LOS ANGELES — Not all of the winners and losers Tuesday night were on the ballot. Some, like Sarah Palin, were watching from the wings, and some, like President Barack Obama, were at center stage in the White House.
Though it is way too soon to predict what will happen by 2012, Palin and Obama could easily be opponents in the next presidential election. Even if they are not direct rivals, what they represent will shape the midterm elections this year as well as in the upcoming presidential cycle.
Lesson No. 1 from Tuesday night is that it is a good year to be conservative — especially, but not exclusively — if you are running as a Republican.
Tea Party favorite Nikki Haley scored big in the South Carolina gubernatorial primary. Sharron Angle, another favorite, captured the GOP nomination to run against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, in Nevada.
Elsewhere, Tea Party adherents did well. In Maine, Paul LePage, a career businessman, beat six rivals to win the GOP nomination for governor — in a state whose two GOP senators are considered moderates.
He, too, ran on a platform of small government and fiscal responsibility, a life raft in a swirling political sea with an anti-incumbent undertow. In Georgia, Tom Graves’ support from the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots helped him defeat another conservative in a runoff to fill a vacant GOP seat in the House.
The results in South Carolina and California, where Meg Whitman won the Republican nomination for governor, were a personal victory for Palin, who took a risk and successfully backed the female candidates.
While Palin may decide it is more fun to be a major celebrity and king- (or in this case, queen-) maker, she picked up chits that could be cashed in any future race she chooses.
In New Jersey, Jon Runyan, formerly of the NFL, won the GOP nod for a House seat with the help of Tea Party supporters.
But all was not roses for the Tea Party, as seven incumbent House members beat back challengers mainly from the right. In Virginia, Republican Rep. Rob Wittman handily defeated a Tea Party challenger.
Obama can claim a bit of a personal victory since he backed Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln in her renomination over Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. The effort took some courage, since Obama’s supporters included the unions that opposed Lincoln.
Lincoln showed that at least in some areas, a more conservative Democrat can still win her party’s nod, and that could mean problems in pushing any progressive agenda within the party.
It remains to be seen whether the liberal elements will kiss and make up with Lincoln, who still faces a tough race to hold a seat that Republicans believe they can pick off.
