Don't bother, they're here

There ought to be clowns, we are told. Lots of them. Items to note:

• I know I’ve said this before, but it’s been obvious from the jump why this particular Schiff-scented impeachment confection had to take place at this time. While I expect IG Horowitz to pull his punches again, Durham won’t. The entire point of the charade is to allow the Democrats to characterize the Durham investigation as revenge, rather than the pursuit of justice.
• Angie Craig and Dean Phillips must have looked at the polls and decided this faux impeachment vote won’t hurt them. Perhaps they’re right; suburbia is filled with minivan Mensheviks and Bad Orange Man offends a lot of sensibilities in places like Eden Prairie and Eagan. Craig in particular may feel the wind is at her back since Jason Lewis is gunning for Tina Smith instead, but she’s still gonna get challenged. 
• Collin Peterson voted against impeachment. He’s looking at the polls, too. Prediction: if this blows up on the Democrats and yet Peterson still survives, he’ll cross the aisle in 2021, especially if the House flips. It may be his only way to survive.
• Speaking of worried Democrats, you may also have noticed that Barack Obama spoke out recently against “cancel culture.” This isn’t a matter of intellectual bravery or principled liberalism, to the extent principled liberalism is even possible at this particular hour. Obama’s stance is really about something else: he’s seen the Lion King and knows what happened to Scar. He’s already getting “OK Boomer” sneers from some quarters and he knows the revolutionaries he nurtured are now coming of age. And they may come for him soon enough.

Where are we?

No facts presented in this feature -- let's face it, in 2018 politics, facts are difficult to get. Opinions are everywhere, though. Here are mine:

• I suspect the long knives will be out for Keith Ellison after this election. I've never thought he could win statewide office and his campaign for attorney general has demonstrated that nicely. The larger question is whether or not he'll hurt the other DFL candidates. Doug Wardlow could be a very useful fellow in the AG's office.
• While it would be wonderful if Jeff Johnson could pull of the upset and win the governor's race, my guess is he falls short. Tim Walz is not a particularly strong candidate and nothing about him suggests he'll be any good at being a governor, but the DFL machine in the metro will likely be enough to get him elected. 
• You know what would give us a better Minnesota? The demise of Alliance for a Better Minnesota, that's what. Their latest attack ad, in which they exploit a handicapped young man, is beyond the pale. Every ad they run is filled with lies and yet somehow KSTP's "Truth Test" and WCCO's "Reality Check" never get around to vetting them. Wonder why that is? No, you don't, because you know the reason why already.
• Lately some Wisconsin ads have been airing here. The Dem candidate for governor, Tony Evers, has the personality of lint and is frankly creepy, but he's running neck and neck with two-term Scott Walker, one of the most consequential politicians of his generation. I know that people get fatigued with politicians over time, but it's astonishing to me that Evers is even close.
• Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, and Tammy Baldwin are all up for election. They are all dismal, but all are likely to return to Washington. There's a chance that Karin Housley might beat Smith, who has never won a statewide election, but I'm not confident that Housley will get there.
• We may flip four Congressional seats in Minnesota. It's almost certain that Pete Stauber is going to Washington in the 8th, and it's quite possible that Jim Hagedorn is finally going to get elected in the 1st. But it's also looking likely that Erik Paulsen is going down in the 3rd, and Jason Lewis will be fortunate if he is reelected in the 2nd. I knew Paulsen a little bit when we worked together at Target and he's a good guy, but he's run a poor campaign against Dean Phillips, who has more money than King Canute and came up with a good shtick. Lewis went to Washington and actually did some useful things, but his district is turning left and the odious Angie Craig has an excellent chance to beat Lewis. If Lewis loses, we'll miss him more than most people realize.

What do you think?

