Utah is commonly considered as one of the most conservative states in America, and for good reason; Democrats are essentially nonexistent in the state. Some Southern states will occasionally vote (or used to occasionally vote) for a conservative Democrat. Not Utah; its Republicans are rock-hard Republicans.

As regular readers of both FDL and Mercury Rising know, I’ve been following the ups and downs of Minnesota Republican Party chair Tony Sutton , and his money-handling difficulties, for some time now. And guess what? He’s in the news again — and as always, it’s about money, or the difficulties pertaining thereto. Bluestem Prairie’s Sally Jo Sorensen has the deets concerning possible Republican dissatisfaction with Sutton’s ham-fisted leadership and subpar money-handling.

This is a part of a series of posts analyzing the 2010 midterm elections. This post will analyze the Pennsylvania Senate election, in which Republican Pat Toomey won a narrow victory over Democrat Joe Sestak in a Democratic-leaning state.

It occurs to me that in fact the self-styled sensible types are not arguing against “purity” but the progressives’ right to exist, much less speak out.

Remember Minnesota’s Tom Emmer, the dipwad who would be governor? He came a bit too close to it for my comfort, largely because of a local legacy media that was far too gentle to him and far too eager to pass along smears against his DFL opponent (and seriously good guy) Mark Dayton, but even the legacy press couldn’t quite insulate Emmer from the effects of his own actions. (Remember his War on the Waitstaff and the mythical $100,000-a-year waitress? Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.)

Trying to decide what to talk about this fine morning, preferably something that hasn’t already been covered here on this website. Should it be Jerry Brown’s advocacy for high-speed rail, which may be a big part of what saves the state and the nation?

Should it be the looming scandal hinted at by the Rick Perry sex ad?

But then I decided that I’d stick closer to my home state of Minnesota, and talk about failed burrito baron Tony Sutton.

Hello, Late Night crew! This is Phoenix and I’ll be your tour guide on the Good Ship FDL tonight. Mind the paintwork! Last week I referenced the, ahem, delicate situation of one fair-haired lad by the name of John Hinderaker, better known to us as The Man Formerly Known As Assrocket over at the PowerLine [...]

One of the right wing’s staunchest and most prolific public defenders of ALEC is none other than John Hinderaker of the PowerLine Blog. However, in his plentiful writings on the subject, there are some words you won’t find — words like “ALEC is a client of my law firm”.

The good news for Democrats is that the poll found Republicans have squandered most of the advantage they had in 2010. Since January the percentage of Americans who disapprove of House Republicans job performance has surged from 48 to 59 percent. Democrats now also lead Republicans in the generic ballot 46 to 45.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker has been steadily making himself less popular in Wisconsin, so much so that he is now potentially vulnerable to a recall campaign, which could theoretically be launched six months from now.