fascinating to pour over.

First off, we've got Ron Johnson ready to cruise to an easy victory over Dave Westlake, who has become something of the Tea Party candidate that many people thought Johnson was going to be. RJ, on the other hand, has morphed into a traditional party establishment candidate. The only real question will be how much Johnson wins by. Given the money Johnson's dumped into TV time there's really no reason why he shouldn't win by 60+ points.

Moving on we have the races for Lt. Governor. The Democrats seemed to have settled on Tom Nelson over scrappy insurgent Henry Sanders. And the Republicans? Good Question! On the one hand there's a handsome state assemblyman who has a track record of winning in a largely Democratic district in Brett Davis. But, on the other hand, there's a Charlie Sykes' henchman with no experience in elected office, so you can plainly see this is a really hard decision for Republicans to make...

Then there's the GOP gubernatorial primary. Scott Walker will probably win on Tuesday, but he apparently won't be winning by enough to make anyone happy, so he's going to be walking away with a few bruises that navel gazers such as myself will discuss ad nauseum for several weeks. The big question is whether Walker will use the occasion to retool his campaign -- as even some Republicans have suggested -- or if he will continue on his merry way.

If Walker pulls out the Nancy Pelosi comparisons against his Republican opponent, we can only guess what murderous 20th century dictator he's got lined up to endorse Tom Barrett.

Last, but certainly not least, is the race for the 8th CD GOP nomination, which really has been nothing short of a shitshow. Honestly, I think this race is cursed -- one of the former candidates, after all, dropped out of the race only to promptly commit suicide earlier this summer. The establishment candidate, Reid Ribble, seems to be plagued by questions about his residency and the publication of Spanish language version of his website ... by his own party. Terri McCormick is still batshit insane and apparently believes she's on a book tour. Roger Roth hasn't been able to get much traction (and may actually be suffering from the moderate legacy of his uncle, who occupied the seat for most of the '80s and '90s). Ribble will probably pull this off, but the race has been emblematic of the GOP's issues in the 8th CD. There's really no reason it shouldn't be in Republican hands, but the party just can't seem to get it's shit together to actually do anything about it.

So there you have it. There are national primaries too -- including a scorcher in Delaware that has parallels to the Alaska Senate and South Carolina gubernatorial races (and about a dozen others), but the races in Wisconsin are far more ... sane.