Four primaries tonight

There will be three GOP primaries tonight. We can safely assume Mitt Romney will win all three . . . but there are matters other than the Presidential nominee to be settled this evening, including a Democratic primary.

Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Wisconsin are all holding primaries today. So, what do we care, given that “Got Mittens?” Romney is the presumptive nominee, and could get the remaining delegates he needs before August even if it were revealed that he is, in fact, a shape-shifting Reptilian with designs on enslaving humanity as a food source for his cold-blooded, alien kind?

In Indiana, there’s a high-profile Senate primary. Six-term Senator Richard Lugar is battling Tea Party-endorsed state treasurer Richard Mourdock. Mourdock has attacked Lugar as being too compromising, and has promised to stand firm on “conservative principles”. What sorts of principles? He’s pro-life; against “activist liberal judges”; for eliminating the IRS, reducing the size of government, eliminating Obamacare, and of course, preserving in current form the largest welfare programs in place (Social Security and Medicare).

That’s not hypocrisy; that’s knowing who your supporters are. People on Social Security and Medicare.

While Indiana is largely a Republican state, Democrats in Indiana are largely hopeful that Mourdock will win.

Huh?

They think if the Republicans nominate the former coal company executive, with his radical-right Tea Party support, it will open the door for a Democrat Senator.

Voters in North Carolina are deciding another hotly contested GOP primary, in the Eighth Congressional District. Front-runner Richard Hudson has openly courted the birther vote, declaring that the chief justice of the Supreme Court should be required to certify the citizenship of presidential candidates. Yet the Club for Growth, the conservative PAC supporting Lugar’s challenger in Indiana, is backing another candidate: Dentist Scott Keadle.

Finally, the Democratic primary in Wisconsin will decide who will go up against Republican Scott Walker in June’s recall election. It appears Dems are preferring Tom Barrett, who lost by 5 percentage points to Walker in 2010. Do over?

Tonight, the focus will be on the returns for the state-level races. But don’t worry, we’ll kick out the returns for the Romney-Paul race as well. Look for an “anti-Romney” bump for Paul from here on out!

Related articles:

1. The Response goes on tour… Just in time for Republican primaries
2. AZ, MI Exit Polls: Romney is Candidate of the 1%
3. Scare-o-lina: Gingrich Projected Winner
4. Gingrich to Speak at NAR-Affiliated Church Tonight
5. Bachmann takes lead in Iowa