"A puddle of a man".

 I just had to see that again.

But they did win the AZ-08 primary over the NRCC-backed candidate.  And they defeated Joe Schwartz in Michigan earlier this year.  Keeping an incumbent senator to 54% in a renomination fight isn't "losing badly."

gotta agree with HG.  it'll take a serious attack of rabid lambism sustained over several markets before CfG is no longer to be feared. rejoice in this loss, but don't think they're out of the game.

If Laffee had won, then the CFG would have begun to lose power.  Assume that Laffee wins and then we pick up RI.  That brings us one seat closer to control.  If they lose control by one seat, it is their Ralph Nader, Florida, 2000.  Sure, we could have won it in other ways, but without Nader, we win it for sure.

"The Club for Growth, which is one of the most pernicious forces on the far-right, took a huge hit in terms of prestige last night."

so...will the netroots lose a "huge amount of prestige" in your eyes if we dont deliver Lamont?  

"so his spanking suggests that this era of antitax fervor is over."

1. "spanking" as in he barely lost, despite being completely unelectable. That's frankly quite scary.
   
2. Are you serious? America is extremely anti-tax. People support tax cuts by wide, wide margins. One candidate does not kill a movement. In a less liberal leaning state where Laffey isnt completely unelectable, he wins this primary. Their movement is only growing. Look around the country.

"I still [think?] little of Chafee.  He is a puddle of a man, who deserves to lose to Sheldon Whitehouse."

Chafee is a liberal republican. He's one of the sane moderate repuplican voices in the Senate. He's got the wrong letter in front of his name and his values arent aligned with ours, but for god's sake, Matt. Quit making statements like this.

Not a trusted user on this site - but TROLL ALERT!!!!

Ok, say we don't pick up RI in November (although it still seems like a pickup even with Chafee) but we win enough seats to bring the Senate to a 50-50 tie or even a slim majority like 51-49 - what do you think the chances are of Chafee leaving the Republicans to become an Independent or even a Democrat?

No one seems to mention this scenario but I think it's quite possible.  He could very well pull a Jeffords.

I don't think CfG loses much at all, since the reason the RNC & RSCC backed Chafee in the first place was because they want to retain control of the Senate.  Had Senate control not been at stake the RNC & RSCC likely would have sat this one out.

Republicans will still act like extreme right-wing anti-tax nuts going forward.  

They haven't "lost badly" until they are completely washed up and their brand of outright poverty for all but their buddies is dead and gone.

And it's true that holding a sitting senator to 54% of his party's votes even thought the party supported the sitting senator hardly shows weakness much less defeat.

If there's some secret plan for the Democrats to get the jump on the GOP when it comes to "defining" us with their despicable negative campaigns, I think about now would be the time to uncover it.

We have to not only defeat the neo-con/greed-o-con republicans in the fall, but put a wooden stake through the space where normal people would have hearts.

"He is a puddle of a man"

Ad hominem attacks like this are to be expected from our opponents.  Sometimes MYDD lacks credibility because Matt Stoller posts less on fact and more on emotional outbursts and personal attacks.  That's why I stopped reading DailyKos, because of Armando's ignorant, hyped-up, overemotional rants.

Stoller, stick to the facts.

One bad poster can set the mood for a site.  I've actually recently started going back to Kos on a more frequent basis.