More Primary Impetus, The Morning After

Outside of the too close to call contest in Alaska, Johnny Volcano McCain cruised to victory in his primary in Arizona...

With 11% of precincts reporting, McCain leads by 59%-30%, and has been projected as the winner by the Associated Press.

As we noted this morning, McCain was heavily favored to win going into today. To his credit, McCain recognized early on that there was a restive environment among the GOP base, shifted to the right, and refocused himself to not lose that crowd to the anti-illegal immigration champion Hayworth -- and he also outspent Hayworth by a ratio of about 10-1.

...and Democrat Kendrick Meek got the primary win to face Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist...

With 38% of precincts reporting, Meek is leading Greene 55-32. Also-ran former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre has 6% of the vote. Meek is now set to take the stage in a general election fight where, essentially, two men are vying for the Democratic vote -- Meek and Gov. Charlie Crist, who has run hard for Democratic support since abandoning the GOP primary against Marco Rubio. 

...but the other major story is the Florida GOP primary for governor, and the Tea Party has collected another head.

Only in America: $50 million dollars of his personal fortune later, Rick Scott is the Republican gubernatorial nominee in Florida, the AP projects. Though Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum spoke moments ago and did not concede, with 90% of precincts reporting, Scott leads McCollum 47-43, and the AP and CNN have called the race.

...but Rick Scott may be the Hoffman Effect story of 2010.

The mainstream Republican party had a reason to fear Scott. He carries with him the baggage of the $1.7 billion in federal fines leveled against his company, Columbia HCA, for Medicare fraud. Plus he's extremely conservative, which could be a tough sell in a general election fight.

But in the end, all the establishment's horses and all of its men couldn't put McCollum together again. His campaign -- never all that exciting in the best of circumstances -- simply couldn't raise the support needed to push McCollum past Scott's big money and conservative message.

Now, after a brutal primary, the GOP has a nominee that not a whole lot of general election voters are fond of. The TPM Poll Average for the general election fight shows Democratic nominee Alex Sink leading Scott 34.7-27.8. 

So can a Medicare fraudster trying to buy a Governor's seat win in a state like Florida?  We'll find out.