Mrs Santorum and her husband will be quite well remembered in that footnote for the choices they made, the bullying they elevated, the hatred they celebrated. Not for their faith, and not for their family. Sure it’s very sad. But it’s not only sad for the Santorums.

If only the nation will pay attention, Florida has now become the perfect laboratory model for single-party Republican corporatist rule. When Alex Sink conceded to Rick Scott this morning, Republicans in Florida cemented a clean sweep of all statewide offices on the ballot. In addition, Republicans now hold over two thirds of the seats in both the Florida House and Florida Senate. Leading this merry band of corporatists will be Governor Rick Scott, who holds the distinction of having been CEO of the corporation that holds the record for the largest fine ever assessed ($1.7 billion) in settling Medicare fraud charges. With unemployment in the state now at 12 percent (pdf) and property values severely depressed from the burst property bubble, I see no way that a state without an income tax can withstand corporatist rule under these parameters without sliding into a New Depression.

The next Senator from Florida is almost certainly going to be Marco Rubio. Kendrick Meek and Charlie Crist split the center-left of the electorate and spent most of their time in the campaign beating each other up, while Rubio, unchallenged, coasted into the lead. The race has gotten so far out of hand now that I don’t think that the claim Crist would caucus with Democrats matters anymore.

The unfortunate consequence of a broken election system that discourages greater choice is that it can result in the election of individuals who don’t best represent the will of the voters. Politico is reporting that Democrats are banking on conservative third-party candidates on the ballot to help them win plurality victories.

The Hill has just become the most recent news outlet to find in their polling that a majority of voters want a viable third party as an alternative to the Republicans and Democrats. Their poll found that 54 percent of likely voters in 10 swing districts think there should be a third party. Their results mirror national polling from CNN (PDF) and Gallup, both of which also show majority support for a third party.

Senator George LeMieux (R-FL) is starting to feel the heat of pro-migrant voters, specifically Latino voters. Saturday, Univision aired a debate in which current Florida governor and U.S. Senate nominee Charlie Crist came out in support of the DREAM Act. Thursday, Representative Kendrick Meek (D-FL), and also a nominee for U.S. Senate, hand delivered a letter to LeMieux.

Something’s not quite right here, and congratulations to CNN’s Ed Henry for probing Charlie Crist’s position on marriage equality. Getting to the bottom of it, Ed asks Charlie: doesn’t it sound like you’re having it both ways?

Thanks to a brutal Republican primary battle between Attorney General Bill McCollum and billionaire Rick Scott, Democrat Alex Sink has been able to take the lead for the first time in Quinnipac’s newest poll.

Just over a week from the August 24 Florida primary, two polls show the Democratic Senate primary and the dynamics of the overall Senate race in very different shape. Mason-Dixon has Rep. Kendrick Meek with a huge lead over his billionaire opponent Jeff Greene, while Ipsos still has Greene with a modest lead.

There has been much hope — or dread, depending on which party you support — that the embrace of arch-conservative and Tea Party-backed candidates in contest primaries could seriously cost the Republican Party several Senate seats this November. The economy may be the key to Republican outcomes.