Florida and Alaska

Something weirdly similar is happening in these two dissimilar states on opposite ends of the nation.

In the far north west, Alaskan tea party favorite Miller beat moderate conservative Murkowski in the Republican primary. The loser is being a sore loser, resulting in a 3 way race. As of now, the official Republican nominee is at 38%, the newly independent Republican is at 30% . . . and the Democrat is way behind at 23%.

In the far south east, Florida's tea party favorite Rubio chased moderate conservative Crist out of the Republican party. This loser is also being a sore loser, resulting in another 3 way race. As of now, the official Republican nominee is at 43%, the newly independent Republican is at 27% . . . and the Democrat is way behind at 21%.

Talk about an enthusiasm gap! All the action is between Republican factions, with the Democrat limping behind. It's hard to remember that Obama won Florida in '08, and Democrats made huge advances in Alaska in '06 and '08. But, once Obama and company started implementing his agenda, they reversed all those gains.

And, compare this to '06 - - when the race in Connecticut was between Democratic factions headed by Lieberman and Lamont, with the Republicans on the sidelines. Whatever advantage Democrats obtained from Bush's failures have been erased since '08 by Obama.

No one would have guessed that the savior of the Republican party was neither McCain nor Palin nor Romney, but Obama!