Spiritus Mundi

Go figure. I didn't think Donald Trump would win, but win he has, and likely with north of 300 electoral votes when all is said and done. We'll be picking at this one for a while, but here are my first, quick thoughts:

• It appears turnout was down, which means the armies of Obama didn't come out to vote for Hillary. That appears to be the difference, especially in some of the states that broke for Trump.
• Ace Commenter Gino has been saying the same thing all along -- the working class of this country has gotten bupkis for its support of the Democrats over the years. Some voted for Trump, others stayed home.
• There's a pretty evident middle finger being pointed at both coasts and the elites that reside there. It looks like Clinton did carry Minnesota, but she almost lost here, too. Trump won Wisconsin pretty decisively and at this writing it appears he won Michigan and Pennsylvania as well.
• Hillary Clinton is a uniquely bad candidate. She's never been able to fake compassion and her behavior in high office was a huge red flag. She richly deserves the defeat she has been dealt.
• I'm delighted that Jason Lewis is going to Congress. He's a very smart and principled man who does a better job of explaining conservative thought than just about anyone I know. He'll be a great voice in Congress and I suspect he'll also be an effective one as well. And given the horrible mendacity of his opponent, Angie "HR Lady" Craig, it was an especially just result.
• Rick Nolan barely survives, again. I thought he was a goner.
• I'm thrilled that Ron Johnson prevailed in Wisconsin. He's a good man and Russ Feingold richly deserved to lose.
• I think this electoral result is actually a blessing for the Dems, assuming they take the time to understand the verdict. The Clintons and their ilk need to be swept from American political life and a restoration of their graft and odious mores would have been a horrible result. The leadership of the Democratic Party is, in the main, a bunch of fugitives from Madam Tussaud's. The next generation of leadership from the port side needs to step forward now. Perhaps someone like newly-elected Tammy Duckworth might now emerge.

As we said, we'll have plenty more to discuss in the coming days. 

Lightning Round -- 081016

Too many topics, not enough time. Let's start, shall we?

• One of the advantages of being #NeverTrump is that you don't have any obligations to take up the cudgels on his behalf. Having said that, I don't take the hyperventilating about his "Second Amendment people" remarks very seriously. He's not calling for anyone to assassinate Hillary Clinton and "Second Amendment people" wouldn't do it, anyway. There are dozens of reasons to oppose Trump; we've discussed many of them in this space. This latest incident is not one of them.
• And in case you've forgotten, Hillary Clinton has a history of thinking out loud as well. The cries of anguish that were directed against her comments then were similarly self-serving.
• And because Trump is too busy saying stupid things, it's easy for the media to ignore things they shouldn't ignore. And other things, too. We'll be coming back to the matter of Shahram Amiri in another post, as his case underscores the real world consequences of Hillary Clinton's extraordinarily reckless behavior.
• Looks like Jason Lewis won the primary in CD2. I used to listen to Jason's radio show quite a lot on the afternoon drive home, especially in his first incarnation as "Minnesota's Mr. Right"; he's a very bright man and does an excellent job of presenting the conservative worldview. It's going to be a close race in CD2, which is significantly more blue than it once was, but he should have a good chance of winning. The DFL candidate, Angie Craig, will have a lot of money and institutional support behind her, but I'm not seeing much of a rationale for her campaign other than to be a slightly less tone-deaf version of Betty McCollum. We already have one of those.
• Meanwhile, Phyllis Kahn is finally done, after losing her DFL primary against newcomer Ilhan Omar. Kahn has been in the Lege since 1973. That's a long run. What was perhaps more surprising is that another Minneapolis DFLer, Joe Mullery, went down last night as well. Understanding the machinations of the DFL in the city is difficult at best, but on balance getting rid of tenured deadwood is usually a positive step, and Kahn and Mullery won't be missed.
• And over in Wisconsin, Paul Ryan edged his primary opponent by about 70 points.
• And before we forget, let's also remember the sorts of guests who attend Hillary Clinton rallies. No word yet on whether Zubeidat Tsarnaeva will be turning up at a Clinton rally in Boston.