Five states holding elections today

Map shows five states holding primaries Tuesday. (AP Graphic)

This is from Yahoo News:

RICHMOND, Va. - James Webb, a former Reagan administration Navy secretary who left the Republican Party over the Iraq war, sought the Democratic nomination Tuesday in a bruising primary battle for the right to take on GOP Sen. George Allen (news, bio, voting record) in the fall.

Five states in all held elections Tuesday, including primaries for governor in Maine and South Carolina; a Democratic runoff for the nomination for lieutenant governor in Arkansas; and referendums on constitutional amendments in North Dakota.

Webb faced faced lobbyist and longtime Democratic Party activist Harris Miller, presenting voters with a choice between a traditional and unabashed liberal (Miller) and a former Republican (Webb) whose populist campaign was aimed at so-called Reagan Democrats — namely, rural, white moderates.

Allen is seeking a second term and also pursuing a 2008 bid for president. He had no GOP challenger.

Both Democratic candidates sought to tie Allen tightly to Bush, particularly over Iraq. But Webb was seen by some as having particular credibility on military issues because of his background as a decorated Marine lieutenant in Vietnam and later Navy secretary. Webb underscored the point by campaigning in desert combat boots.

The big race here is certainly the Virginia Democratic primary between James Webb and Harris Miller. Webb is both a former Reagan administration official and a former Republican who is now running as a Democrat in the Virginia primary. Webb isn't running against Allen on the Republican ticket.

This certainly does tell us something about the current Republican Party of today. The Republican Party today has been hijacked by both the extreme neoconservatives, and the Religious Right. These two factions have pushed their ideology down the Republican Party platform, and have shown no sign of allowing concession or moderation within the party ranks. Moderate Republicans have no place in this party. Moderate Republicans cannot move up within the party ranks--not if they have to pass such social litmus tests on abortion, gay marriage, and flag burning. So these moderates are switching over to the Democratic side--just as James Webb has done.

So this is interesting.