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There are primaries in eight states tomorrow. Here at MyDD, I will be up very late following the special election in CA-50, and the Democratic primary in MT-Sen in particular. Both feature netroots endorsed candidates, Francine Busby and Jon Tester respectively. I expect both races to be very close, and I expect to be up very, very late tomorrow night.

Apparently, the buzz tonight is how the conservative alternative media in southern California is freaking out over a comment Francine Busby made. In much the same way that right-wing radio continued to call into question Paul Hackett's military service on the eve of the special election in OH-02 last year, right-wing alternative media is trying to use something ridiculous, out of context, and offensive in order to drive up turnout among their own base. Just take a look at the sources on Google News when you conduct a search for Busby's "papers" comment: National Ledger, NewsMax, National Review, Rush Limbaugh, The Conservative Voice, Wizbang, CNS News, etc. The comment is not an issue for the established media, but it is all over the right-wing media.

Given this, I want to take strong exception to something Chuck Todd wrote about this race: Mr. Todd, with all due respect, this comment is not getting any play in any mainstream press, either local or national, outside of your very own National Journal. This is an issue for the right-wing press, just as Paul Hackett's military service was for the right-wing press. This is an issue for the right-wing press, just like the absurd NRCC ad that claimed Busby praised someone accused of child pornography by only quoting half of one of her sentences. In short, this has nothing to do with what Busby said or not. Did Paul Hackett "step in it" because Rush Limbaugh was criticizing her military service? Did Busby "step in it" two months ago because the NRCC was misquoting her? Of course not. The point is that the conservative media will use anything, whether true or not, in an attempt to drive up turnout before an election. What Busby did or did not do on this matter is irrelevant.

This should also be a lesson for Democrats in congress. Simply waiting for Republicans to implode is not an effective strategy. No matter what happens, the conservative political machine will find ways to excite their base and drive up turnout. No matter what happens, they will find ways to Swift Boat your character. The election cannot be won on Republicans imploding alone. As Paul Rosenberg discussed yesterday, Democratic leads going into the 2006 elections, while large, continue to lag behind where they should be at this point. Rectifying this is going to take more than letting Republicans implode. IT is going to take demonstrable leadership, and a strong alternative to Republicans on the issues that matter most to Americans: Iraq and energy (I actually think we are doing pretty well on immigration, so I'm not going to list it here).

No matter what happens tomorrow, we should all remember that that are at least seven open seat races with superior district demographics to the CA-50, and around 45 Republican held districts overall with solid Democratic challenges and better demographics. Also, Republicans have been forced to dump $10M into a district with a local partisan index of around RNC+20. If Busby wins tomorrow, Republicans are almost certainly finished in November, Even if Bilbray ekes out a win, Republicans remain in serious trouble.

Jon Tester has also fought a spirited race in Montana, and the momentum certainly seems to be on his side. For Tester to win that primary would be a profound achievement for the new grassroots and netroots based progressive movement. Expect another very close race there.

For other races to watch, check out this rundown over at Swing State Project. I can't believe I am going to stay up to around 4am just two days before heading out to Las Vegas. This is shaping up to be one of the busiest weeks of my life.